IMAC Build: Dalton Extra 300

[Notorious B.E.N.]

The last little bit for today was getting the corner braces in for the canopy hatch.

I also went and got some stone paint to dress up the inside of the hatch with.

Are there any build threads for dash panels?

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

I ordered a dash panel and fuel tank from Extreme Flight this morning.

I tried one of the Flow Master tanks in my EF Edge and I love it so it was a no brainer when I was deciding what I wanted to put in the Dalton.

It's 1/2" taller than a DuBro so it should fit fine.

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

Well, the stringers for the hatch are glued in. I also got the last piece of 1/4 spruce installed. I'll probably get some more and maybe add in a few pieces to help brace the canopy. I'm also debating about how much I should sand the canopy back plate down by. I can sand it down some more to lower it but I might leave it where it is and let the canopy overhang.

I also took some measurements for the fuel tank and maybe I should see if EF can refund me for the fuel tank...

 

[yakken]

I would run the tunnel. You will be surprised at how much that paint will weigh.

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

Would or wouldn't?

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

Back plate for the canopy is now glued to the canopy frame. I also got the sheeting for the front of the hatch cut and glued together.

I'm going to wait for my fuel tank to arrive from EF before I glue on the sheeting. The tank is longer than the fuel tank tray in the plane so if I use it, I'll cut out the back of the tray area and then look at what I need to do to reinforce that area.

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

The only thing I worked on tonight was cutting some pieces of lite ply to increase the thickness where the blind nuts will go on the cowl.

I also ordered a pilot figure today. I went with the one that has the checkered pattern on the helmet.

 

[Dirt]

Ben, I used a 1.5L Fiji water bottle for a fuel tank and it fits fine except for the front part of the tank tray. I had to sand the front of the tray to get the bottle neck to fit. Here is a photo of the inside on my Dalton.

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

I got the first part of goodies today. I think the fuel tank will be a tight fit but will work. I might have to take a little off of the stringers for the canopy hatch but it wouldn't be too much.

 

[Notorious B.E.N.]

Not too much to report on since I had a very busy day yesterday. I competed in a Crossfit competition. I've only been doing Crossfit since February 1st so it was pretty brutal.

Anyways, I got the sheeting for the hatch partially glued on. I used poly glue as suggested and I only went to the second stringer from the edge on the formers. I can add some arrows if you need me to but you'll notice very little foaming going from the second stringer to the edge on the former. I did that so I didn't have to clean out foamed glue to get the sheeting the rest of the way down. I'm going to glue the edges down with wood glue and then hit that spot with gap filling CA.

Of course, the sheeting also decided to crack when I was gently pulling it to the 1/4" spruce of the hatch on one side so I cut the crack out and reglued it. I'll be sure to hit those areas with some water before attempting to glue them down the rest of the way.