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Building Integrity
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Date:  9-24-2014
Number of Hours:  5.00
Manual Reference:  Section 2
Brief Description:  The Cowling Begins

The dreaded Cowling has begun. I'm really over this "foam and fiberglass" routine at this point, however I'm SURE I'm in a large crowd of other builders who have got to within a few weeks of an airworthy machine and have that 1 last layup to do. :)
I went to Hobby Lobby and bought every sheet of Green foam they had in stock which was only 5 sheets and I'm glad I did because I needed every one. I also picked up a few sheets of white foam board that may come in real handy when I get to the bottom of this job ;)
The first task was to create a rear template to stick on the prop flange. Pretty easy job and decided to angle it forward to the wings right at the prop hub. My thoughts are that "typically" the prop is more efficient the further away from the cowling it is. Plus it's going to be much easier to build a cowling with fewer angles in it.
After the basic template was finished, I removed it and wrapped up the engine and taped off everything inside to protect it from the super messy job that's about to happen. I then started cutting sheets of green foam and pressing them into position using 3M-77 adhesive to help hold them in place. By the end of my 5 hour session I was covered in foam dust and it was running out of my nose and eyes so I CALLED IT A DAY! I did end at a good stopping point though, so tomorrow I'll be filling the nooks and crannies with x-30 and begin sanding to shape.
The foam board does NOT reflect the rear template as I wanted to create it WHILE I contoured the green foam. Tomorrow it may actually begin looking like a Cowling! LOTS of work ahead.
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Foam foam foam

Foam foam foam

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Basic template level with longerons

Basic template level with longerons

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Ready for foam

Ready for foam

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