It has been a busy week!

Over the past two weeks, the restoration of the Libelle has picked up!

Robert trimmed the canopy plexi and glued it in place.

Before the epoxy cures, the plexi was taped down, and the excess resin squeeze out was removed.

The canopy was cured in a warm room for a day before the clean up could be started.

The following day, Joseph began the clean up on the frame by sanding down the remaining epoxy along the frame and plexi line.

The edge for the frame was sanded smooth in preparation of the fairing install.

On Thursday, I was on site to help with the assembly of the airframe and wings

It has been three years since I have seen this glider assembled. The last time was when I was in Washington to do my pre-purchase walk through.

Just as we began working on the mounting of the fairings, I pointed out to Robert that I had not checked the airbrake mechanism in the wings and I was waiting to get the plane here for him to inspect them before we began to seal it up.

This was a good thing, upon the inspection, we found that the parts and bearings wear gummed up with old grease, some surface rust, and the over center blocks were breaking apart.

The airbrake mechanism, and bearings on both wings were cleaned up, painted and regreased. The inspection covers were cemented in place, and we were back on track.

 

Based on the instructions from Streifeneder,

Robert began mounting the lower fairings first.

The wing and fuselage surfaces were prepped, and the lower fairings were held in place with Clecos while the epoxy set.  Both lower fairings were given a day to cure.

On Thursday and Friday, the top fairings were glued into position.

Robert ground away the step near the canopy frame, allowing an easier clean up on the canopy.

The leading, and .....

......  trailing edge of the fairings.

Saturday! .. The big moment has arrived, it was time to cut the fairing separation lines between the canopy, wings and fuselage. 

After carefully measuring, we determined the correct curve and lines that would allow the wings and fuselage to fit inside my modified trailer.

The fairings were cut with a fine cutting disk.

For the most part, the cutting process went without a hitch, although the curve on the leading edge near the canopy separation line on the frame was a bit rough.

It was difficult to determine where the excess epoxy squeeze out was binding to the canopy frame and the wing. But after a little bit of fine grinding, the canopy was freed.

The canopy with the faired edge.

After the canopy was removed, I used the wing assembly tool to see if the wings would separate correctly. With the typical Libelle "clunk", the wings separated from the fuselage.

The next process will be to fill the backings on the fairings and to begin the process of blending them into the airframe.