Why I'm making no progress.......                            

Years of abuse of my rotator cuff (tennis, lots of other sports) culminated in tearing the muscle off the bone while sqeezing hundreds of solid rivets for the airplane build.  The surgical repair (four weeks ago) involved re-attaching the muscle to the bone with dozens of plastic anchors.

The really bad part is that I have to wear the sling for six weeks, with no load being applied for ten weeks. Kinda makes it difficult to get much done on the airplane.  Being right handed, I'm having to write on the blackboard lefty, reach across to shift gears with my left hand, brush my teeth left handed, etc.  Not fun. 

Of course, it's just my luck that Van's, on April 1st, announced the availability of a product which would have prevented the shoulder damage.  Van's AN470 Rivet Spray removes the need for squeezing, bucking or pulling rivets.  This product is simply sprayed onto the rivets after they've been placed in the holes, allowed to "set" for a period of time, then, as if by magic, they form the correct shop head and you're done. ;-)

(page 27-04) Brake line fittings.........                                     

Getting the brass inserts fully inserted into the brake lines is proving to be a bit of a problem.  As instructed, I put the fittings into a pan of boiling water, then tried to press the inserts in, with results as shown.  They're about 1/16th inch away from being flush on each fitting.  I tried repeatedly, same outcome.  I'll next try adding salt to the water in an attempt to raise the boiling temperature, but my calculations show I'll get a max temperature rise of about 2 degrees C, probably not enough to matter.  We'll see.   

                                                                                

Update (4-12-13)         

 

The fuselage kit comes with two 15-foot pieces of plastic brake line.  From these, two pieces a bit under eight feet must be cut, along with various other shorter lengths.  I cut several of the shorter lengths first, and ended up unable to make the two long pieces.  One long piece must be cut from each 15-foot length.

 

Van's supplies interchangeably two slightly different kinds of tube.  One has a yellowish hue and a different 10-digit number at the end of the designation.  They're both Parker Parflex with the same dimensions.  The one with an ending number of 006125903 was much easier to get the inserts into (see above).  When I reordered the line, I tried unsuccessfully to specify that one.  The lady at the desk showed only one part number.  I'm hoping for the best. 

(page 26-03) Seat backs and interior paint........                                             

I wish everything went as smoothly as this section.  The only distasteful part was match drilling the piano hinges, but even this was OK.  The piano hinges allow for some limited adjustment of the seat back angles.  The seating position in the -12 is much more upright than I would choose, the ideal being something similar to the La-Z-Boy I currently occupy.  Cars, airplanes, or chairs, I like to recline.

After hanging the pedals I realized I should have painted everything down there prior to the hanging (which I will under no circumstances undo).  I had primed most of it with NAPA 7220, but no top coat.  I'd like to use a medium gray for all the visible bits of aluminum in the interior, but have been unable to find this in a rattle can.  My current plan is to top coat the 7220 with clear enamel, which is what I did for the seat backs.

The orange stuff seen in the piano hinges at the top is .090-inch string from a string trimmer, placed there to prevent paint from getting into the hinges.  Oddly, it wouldn't fit into the other hinges even though the rod extracted from the hinges measures the same for all hinges (.088 inch).  I must investigate this.