There just isn't a lot of exciting pictures one can take and show that illustrate the finising process. Suffice it to say that it is a long arduous journey and I'm only about a third of the way through it.

The plane is still upside down from building the strakes - so, before I turn it over I'm finishing everything on the bottom that I can.  I sure don't want to be trying to sand the bottom laying on my back and looking up!  It's a hundred times easier to finish and sand the bottom now.

All of that green to the left was covered with a layer of "micro" and then sanded smooth.  Advise - start with a roughly uniform but thick layer of micro all over.  Then sand the surfaces level using your long board and straight boards.  When you begin to see the shade of the micro darken (i.e. because you are getting down to the fiberglass) switch to a finer grained sand paper. DON'T start by trying to fill low spots - you'll end up chasing low spots and filling many many times in little patches. 

Here is the winglet - I did a little "pre-finishing" on it before I put the rudder on.  When I finish this I'll smoother it in micro and sand it all down just like the rest.

Yay!!! May 14, 2004 - it been 3 months of finishing on the bottom of the fuselage and wings. So, It's time to "flip the bird" - and I mean that in the nicest possible way!

With the help of some great friends from my church (Steve Foote and sons Brian and Nathan) and my son, Andrew, it was a piece of cake! 

When I turned the plane over to finish the strakes (see Chap 21) I propped up the center spar on foam blocks and it was just my wife and son helping me.  That was VERY difficult. This time I built some "clam-shells" that bolt to the wing attach points instead of using the foam blocks - AND - I had several more able bodies. 

If you are building a canard craft (Cozy, Long-EZ etc.) make the "clam-shells". It's easy and makes the flipping a breeze!