I haven’t been great about taking photos this past week, but most of the work has been small, happy-to-glad type improvements. I’ve also been inspecting everything—again and again. Partly to prep for the final airworthiness inspection with the DAR, and partly for my own peace of mind ahead of the first flight.

My DAR mentioned that incorrect bolt lengths are a common issue during inspections, so Mike and I went over the plane in detail and flagged a few marginal bolt length cases. I swapped out what I could—sometimes switching from standard to thin washers was enough. Others needed slightly longer bolts, which naturally meant another order to Aircraft Spruce. Everything’s now squared away.

During the full head-to-toe inspection, I found a few minor squawks. A couple adel clamps forward of the firewall needed extra tightening. Some electrical connections at the busses were slightly loose. Mike caught a faint squeak in the controls—it turned out to be a slight rub on the control column, which I fixed by adjusting the column height.

I also noticed the sticks weren’t perfectly centered with the aileron bellcranks. Even though I’d already done the aileron neutralization with the bellcrank jigs (more than once), it was clear things had shifted slightly. My best guess is that a rod end must have spun when the pushrods were apart. I disconnected the controls, used the jigs one final time, and got everything perfectly neutral. I also made a small tweak to the right flap.

I spent entirely too much time making my own chocks out of scrap aluminum angle—but they turned out great, so no regrets.

Here’s a quick shot of what the back-seater will see once the iPad mount is in place. The iPad connects to the G3X via Bluetooth, providing synthetic vision and nav data. Cheap, effective, and gives the GIB a set of instruments to follow along.

My niece stopped by with her two daughters—future aviators in the making!

Also, I’ve nearly wiped out on the wing a couple of times now. To fix that, I ordered some skateboard grip tape from Amazon and cut it to fit the wing walk area. This is just a temporary solution—once the plane is painted, I plan to have a painted wing walk outline and use clear grip tape inside that area. Not a fan of the black stuff. For now, this grey version should keep everyone on their feet.

I have selected a DAR – who has been extremely helpful in the process, and my final inspection is scheduled for May 25, 2025. (I don’t want to mention the DAR by name without his explicit permission.) I have submitted my application. I have included redacted versions of the paperwork submitted here hopefully to help folks out. You also need to include weight and balance and a three view drawing or photos.

Get the EAA’s Amateur-Built Certification Kit. It makes it dummy proof. EAA also has a video on the AWC application. Its actually pretty helpful, as there are questions – that I wouldn’t have a clue how to answer.