I've renamed the "Paint" tab of the hours spreadsheet to "Sling Central" and I will just put all their hours there.

Their update:

Received propeller and parachute so I started working harder on things in front of the firewall. Assembled propeller, installed it on the engine. Test fit the cowling, trimmed the air inlet on the left side of the airplane to clear the alternator. Began marking to trim the cowl to fit the firewall. Wanted to be sure that there were no clearance issues before cutting too much so I installed the exhaust pipe, coolant lines, radiator, oil cooler, and as many oil lines as I could. Noticed the oil lines are 12mm ID and the fittings are 1/2". Hoses don't want to fit on them so I'm ordering some 1/2" hoses appropriate for Rotax oil applications. Installed the oil tank and oil thermostat. Installed EGT probes. Trying to get everything on the engine that might cause interference with the cowling. Everything seems to be fitting fine. Painter came and looked at the wings and templates. He noticed a few minor issues with some filler on the wings so I've been working on fixing those. Just applying a little light weight filler to fix pin holes or rough areas and sanding.

I like it!

Hot off the press from Sling Central!  A first test fit of the cowling. :-D

I get updates from Sling Central on Tuesday and Friday, so here's the Tuesday update:

Finished moving the seat, riveted all parts in and tested fit of seat. Looks great. Received propeller and parachute. Started to install parachute but quickly realized that the rocket is still not here. Contacted TAF and found out it is shipping separately. Started installing propeller. Installed slip ring for prop pitch control. Installed prop spacer and propeller hub. Test fit spinner. Began installing cowling. Trimmed cowling inlet to clear aux alternator. Installed oil tank and continued routing oil lines and engine wiring.


If you're in the USA have a great Thanksgiving!!

Pics from Sling Central on the great progress they've made this week.

Nice to see they came up with a solution for the fuel flow sensor.

Looking awesome!

Since I had already put in the all the parts for the rearward position, they had to do some modifications (with TAF consultation) to put in the forward position parts.

Nice!

An idea I had a decade ago, but lacked the skills to develop is actually a product.  Saw this company's ad in this month's Kitplanes Magazine.

I'm thinking I'd like this under the cowling.

40 hours this week at Sling Central.  Their progress is ramping up!

Pics from them:

Sling Central has started on the plane.  While a good chunk of this week was unpacking and organizing, they did get to some stuff.

Getting it situated in their hanger.

Weird to see it there...

They fixed the fuel pump clamping issue I mentioned a few weeks ago.

So now the cover slips in easily.

The Sling Central guys arrived in OK on Sunday and offloaded the plane yesterday and today.  Just got these pics.

I have to admit that after being so connected to this plane for 5 and a half years (well, I built it...), it's weird and a bit disconcerting to see it so far away.  But, I'll get used to it... I know they're going to take great care of it and deliver a finished airplane.

And it's off to Ooooooklahoma!!

One last shot in the garage....

Marshall on the left and Mike on the right from Sling Central, ready to load up the 26' truck.

Taken out and turned around.

Ramps built for the mains to ride up since the included ramp is narrow.

Going up....

Secured in place.  That's not going anywhere.

All loaded up, including the secured wings.  The spars are bolted to some beefy structure screwed to the floor.  I had boxed up all the remaining parts and materials, so those were easy to load.  The empennage parts are secured on the floor further up.

Dash cleco'ed and secured in place.

I made them scratch-made chocolate chip cookies for the road and to take home to their families.

See you guys in Oklahoma!!

Classic song from a classic play.  Not too surprisingly, they love it in Oklahoma (it became the state song!)!  Me too!