A whole passel of comments on unrelated issues posted today, generic to all
Lancairs.

1)  Nulites for hydraulic gauges -- I installed a Nulite around the attitude
indicator on my Cessna 150.  I thought it was adequate, but marginal.  
Internally lighted gauges are far superior, at least on a primary gauge like
the attitude indicator.  Lighting was good within a half inch of the edges
but dim in the center.  For a small gauge (maybe 1" hydraulic gauge?) it
should work rather well.

2)  Scotchbrite pads and alodine -- A very good idea.  In fact, you can wear
a pair of rubber gloves (swipe the ones from under the kitchen sink) and use
the scotchbrite pad during the phosphoric acid etch, rather than only
immediately before dunking.  It works well.  No need for rubbing the part
when alodining - just during the etching/cleaning step.

3)  From Ric Argente -- "chunk (i.e. throw in garbage can)  the old Matco
pads" -- Okay, I will.  I'll send them back for relining.  $20 is pretty
cheap insurance.

4)  Also from Ric -- "PS  Rob-get that thing flying already, okay!!" -- Okay,
I'll try.  I got a tremendous amount of work done last year when my old
company folded and I had a lot of time off.  Maybe if I'm lucky the new
company will fold and I'll be able to finish the Lancair soon (uhhh, wait a
minute...)  Seriously, though, I hope to be at Oshkosh in 2004; 2005 at the
latest.  Prepare to eat my dust....(still looking for a race name --
"Rocketeer" has been suggested, as have several unflattering ones....)

5)  Naf -- are the new rotors you got any different from the old ones?  Do
these have the "D5" stamp that Chris Zavatson described?  Do you remember
what they cost?  (Okay, so this one is LNC2-specific.  Sorry!)

6)  Inside of control tubes -- Interestingly, if you look at any control
tubes for sale at the Fly Market, you will find that all of them have a hole
at each end, presumably for water to escape.  If you look at the kitplanes,
I'd be surprised if *any* of them have such a vent hole.  Ted Stanley is
correct that corrosion on the inside is a consideration.  That's why I had my
tubing alodined before I cut them to length, though anodize would work just
as well.  I think alodine is better if you intend to paint afterwards, and
anodize if you don't intend to paint them.

7)  Body filler -- Superfil is easy to use and sand.  But use micro on the
leading edges of anything since it's more durable.  Also, I had about a 3/16
buildup of Superfil in the vicinity of my jacking points so I sanded that
away with a die grinder and locally used micro.

8)  Spreading filler -- have not tried a hot metal spreader but it sounds
interesting.  I'll try it, thanks.  For large areas (1 square foot and more)
peel ply sheets work extremely well.  Use the lightest weight cloth you can
find (tighter weave and smaller threads), and don't use those little 4"
rolls.  Get it by the yard.  Put on about as much filler as you need, cover
it with peel ply, and smooth it out with a squeegee.  You will not be able to
remove excess filler while there is peel ply over it so that's why you need
to get the right amount on first.

Enough Lancairs.  Back to the day job for awhile....  

- Rob Wolf
LNC2 50% IO-360