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I'm about to install my subfloors and, as you regular readers know, I've been agonizing over just what size, height, etc they should be.  After playing with several cardboard mockups (foam-core, actually, easier to work with than cardboard), and sitting in several Lancairs, I have come to the following conclusions.

1)  Read the manual and make your first mockup like they say.  It won't be too far wrong.

2)  Make another mockup which incorporates the changes you'd like to see.

3)  Sit in as many Lancairs as you can.  I've been pleased with how willing fellow Lancair owners are to proudly show off their creations, and to let me sit in them and take measurements.  You'll also get plenty of other ideas unrelated to subfloors...

4)  Build your final mockup to verify that you'll be happy, and to serve as a pattern for cutting the pre-preg (or foam) that will be the actual floor.

I think it's important to play with a few mockups first, so that you can fully understand the nuances and issues involved (how tall, how far back, parallel to the longerons or to the outer skin, etc).  I sat in one to assess the floorboards before I made my first mockup, and it turns out to have been mostly wasted time.  I knew it was comfortable, but I didn't know why.  Having made the mockups, I was able to appreciate why I liked or didn't like the ones I sat in afterwards.  (Not that any were bad, just some were more appropriate to my body shape and size than others.)

Many thanks to all you guys who let me sit in your airplanes.  I'll be happy to repay your kindness my letting the guys following me to sit in mine to get their own ideas.

- Rob Wolf

LML website:   http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
Builders' Bookstore:   http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair

Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.