July 19 Added Lip to Cowl Skirt - July 22 Last Flight From Gordonsville's Old Runway

 

My last experiment, for now, was to add a small curved lip to the bottom of the shallow cowl skirt and reinstall it in place of the steep one.  By the time I got done, on a very hot, humid evening, it was too late to go flying.  I hammered the curve using a plastic hammer and dolly while holding the skirt so it was curved, like when it is installed.  I only did about 20" in the middle where the skirt is perpendicular to the airflow under the cowl.

It came out nice but made the temps hotter so I was back on the ground in 15 minutes.

They're rebuilding our runway, last paved around 1955, to get rid of the cracks, widen it from 40 feet to 50 feet, get rid of the hump near the north end and the dip near the south end.

Looking southwest from the displaced threshold for runway 23.  There's a low spot near the south end.  From here the runway goes downhill, behind me to the northeast

This view is from the north end looking back uphill to the displaced threshold

Another nice warm evening flying.  This was the first change I made which made the temperatures worse, so I learned something from it.

This view is from the end of runway 5 looking back to the northeast.  You can see the dip near this end.  The runway will be flat but still run downhill when they are done.  This end can't be lowered because it's at the property line and the adjoining land owner won't give permission to cut into their property.  The crack will be gone and you'll be able to see if someone or something is on the runway when you start your roll to the south.  Their plan is to reopen it in November, about Thanksgiving (120 days).

While it's closed I plane to recover the fuselage and tail which I covered with cotton it 1994, 28 years ago.  Time goes by quick