Creating an access hole

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After seeing Dave Thatcher's plane at last year's Sun 'N Fun, I knew I wanted to incorporate an access panel to gain access to the rudder pedals and brakes. This is what I worked on over the last few days.

I decided to put one on each side. I had received a couple of photos from Dave with dimensions I could use, but I also asked Peter Beck for his views on the size and location of this hole since he has had access to Dave's plane. Peter said that he is shipping kits with a larger hole than Dave used. I finally settled on a size that was between the two at about 10" long x 8" high at one end and 5" high at the other with 3/4" radius in the corners. I then drew this up on a software package I use to create sign layouts called Corel Draw, and printed it out for a pattern. I drilled holes in the corners and used a jig saw to cut out the larger access hole. I then used files to finish the shaping. Now I could used this hole as a pattern for the cover plate which I cut out using my band saw.

I called a local, more experinced RV6 builder to see how close of a fit I should try to achieve between the cover and the access hole. He cautioned against too close of a fit, because once you paint the peices they may fit too tightly and chip the paint. He suggested I use some scrap .032 material and maintain this gap distance all away around the cover plate. Then I filed the cover plate down to this tolerance. I'll include pictures of this cover in the next update when I have completed the creation and installation of the mounting plate and cover.

Here is what she looks like with both forward skins temporarily attached together.