Radio waves don't go through carbon well so the fin cap is fiberglass, where we'll fit as many antennae as possible. And the test fit/trim/repeat cycle is finally complete on the rudder.

Some wrenching and a lot of project management lately. Prop showed up, with one broken blade sticking through the side of the box, so had to have them send us a new box to ship it back.

Assembled the rudder pedal assembly and set it aside for later installation. The ends float where they attach to the left and right cabin walls to allow for cabin expansion when pressurized.

Assembling hydraulic system components. I like it when the build manual instructions are life size!

At the factory chasing down parts and saw my engine starting build up and a beta for the box of electronic circuit breakers. The next iteration will replace some computer-style connectors with aircraft-style and be about a third smaller and lighter.

Just love this thread!
Thanks for letting us live vicariously.

The back-ordered gear is finally ready so the plane is in the jig with the wings back on, ready for gear installation and alignment. This is one of the jobs the factory does to ensure it's within specs. We'll see how much they let me do.

The build is more flexible than I expected. Where I expected they'd save specific tasks for me to complete, probably ones too simple for a noob to screw up, instead they toss me into whatever tasks they're working on when I show up. Of course I'm sure teaching and supervising me takes longer than if they just did it themselves.

With digital levels, plumb bobs and careful measurement, the main gear was aligned and mated to the airframe. Only problem, the conversation where we specified black never got written down. Fine, whatever, we'll have them stripped and re-powder coated.

In other news, I'm finding myself closer to the bleeding edge than I intended. The time has come to order a de-ice system, a must in the PNW. I'd hoped to have some real-world results on the one I prefer before committing but it's only flying on one plane so far, that one's down south so it hasn't yet seen ice, and in any case it's now grounded for an engine rebuild. A second plane also has the system installed but it's a ways yet from flying. Sure it will work on the test stand but I had hoped not to be the first to Boldly Go with the system into wet winter clouds.

Cabin doors are a different mold than the cabin, are oversized and must be trimmed to fit (test, repeat). Once the position is fixed, it's secured with popsicle sticks and superglue, then the hinge locations are drilled and clecoed. This took most of a day per door (main and baggage).

I love this plane! Downloaded the build manual from a few years ago. Looks straightforward.

I will live vicariously through you and Gerry for now. Thanks for posting your story!

Thanks and yes. I got the "joggled" wings, with a little depression in the leading edge (visible as the gray shim in the picture) that a deice system fills and brings the contour up to design rather than sticking out. Boots on a regular wing are reported to cost about 12 kts, on a joggled wing it should be considerably less. I'm planning on using an electric system by Villenger, it looks very promising but so far it's in flight test on one Evo and hasn't seen ice yet so no word on effectiveness. If it doesn't work out I'll backpedal and go with boots. Gotta have deice when based in Seattle.

For much the same reasons Austin Meyer regrets going with the -42. http://austinmeyer.com/2016/06/14/844x-ups-and-downs/
Gerry and I have different priorities, the missions I want to do require range and payload so I value light and efficient more than going a little faster. I'd rather arrive a few minutes later with a lot more reserve, while avoiding fuel stops.

The cost difference was smaller than I expected since Pratt was having a sale. Add in new w/ warranty vs. used, lighter, and the cheaper overhaul reserve and I was sold.

"Everyone" might be a little strong. Of the several build shops I investigated, only RDD liked the -42 engine on the Evo. The three Evo flight test and training pilots I talked to preferred the -135A as well.

The NXi isn't just for the upgrade market, it's replaced the original G1000 in all OEMs. Piper, Textron and TBM have already announced it. I doubt Garmin is making any more of the old hardware except to refurbish old boxes as they come in, who would buy it? Osborne effect. And that counts double for the 950 (upgrade) and 900X (experimental) markets where customers have a choice, not limited by the type certificate.Autopilot and F/D, both of which are important to me for single piloting. The GFC700 is the best and build shops I talked to -- again, with the exception of RDD -- don't think the G3X is up to the job. Note that the G3X Touch is standard and the GFC700 unavailable on the Evo piston and EAC (new name, no longer Lancair since the old lines were sold to Texas) was surprised by the pushback from potential piston buyers. It was quite a coup that Lancair managed to get the GFC700 on the Evo, Garmin hasn't done it for any other E-AB, they say it's too much work to customize the software for each airframe.

His is a bit bright for my taste, but then I only saw it once. Indoors. With my sunglasses on.