[hharney]

In a earlier post I had discussed the original radio vents on the outside of the cabin. I wanted to remove them because I had a powered avionics fan that had been installed several years ago to provide direct cooling to the avionics. Well the original vents were not even plumbed to the radios anymore and I thought why have these ugly little openings when the aircraft is going to paint. Now is the time to remove these if I can. I had one response concerning the removal and made me think a little more about going through with this. Then I decided to call a major avionics shop and asked them about the vents. They said remove them, they are nothing, just allowing moisture to migrate into areas you don't want moisture. With the powered avionics fan there is no need for these exterior vents. I did find one duct that was not attached to the fan that fed air to the engine / fuel gauge cluster. I figured it would be best to attach this to the powered fan. I had two fittings off the fan not being used so it is now attached. We made some real nice patches for the old vent areas that will be almost invisible with the new paint. Because the rivets that Cessna used for the original vents had to be dimpled, it required the patch holes to be countersunk just enough to fit flush to the inside skin. The original skin is .024 but we had to use .032 for the circle hole to fit flush to the outer skin. The circle was sanded just a little to allow a clean smooth finish. The paint shop will do the rest.

The tail cone for the new strobe needed TLC. This side of the tail has never had a light in it. The opposite side holds the clear nav light and I have had issues with it before too. Well a little Bondo and fiber will bring this back into shape to hold the new strobe light powered by the 2 day run the cable :-) Should look good at night.

The center strap is back on the new windshield and along with the components that live attached to the center. My interior tech did a great job on the center strap trim. It has new life with the new paint and color. Re-install the glideslope antenna and the pilot and co-pilot vent manifold.