Installing the Canard

With the canard complete it was time to fit the canard to the fuselage. Remember the lift tabs that were bonded in? Well, those are now coming into play.

Bonded lift tab just hanging out in the upper right.

Before taking any action, one has to make sure the canard lines up perfectly on the fuselage. It had to be level, centered, and perpendicular to the fuselage. Unfortunately, the F-22 bulkhead was a bit twisted, so the attach points had to be evened out before proceeding.

While the added glass cured, Ced cut out alignment tabs to bond onto the canard's trailing edge. These tabs will mount to the F-28 bulkhead (the bulkhead in the photo below that has a "P" on it).

The canard is upside down.

Curing alignment tab

 With things squared up and the tabs cured, it was time to fit the canard on the fuselage.

Ced carved the side wall foam of the nose and marked out where the torque tube will slide into the fuselage wall.

 Fits like a glove (with the appropriate wiggle room).

 With the canard sitting well on the fuselage, the elevators needed a trim.

Trimming complete, hardware was ready to go in.

The four attach points (two in the F-22 bulkhead in front and two in the F-28 bulkhead behind) were prepped and ready for the canard to be mounted.

Look! A lifting surface!

Things fit well together and the "boat" was looking more like a plane. Well, it did for a few hours. Once everything was sorted, the canard was unbolted from the fuselage and put back into storage.

(Quick summary:  The canard was squared up to the fuselage, holes were drilled in the two bulkheads that the canard attaches to, and hardware was installed.)

Don't judge me by my poorly drawn bulkheads.

Craft Nerd

Making "crafts" can be treacherous territory; one glitter sprinkle too many and you're in the world of garish kitsch. People will never take you seriously again and your whole career as Craft Extraordinaire is doomed for failure. Your opinions and design input will always be ignored and no one will want to visit your home for fear of being "gifted" with floral painted mason jars meant for storing change or other knick knacks.

Despite the stigma of "crafts," I decided to let my craft-nerd run free and make a fall wreath. Sure, I could have purchased a wreath online for $40+, but I'm cheap. Perhaps I could have put that floral design class to use and made my own. Unfortunately, we do not have many mature trees and shrubs to harvest enough material to make a decent wreath. What was I to do? Well, we had a ton of cardboard boxes lying around and I had a lot of fabric waiting to be used.

I measured the front door to get an idea of how large a wreath I could make, grabbed some string and a pencil, and marked out several circles on the cardboard. After hacking away with my #11 X-acto, I had a stack of relatively concentric circles. These were sandwiched with classic Elmer's glue and left to dry while I grabbed various fall-ish fabric swatches and cut out approximately fifty leaves. 

Once all my materials were ready and the rings were dry, the "wreath bones" were wrapped in fabric strips.

The leaves were then layered in alternating colors and styles. . .

. . . and hot glued in place. You can't make a craft without hot glue.

From here I scrunched the tips of the leaves a bit and tacked them in place to add a little dimension to the wreath.

Satisfied with the final product, on the front door it went.

I understand not everyone has a love for crafts and I may have sealed my fate as "tasteless country girl" by hanging a cardboard wreath on the front door. I think I'm ok with that, though. I do promise not to go too overboard with the crafts and I want you to know that if you stop by you won't be leaving with an empty floral painted mason jar. It'll most likely have homemade jam in it.