Floor Pan

The floor pan isn't too bad to install

The hardest parts are cutting the pedal holes and installing the floor compartment.  The foor compartment is a pretty easy task no matter which method you choose.

The pedal holes need be large enough so you can install the floorpan with them installed or you'll chip the edges around the holes trying to force them through the openings.  We added grease zerts to the two peddles that rotate with the tubes and had to make them a little larger to be able to access the fittings with a grease gun.

One thing we did at this point when we noticed the pads that hold the floorpan up weren't centered was to shim the seatback forward on the pilots side,

DON'T DO THAT!! 

If you do you will create all kinds of body alignment problems. It sets where it sets is the final answer so don't get excited it's just another one of the things you have to do that doesn't make sense but in the long run works out just fine.

We did glass in some extra layers of fiberglass

at those points to keep them from punching through the floor.

Something I saw on another ship was screen material installed on the inside of the air ducts

and if I ever had it do do again I'd have done it. It makes the vents look alot better and it would also protect them from filling up with grass from hovering over fresh cut grass. I'm sure to that if a foreign object ever got onto the venting system it may protect us from having something projected from them possibly into out eyes as we were flying through the air.

When your installing all those nut plates don't do what we did and install them across the front on the nose where the windshield attaches.

Those are supposed to be screws and nuts across the front to prevent you from
over tightening the windshield causing it to crack.

We already had the nut plates installed so we used them anyway. We drew the screws up until the heads just touch and so far knock on wood its not caused a problem.

Heel plates

For starters here you may find the patterns RotorWay provides in the kit aren't right if you make these parts from them.

Patterns are for general reference and not an absolute size!

We didn't catch this anywhere in the building books, videos or prints but found this out the hard way which was having to make parts over again so don't forget this or you will be doing the same thing.

We found the best way to make these parts is to obtain some poster board and make them out of it first
to be sure everything is up to snuff before cutting the real thing.

We had previously cut these to patterns provided in the kit and got lucky and they worked out just fine.

END