Turtle Deck

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This is the turtle deck I
got from Gene Byrd after
he crashed his KR-2S.
As you can see it is much
too long for my KR-2 but
I'll try to make it work.

Just checking head
room with the turtle
deck sitting on the
longerons.

Turtle deck raised
three inched will give
adequate head room

Just to double check
with the canopy

I'm imitating Mark
Langfords method of
attaching the turtle deck.
Piano hinge is attached
to longeron.

I built some longeron risers that are three inched high just behind the cockpit then taper
to zero at the horizontal stabilizer.

Because the turtle deck was too long it was also too wide at the for my fuselage toward
the rear. I split the turtle deck length wise along the top then trimmed it to fit. Here it is
clamped in placed, floxed and fiberglassed to the longeron risers and along the split.

This area was
damaged in the crash
but was easily
repairable.

In the upper right corner of this picture
you can see where the turtle deck was
cut length wise and is being fitted back
together. I have also decided to make
a removable inspection cover over the
stabilizer so the deck has been cut off
just forward of the stabilizer.

Tail cone

I used the original turtle
deck pieces thet I had cut
off to start the removable
tail cone then poured two
part foam to make it a
fairing.

I first sanded it to a
general shape using
a very course grit
sand paper on a
piece of 3 inch PVC
pipe.

I continue the forming and shaping by using an
inflatable sanding drum. This drum is supposed
to be used in a lathe or drill press but I made a
handle with a oillite bushing and used it with a
hand held drill.