Over the last several days got the F-717 lower longerons trimmed, twisted, marked and pilot-drilled to the lower firewall weldments. I always mark the places not to cut, lest I cut them!

The plans call for trimming the flange completely away, but I didn’t think it was worth the time since I’m not installing a training wheel up front and there will be no gear weldments in this area.

The plans call for trimming the flange completely away, but I didn’t think it was worth the time since I’m not installing a training wheel up front and there will be no gear weldments in this area. With the flanges trimmed I pilot-drilled #30 holes for the firewall attach bolts. I moved the holes inboard 1/32″ to give a little more edge distance in the steel; there’s still plenty of edge distance in the longeron.