As most of you know, we're now accepting orders for the Upgrade Package kit. We're not ready to ship the kits just yet, but we're getting everything organized so that we can ship as soon as the kit installation has been verified and documented, and that all the needed parts are in stock. We're prioritizing availability to first ship to those builders who are ready to install the Upgrade Package kit parts. We ask that those of you who are not ready yet to install the upgrade package to let us know (you can indicate this on the order form). One of the advantages of taking delivery later will be that better documentation will be available as fellow builders will have already done through and documented the process.... If you have not already ordered your Upgrade Package kit, you can order yours today.

Today, we've also updated the draft drawings for the Upgrade Package: 6-ZU-1, 6-ZU-2, 6-ZU-3, 6-ZU-4, and LAA Aileron Balance.

I've noticed that some builders are posting photo updates of their Upgrades as they perform them. Thanks for taking the time to share your photos and experience with fellow builders. Alex Roca has started a photo album chronicling his Upgrade Package installation.

Disassembling the Center Wing Spar Assembly:
After pulling the center wing spar assembly out of the fuselage, we now start taking it apart.

The rivets along the top of the front center spar web (6W4-1) are drilled out and we take out the AN4 bolts, nuts and spacers between the front and rear halves of the center wing spar (above), and then take the two halves apart:

These are the AN4 nuts and bolts, and the spacers (6W4-5) from the original Center Wing Spar (6W4) assembly:

The two halves of the center wing spar assembly (6W4). On the right is the front half (facing down) with the back half on the right.

Here Caleb uses a center punch to expand the dimple in the solid (conventional) rivet:

And now he uses an undersized bit to drill into the AN-470, being mindful not to enlarge the hole:

Then, using a chisel and hammer he knocks the rivet head off:

...and now he hammers the rivet stem out using a punch. This is the same procedure and tools we used earlier to drill out the top inboard main wing spars.

Here's the disassembled Center Wing Spar Assembly (on the right) with the additional new parts on the left that we'll position, drill and rivet together next:

Here's the video clip:

As many of you know, the Zenair Newsletter includes a bonus DVD with every issue (which, in my opinion, makes the Newsletter subscription an outstanding value). Jon Croke, the editor, has stated that he'll summarize my video clips on the next DVD. We'll update these video clips to make sure that they reflect the latest changes...