FW: “Ok, here’s what you do, get the door off, then square it up from the inside, but cut it as close to the fuselage door cut line as possible”

OK, so two things. First, I don’t like the “cut perpendicular to the door cut line from the inside” technique at all. You’d have to have line a foot long saw to do that in one motion, and I think it’d be hard to judge “perpendicular”. Second, on my fast build I have a door jamb already, for which I’m grateful, but the cut line needs to be even with the opening (a 1/2″ further out), not the jamb. So, here’s what I did. You go to the hardware store and get one of these trick new B&W laser level/stud finder deals, pin one side so it doesn’t seek level, grab a stand, and fire the laser at the strake perpendicular to the fuselage along the door line. At least this way I can visualize the cut line, verify it’s perpendicular, scribe the line, and cut it. I was very pleased briefly, as this worked very well for me. Then I realized that I still had a door clearance issue. A quick search of the available Velocity picture archives confirmed that my strake was too low on the door line. Many angst filled hours and a couple of phone calls to the factory, the Strake Repair began.

Laser Alignment of Door/Strake Cut Line

Door Cut Out