Fairing the keel (C17)

Posted by Matt R on Feb 24, 2007

I finally started putting my C17 together after buying the plans 3 years ago and scarfing/cutting the wood almost 2 years ago. I'm at the point where I'm fairing the keel and it looks good except a flat spot under the cockpit. I cut the ties under the cockpit and a half inch gap appeared almost 3 feet long, but the keel faired out almost perfectly without any shims. As soon and I start to tighten up the stitches, the flat spot appears again. If I reduce the gap to a quarter inch gap and put weights in the cockpit area, the hull fairs out again. My question/concern is what will the effect of having a large gap to fill be? Do weights help or will it just return to being flat after I fillet and remove the weight? Any advice is greatly appreciated. - Matt

Replies:

• Re: Fairing the keel (C17 by Jon B. on Feb 24, 2007
  • Re: Fairing the keel (C17 by Woodie on Feb 25, 2007
    • Re: Fairing the keel (C17 by Matt R on Mar 6, 2007