Building the skin between firewall, panel, windshield, and landing gear. ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204422979.jpg]] The boot cowl, the aluminum skin aft of the firewall, encloses the space where the pilot's legs extend. It also houses most of the avionics. Essentially, it's a skin section linking two bulkheads. Complexity arises from its interfacing with the exhaust tunnel, gear legs, windshield, instrument panel, and various struts. ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204431528.jpg]] The key to fabricating the boot cowl lies in understanding the skin's connection points on the pilot's side, where no continuous bulkhead exists. Instead, the skin attaches to side formers, the instrument panel, and a partial bottom bulkhead, with the windshield resting atop this lofted shape and sealing against the top skin. An important consideration is ensuring easy access for maintenance. The top skin, positioned above the panel and under the windshield, presents an ideal location for a service opening. This skin wraps around the fuselage tubes, so the required panel split can double as a service access point for the avionics. In the XHawk, I've also made the side skin removable, with the split situated below the permanently installed windshield. An additional split at the bottom allows removal without detaching the gear legs. ## Firewall  The first order of business involves mounting the firewall, adjusting the flange, and trimming the flaps to the exhaust tunnel. On the fuselage, I drilled and reamed the holes for the engine mount bolts, a straightforward task requiring elbow grease. The kit's firewall comes with pilot holes for the four engine mount bolts, which must be checked and drilled to size—using a sharp drill bit and some oil aids in handling the titanium. I sandwiched the firewall between the fuselage and the engine mount, adding a washer between them to compensate for protruding welds. ## Instrument Panel ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204439136.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204445360.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204451073.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204456301.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204501892.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204509617.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204515221.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204521975.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204528322.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204535533.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204542280.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204548569.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204554445.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204600250.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204606173.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204611868.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204616975.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204622539.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204628516.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204634479.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204640276.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204647259.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204654779.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204700062.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204706480.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204713647.jpg]] ![[Boot Cowling-20241102204722307.jpg]]