The preliminary work on the keel includes cutting down the rear area (which eventually gets a new cover) to help with the installation of the mechanics for the ailerons, engine controls, etc. A standard Velocity kit does not cut this down, but since I purchased the luxury keel and side stick controller options, it does affect my kit.
There is also a front access hole that needs to be cut out. Even though the instruction said to make a cover for this opening (which I did) the factory tells me that the cover really isn’t needed. Darn! And my cover came out so nice. We’ll see - perhaps I’ll use it anyway. In any case, here’s the front access hole.
Before the keel is permanently installed, a glideslope antenna needs to be mounted in the floor underneath the keel. This is a fairly simple process but it still takes time!
There’s a lot more keel work to be done. See Section 6.4.0 Keel Controls for that process. For now, it’s time to make the front seats!