02-08-2026, 05:35 PM
Sam,
You are making good progress and my advice is to take your time measuring everything carefully and sometimes walk away to think about what you're trying to accomplish. I don't want to discourage you, but it took me 24 years to finish the construction of my helicopter. Part of the reason when I started there was the resources that are available over the internet. Also, I did not purchase the kit but rather purchased an Exec that was flying and wanted to upgrade it to an Exec162 less the Fadec system. There are a few ideas I had a long the way that I would like to share with you. The first would be to throw all of the Dzus locks in the recycle pile and purchase quarter turn 2600 series CLoc from Skybolt . They are also available from Aircraft Spruce
https://store.skybolt.com/cloc-stainless...-c157.aspx.
They are made of stainless and the Phillips head and they reduce the chance of damaging your body or paint job. For those other applications where you would use a pan head screw I chose to use Flush Finish countersunk washers with flat head Phillips head screws from Aircraft Spruce. The only place I used round head Phillips Screws is on the windscreen. Here is a photo showing both types of fasteners on the body panel. The CLoc are on the lower rear panels, on the dog house, and the interior seat back panels. The flat head countersunk screws are on the other body panels that are not removed for pre and post flight inspections.
![[Image: DSCN2086.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/W48tfq37/DSCN2086.jpg)
You are making good progress and my advice is to take your time measuring everything carefully and sometimes walk away to think about what you're trying to accomplish. I don't want to discourage you, but it took me 24 years to finish the construction of my helicopter. Part of the reason when I started there was the resources that are available over the internet. Also, I did not purchase the kit but rather purchased an Exec that was flying and wanted to upgrade it to an Exec162 less the Fadec system. There are a few ideas I had a long the way that I would like to share with you. The first would be to throw all of the Dzus locks in the recycle pile and purchase quarter turn 2600 series CLoc from Skybolt . They are also available from Aircraft Spruce
https://store.skybolt.com/cloc-stainless...-c157.aspx.
They are made of stainless and the Phillips head and they reduce the chance of damaging your body or paint job. For those other applications where you would use a pan head screw I chose to use Flush Finish countersunk washers with flat head Phillips head screws from Aircraft Spruce. The only place I used round head Phillips Screws is on the windscreen. Here is a photo showing both types of fasteners on the body panel. The CLoc are on the lower rear panels, on the dog house, and the interior seat back panels. The flat head countersunk screws are on the other body panels that are not removed for pre and post flight inspections.