Turtledeck Skins

For a consensus, Who waited, did not wait to install the turtledeck skins. Leaving the Aft Canopy off is a no brainer, but the turtledeck skins seem to be possible to work around. ideas, thoughts? Just trying to get as many big parts off the shelf as possible.

Leaving the turtle deck off is a good idea until you need to paint the interior. You could paint the turtle deck and wait, but the rivets would be unpainted. If this is not an issue for you then it can be the second to the last piece installed, with the rear window being the last. It certainly makes access to the flight controls and fuel line tunnel easier to leave it off.

I left them off ....

... until the very end. My advice is to do everything that you possibly can first - because they really get in the way! As to interior painting, this was not an issue for me because I primed and painted all the interior pieces before I assembled them into the structure. Rivets are not painted that way, but if they are consistent IMHO they look OK. Anyway, if you ever install the interior kit most of them will be covered up.

I did my interior paint like John did and I have exposed rivet heads as a result. I personally don't find them to be aesthetically bothersome, but I figure if I ever decide to I can always paint them up with a little brush.

Leave them off until the VERY end. The skins and rear window went on the week before the A/W inspection. Trust me, you will NOT notice the rivets.

We have been painting prior to install. Our plan is to do the side trim and carpet kits and leave the baggage area exposed (painted with the stone speckle). Our fuel line is complete so i am guessing that flight control access will be the only perk to leaving the deck skins off. thanks for the input.