I need to either make a jig to simulate the prop placement or wait on the prop itself to arrive before I do the actual fitting of the cowl. In the meantime, I decided to go ahead and cut the lower cowl to accommodate the nose gear. Finding the center line was more of a guess than a definitive location since the cowl is still in its raw form and the edges haven't been trimmed (but you can't trim the rest without putting it in place on the firewall, which you can't do unless the slot for the gear is cut). I clamped a piece of angle to the bottom edge of the cowl, marked the exhaust exit on the angle, then found the middle point on the angle. That should be the center line on the aft portion. I then drew a line at 90 degrees to that point, but apparently the aft edge is not trimmed square either, because that line veered off course when compared to the air intake snout. So instead, I eyeballed the middle of the oval of the front air intake and just connected that with the rear center line and pulled a string. It's probably not exact, but the gear won't get anywhere near the cowl in anything but a crash landing, so the cutout is really just to make dropping the cowl to take it off easier - precision doesn't really matter.
I pulled out my angle grinder and cut the slot out according to the plans. It seems huge, but 15.5" long and 2.25" wide is what the plans call for. I think its length is to accommodate a three blade prop (you have to be able to drop the cowl much further down to clear two angled prop blades on the three blade, which means the gear leg needs a longer slot - with only 2 blades that can be placed in the horizontal plane, the cowl doesn't have to drop down as far to clear them). I went ahead and cut for the 3 blade prop, just in case someday I go that route. It doesn't really matter anyway, since I'll be making a removable fairing that covers the slot unless you take it off to remove the cowl.
I feel like I'm jumping all over the place, but that's kind of the name of the game anymore. Until I make the prop jig, or get the prop (I just ordered it last week). One of the other big things I have to do is finish up the canopy. I grabbed it out of storage and put it back on the frame to remind myself how it all fits. I will need to do some fine tuning before I glue it down. I think that'll be my next big project. It's tough to place accurately by myself though, so I'll get it all sorted out and then sweet talk Rose or Perry into helping for a few minutes.
