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Christmas has come and gone for another year, so I went to the shop for a couple of hours on Boxing Day. Today's focus was getting the lower wing skin riveted on, but I got a bunch of other things done or started as well over that afternoon and the next day. I started by pre-setting the A4 rivets along the rib lines and lower skin stiffeners.  I'm purposely leaving the rear edge of the main skin un-rivetted as I still need to tuck in the trailing edge and I can't do that until I finalize the fuel, pitot and static plumbing. I've got fuel line on order (more on that in a future blog) so it will have to wait. Also in this picture the inboard nose skin has been fitted:  I sue Sharpie markers a LOT to make notes on parts as reminders, etc. In this case, I marked this section as "wait" so I wouldn't rivet the lower wing skin until I fitted the main strut pick-up angle. Can't add that until the nose skin is in place:   Here the strut support angle is in place on the lower wing skin, across the main spar and over the nose skin. I struggled a bit with the right wing deciding on an order of operations, but lessons learned there were a huge help here. First, get the rivets in that won't be accessible when the strut pick-up protrudes through from the spar:  First, the A5 rivets at the spar:  Next the pick-up angle is added and some of the A5 riveted to the support angle:  Next the balance of the A4 rivets through the support angle where required:  The balance of the A4 rivets in the support angle (which gets the A4 clecos out the way), followed by the balance of the A5 rivets into the strut angle:   The room to bolt the strut pick-up to the spar web doubler is very limited. To fit the strut pick-up, I carefully tied the nose skin up far enough to get underneath:  This gave me real good access to the spar web doubler angle:  The bottom two bolts in the picture face "downwards" once the wing is right side up. The top bolt i the picture is inverted to clear the nose skin once it lays flat. The bolt are just infer tight so far, I have enough access on the wing is flipped over to roll the nose skin over the nose ribs:  Strut pick-up assembly complete and line up looks perfect:  With the inboard nose skin now ready for final riveting to the spar, I primed the pitot-static tube porthole:  Masked off using wide painters tape and a recent Chritsmas flyer (now useless LOL):   While I waited for that primer to dry, I final fit and riveted the tie down ring:    Final A5 rivets into the main spar:  Forward jury strut attach angles in place:  Inboard nose skin attached to underside wing spar:  Porthole primed, ready for final drilling to A4:  Pitot static tube, final fit complete at the nose skin. I won't rivet this yet, need to wait for final plumbling of the nylon lines:  The nylon pitot static lines run parallel to the rib from the main spar, through the rear channel and inside the trailing edge to the wing root where it meets the cabin. I started by drilling an A5 hole where the first line will come through the rear wing channel:  The nylon lines are 1/4 inch outside diameter, so I need a hole 3/8 inch for the right size rubber grommet that will prevent the nylon line from rubbing on the metal:  First grommet in:  Second grommet, offset from the first:  The grommets are a good fit with no pinching of the nylon lines. I'll be adding tie down points along the rear channel face to secure the line once I have the complete routing to the pitot-static probes complete.  Brought out the template for the outboard nose skin to prep the cutting of the nose skin where it wraps around the wing tip. Still have lots of trimming to the fibreglass tip, it looks like quality of this molding wasn't as nice as the right wing, but with a bit of sanding it should be okay. Also need to add the 016 reinforcing strips.  First rough cut of outboard nose skin shows I am on the right track. The challenge will be making this wing an exact copy of the other one (miror image).  Good progress and more to come this week. I've got a bunch of stuff to consider (fuel tanks/lines/guages being big ones) and wiring/lighting for the navigation, strobe and landing lights. Fuel line and fittings are coming soon and add to that I've got fuselage parts on order hopefully coming early in the new year. I also have a line on some real good used avionics I need to make a decision on soon in order to get them at a substantial discount. The underside of the wing is almost complete and soon will be flipped over to fit the fuel tanks/plumbing once I get the parts and finalize the trailing edges and wing tip. Thanks for reading along. I hope everyone is having a good Christmas break, more to come soon.
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Been a while since my last blog. I was away from home for a couple of weeks on a work road trip. Managed to squeeze in some shop time one night before I left and a whole day after I returned. Got the rear and front jury strut attach angles fitted and drilled:  Pulled the lower wing skin out of the way to match drill the lower trailing edge to the rear channel now that it is trimmed to the correct width:  Took the protective plastic off the outboard nose skin, deburred and prepped the underside for prime:  Same for the inboard nose skin:   Final drilled the rear strut attachment, bolt and riveted onto the rear wing channel:    Deburred and rivetted the flapperon arms to the ribs:   The 3rd flapperon arm will be final riveted once the trailing edge is in place - it leaves more room to slide the inboard trailing edge skin over the rear strut pick-up, a lesson learned from the other wing:  I decided to estimate where I'll need to run the nylon tubing for the pitot-static system. I clamped it in place approximately where it will sit and discovered the wing spar is in the way!  Can you spot the issue?    I have a couple of options. I could bend the tubes outboard and then run the lines through the lightening hole in the spar web, or shorten the two tubes a bit and pass the nylong through new grommeted holes I will drill in the web. I think I like that idea better, it will give more support to both. I'll wait until the pneumatic connectors I have on order arrive to see how much to trim. Finished off the day by deburring and priming the lower wing skins. Also deburred the lower half of the wing skeleton, spar and rear channel.  Next up, fitting the plumbing for fuel (lines/fittings on order) and the nylon tubing for the pitot-static system. Merry Christmas everyone!! |
New here? Try starting at:AuthorHusband, father and 911 dispatcher. Long time pilot with a licence that burns a hole in my pocket where my student loan money used to be. First time aircraft builder. Looking to fly my own airplane. Categories
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