FUEL TANKS PART 3 and rolling the nose skin

After a week away for work, it was good to get back to the shop for some build time this past Sunday.

I received my adapaters that go between the fuel finger screen in the tank to the hose end fittings:

Loosely fit in position inside the wing bay:

Next, I needed to drill the large hole in the rear wing channel for the fuel line to pass through into the trailing edge.  Laid out the location as per the plans, but moved the centre of the hole down a bit to allow the grommet to sit flat away from the doubler above:

It didn't take as much effort to create the hole with the bi-metal hole saw as I thought it would.  This hole goes through the 040 rear channel and the .125 root doubler plate.  A bit of sanding and it cleaned up nicely.

I primed the hole on both sides to prevent any corrosion between the channel and doubler:

Next up was adding the Swivel-Seal hose ends to the braided line.  The process starts with the threaded collar.  I protected the nice anodized finish by covering the vice jaws with tape first.

The cleaned end of the braided line is inserted into the back of the collar.  It's a tight fit, but if you twist the line as you push it inwards it goes smoothly:

As per the instructions found online, the line gets inserted to just shy of the inner threads:

Next, the fitting gets mounted in the vice:

Push the collar centred and forward onto the fitting until the threads can start engaging:

Tighten the collar down on the fitting using a wrench while turning the braided line until tight:

It's a bit of a pain to get this large grommet in and sitting flat, but it is the perfect size for the braided line to pass through:

The braided line has a limit to it's bend radius, but I'll be well within the allowable limits once the trailing edge of the wing is in place.  I will need to protect the pitot/static lines from abrading against the fuel line.

As I completed the fuel line for left wing, I fabricated the one for the right wing in prep for install once my tanks are ready.  These fitting aren't cheap, but this is important for safety and they look good too:

Also got my flush fit fuel caps in from Aircraft Spruce.  The factory finish on these is excellent, very pleased.  Just need to figure out how to make the threaded flange fit the tanks.  Email sent to manufacturer for guidance.

Prepping for the wing nose skin to be rolled up, I marked out the slots needed for the slat support brackets where they pass through the nose skin, using the same method as I used on the other wing:

Wing nose skin ready to roll over the nose ribs using ratchet straps.  This went easier without the trailing edges in place:

Inboard nose skin drilled out to A3 at the spar once all squared up with wing:

Both inboard and outboard nose skins now rolled and attached.  Still need to final rivet the slat attach brackets to the nose ribs, but at least I'm closer to closing up the wing.

Once the nose skins are final drilled and deburred, I'll add in the fuel tank angles to the back of the spar in the fuel tank bay.  I'll need them welded up before doing that.  Hopefully I'll have answers back about the fuel caps by then.

More to come, stayed tuned :)