Feb 27, 2021     Wing root fairings       Category: Wings

Fitted the wing root fairings. Looks good although not primed yet.

  Feb 12, 2021     Wing all Together       Category: Wings

Ailerons installed on wings. Looks like an airplane!

  Jan 24, 2021     Ailerons Painted       Category: Wings

Sanded the first coat of primer and poly filling and painted last coat of epoxy primer on the ailerons.

  Jan 22, 2021     Wingtip Lights/Strobes       Category: Wings

Installed wingtip lights. Not as elegant as the recessed ones but simple to install.

  Sep 22, 2019     Repositioning Aileron QC Pivot Bolts       Category: Wings

After stretching my fingers to make them as long as E.T. (for those old enough to know what I am talking about) I re-positioned the aileron Quick Connect pivot bolts. Yes, you need those un-earthly long fingers to reach stuff in there. On a serious note, over the years I amassed a collection of small and large hemostats that are invaluable to performing such jobs. I just need to remember to recover all the parts that fell into the fuselage that I can't retrieve until I remove the wings (nope, the bottom hole, albeit large, wont allow your hand to fit!!). First I drilled the counter-bores on the spar. Then checked the alignment of the bolts as instructed in the manual. The port wing was almost right-on requiring minor enlargement of the existing hole. The starboard side was a little off but not much. A little filing, epoxy mixing and bonding and it's done (or so I think).

  Jul 04, 2019     LE Lift Pin Fuselage Reinforcement       Category: Wings

Completed the leading edge fuselage lift pin reinforcement. I guess at this point the wings wouldn't fall of the airplane If I could fly it ��icture of port side here. Starboard side is similar.

  Jul 02, 2019     Wing TE Tie Bar is completed       Category: Wings

Today the tie bar tunnel closing was completed.

  Jun 30, 2019     Wings TE Tie Bar       Category: Wings

The TE tie bar is painted and installed. Coming up next is to tie it to the tunnel.

  Jun 22, 2019     Glass TE Tie Bar Gusset - STBD Side       Category: Wings

STBD side gusset glassed

  Jun 20, 2019     Glass TE Tie Bar Gusset       Category: Wings

Glassed the port tie bar wood gusset.

  May 31, 2019     Trailing Edge (TE) Tie Bar       Category: Wings

Today I made the gussets for the trailing edge lift pin sockets tie bar. I also bonded the gussets to the cockpit module.

One thing to be clear is that I did not follow the manual to build the tie bar and mount it to the fuselage (that doesn't mean I don't carefully read the instructions, then change them as I see fit). I seems to be doing that a lot and with good success lately (until it bites me I guess). The reason I deviated from the manual is that the way they have you build this requires that all holes drilled through the round steel bar and gussets (both steel and wood) be drilled in the airplane, right against the cockpit module's aft bulkhead and with limited space. I hate doing things like that!

So I built the tie bar, including all gussets, outside of the plane. Drilling all holes that go through steel in the drill press and then bonding it to the fuselage cockpit module. It worked very well but it does require a bit of precision. Would I recommend it to other? Well, yes but again it depends how confident you are of your ability to be very precise when drilling holes and lining up things.

The pictures show the process of installing the wood gussets to the tie bar and then bonding them to the fuselage.

I am going on a family vacation for a week. When I come back I will glass the wood gusset (that should be fun), paint the tie bar steel parts and finally permanently install the tie bar in place. After that the front sockets internal reinforcement. Did I mention the reinforcement jobs never end? Why wasn't all this molded to the fuselage to start with? Not whining since I do have fun building this thing but no wonder the build time is more like 2000 hours instead of Europa's claimed 500 hours.

Enjoy the pictures.

  May 29, 2019     Bolting Lift Pin Sockets and Installing Tie Bar       Category: Wings

Made a contraption by gluing a bubble level to the drill and it that worked well to drill the tie bar flange holes. I had my doubts but it actually worked very well. Don't ask me how :) Anyway, tie bar cut, holes drilled, LE lift pin socket bolts installed. Work to continue installing the LE tie bar. It never seems to end! Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce. Well, one day it will be done.

  May 25, 2019     Wings Successfully Attached       Category: Wings

Completed installation of TE lift pin sockets. The wings can now safely stay on the airplane without support and can be removed to continue work to reinforce the wing attach points/

  May 19, 2019     Bond TE Lift Pin Sockets       Category: Wings

Today was a BIG day! Did the layup over the TE Lift Pin Sockets and it was so hot that it was cured early afternoon so, what the heck, I decided to bond the sockets in place. All went well and I believe it all came out very accurate. We will see once it flies I guess.

The pictures show the finished TE shims, shims after glassing and the sockets bonded in place.

  May 18, 2019     Trailing Edge Hardpoints       Category: Wings

Today I shaped and bonded the training edge hardpoints.

  May 14, 2019     Fuselage Lift Pin Attachments       Category: Wings

Found a way to reorganize hangar and place the airplanes inside while having the Europa with the wings on. This will allow me to finish fitting the wings to the fuselage. Today checked incidence, sweep and dihedral and it's all looking really good. Fabricated the plywood shims for the TE lift pin socket mounting. As predicted (brought up by Bud a while back) the port side LE pin is almost against the fuselage while the starboard side one is separated a bit. He mentioned mold defect. So shims will be required for that side. But everything is looking good so far.

  May 12, 2019     Wing Lift Pin Hardpoint Reinforcements (Fuselage)       Category: Wings

This weekend was quite productive. I am finally fully engaged into the build chapter covering fitting the wings to the fuselage. I know I keep saying that everything I am doing lately is a milestone. But this one is a biggie. Although after fitting the wings there is still a ton to be done, I feel that fitting the wings signifies one of the last items that are critical to the success of a great flying airframe. Do it wrong and you have a crooked airplane. And so, I am taking my time to do it right.

Once thing worth mentioning is that this is a tough part of the build since it would be nice if the wings could be fitted and left in the airplane until the wings are fully fixated to the fuselage. But although I do have a large hangar, I would have to leave the LongEZ outside for a long period of time and that is not an option with the storms we have been getting lately. But the work is progressing and I hope to have the wings attached to the fuselage in a couple of weeks.

So to the progress this weekend, I reinforced the fuselage in the areas where the wings lift pin sockets are installed. Not a hard job. Next step is to install the sockets at which point the wing's incidences will be set.

  May 05, 2019     Bonding Wing Pin Bushings       Category: Wings

This weekend the wings were rigged to the fuselage, all angles checked (perfect) and then the wing attachment pins were bonded to the cockpit module as well as the starboard side spar socket.

This is a deviation from the manual since it instructs to bond the bushing to the cockpit module even before it was installed in the fuselage. This made no sense to me since it could easily result in the bushings not being properly aligned (and in fact many builders report issues in this area).

I had to design pins to allow the spars to be pulled together toward the cockpit modula but this process worked very well.

  Apr 30, 2019     Wing Spar Sockets       Category: Wings

So it is said that you will always hit a plateau during any serious activity. I got the wings closed and slumped. Haven't done much to the Europa in a few weeks. To be honest, I did work hard on the LongEZ annual and it's back in the air. Also worked on reorganizing the hangar which was much needed to create additional space for the next phase of the Europa build.

In the mean time and, in preparation for mounting the wings in the fuselage, I have modified the cradle to make it sturdier (the airplane is gaining weight) and installed the wing torque pins on the root rib. I put the wings together in the hangar and today installed the starboard spar socket. I was planning, probably unwisely, to not install them. But when I tried to mount the wings on the plane it was so hard to align the spars and insert the pins that I changed my mind :)

Next step is to install the port wing socket and then install the wings in the fuselage. Very exciting stuff indeed.

Some pictures of the progress:

  Mar 24, 2019     Wings Completed (Almost)       Category: Wings

The wings shown here. Skins closed and in the racks. Still needed to be done is a small torsion layup on the skin on the root.

  Mar 16, 2019     Both Wings Now Closed       Category: Wings

Today I completed to what is to me the biggest job, closing both wings. As always, first wing was a learning process with the second wing coming out better. Both are fine, just different level of perfection :) As previously explained, didn't want to go through the process twice so decided to close the wing in one step (instead of pre-filling the gaps). I think came out good although I am sure quite a bit extra epoxy was used out of fear of going too dry. It seems that in this process you either have too much adhesive or too little. Some picture of the process and result:

Pictures:
- Inboard portion of wing with adhesive
- Outboard portion of wing with adhesive
- Picture of me ready to close wing
- Wing with weights holding skin down
- Today is getting a little cold so tent with some heat applied

  Mar 10, 2019     Bonding Top Skin (PORT)       Category: Wings

Today the port wing's top skin was installed. Process worked well and did the job in one pass without pre-filling the rib gap as many people do. This I did because I found a way to check the gap between the top skin and the ribs. With this knowledge it is then easy to apply the appropriate amount of adhesive and bond the skin. Some pictures here to document the process:

Pictures:
Wing ready for closing:
Top skin ready for closing:
Determining gap between ribs and top skin:
Top applying adhesive while I mix:
Weight applied to the top skin:
Top skin clamped to the root rib flange

  Mar 06, 2019     Sanding Bonding Areas of Wing Top Skin       Category: Wings

Today started sanding the bonding areas of the wing top skin. The wing is now fixtured over the table and need to get ready for the skin bonding process.

  Jan 08, 2019     STDB Wing Aileron and Flap Fitting       Category: Wings

So I am building the wings in a completely different sequence than what the plans call for. Because the plans SUCK!!!! At least in this section. So I am holding everything in place with clamps and clecos and slowly placing things in their corresponding places. Once happy I will glass and bond things in permanently.

Port wing has ailerons and flaps staged with clecos and clamps. I find that working on both wings at once the things learned (and tools on the table are readily available to make faster progress). Yes, the second wing comes out better, Argh!!!

Pictures:
1.- Here is progress on the STDB wing. Ailerons mounted with clecos and the flap in place held by clamps

  Nov 20, 2018     Reinforcing the Wings       Category: Wings

Progress has been slow. Life obligations caught up and I had to take care of them. Unfortunately the Europa build progress suffered a little. But I got the tapes that reinforce the wing spar to the skins done, including the root ribs. I also finished the aileron closeout reinforcement on the starboard wing. Unfortunately the weather is getting colder and it's becoming hard to find days where it is warm enough for me to do epoxy work. Started working on other things but really wanted to get the wings reinforcements done.

Pictures:
1.- Spar to skin reinforcements
2.- Root ribs reinforcements
3.- Aileron closeout reinforcement starboard wing. The tent is because its starting to get cold and needed to blow some hot air in there.
4.- One thing I have been doing on the side is working on my panel planning and electrical. Decided to make the panel in small sub-panels for ease of maintenance and for a different look. The subpanels will be made of aluminum and covered with carbon fiber with a gloss finish. Some items are duplicated to experiment with location. I am trying to go for the round gage look. Don't like EFIS instruments too much (although my LongEZ has one and I used to fly airliners). I modeled the entire panel in 3D using SolidWorks. Sounds like a lot of work but it wasn't too bad. And now I can move things around. This is where it stands today.

Next in line is the port wing aileron closeout reinforcement. Waiting for warmer days (even in Florida we have low temperature problems).

  Nov 04, 2018     Work started on the wings       Category: Wings

Work started on the wings. Fitted the W18 pates although decided not to fix them in place until time comes to fit the flaps. Don't see the point of fixing them now until alignment of flaps can be verified.

The bottom wing skin to spar tapes were installed today. Root ribs still need tapes and then will place the wind LE down to install the tapes I=on the upper skin side.

Pictures:
1.- W18 plates in place but not fixed yet:
2.- Started work on flaps hinge plates but will not fixate anything until all is verified.