Mar 08, 2024     Wing root fairing prep - (0.7 hour)       Category: Wings

It's been so long since I built them that I almost forgot about prepping my wing root fairings for paint. I got them off the shelf and inspected them.

The upper fairings were still bare aluminum, so I roughed them up with a Scotchbrite pad, cleaned them up, and primed them with a coat of self-etching primer.

  Aug 23, 2022     L Fuel drain; L Fuel tank screws; Adel clamp - (0.8 hour)       Category: Wings

1. Cut the paint off the base of the L fuel drain to allow the fuel drain fairing to be reattached.
2. Reattached the L wing tank to the wing with stainless screws.
3. Reattached a wiring Adel clamp on the wingtip rib that was detached during painting,

  Jun 20, 2022     Moved wings to paint shop - (0.8 hour)       Category: Wings

1. Attached all six inspection plates on the bottoms of the wings.
2. Moved the wings and wingtips to the paint shop, in preparation for painting!
[Thanks to my friends Jim, Matt, and Tom for helping me move the wings on and off my trailer.]

  Apr 21, 2022     Fuel drain fairings - (0.3 hour)       Category: Wings

Installed drain fairings on both of the wing tanks drains.

  Feb 03, 2022     Sealing fuel tanks - (0.7 hour)       Category: Wings

The right wing balloon also stayed inflated for 24 hours, so both fuel tanks appear to be well sealed! I removed the right tank balloon and all the test fittings, then installed the right tank quick drain fitting. Removed the packing tape from over the fuel caps.

I'll call this job done!

  Feb 02, 2022     Fuel tank pressure test (R) - (0.5 hour)       Category: Wings

The left balloon remained inflated after 24 hours, so I set up and began the pressure test of the right wing fuel tank. This time, everything went very quickly, and after the balloon was inflated, I sprayed all the seams and fittings with soapy water. No leaks. I then left the tank to sit overnight, fully confident that the balloon will still be inflated tomorrow.

  Feb 01, 2022     Fuel tank pressure test (L) continued - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

After 20 hours, I returned to the workshop to discover the test balloon had completely deflated (as I expected), so I set to work trying to find out why. First, I inflated the balloon again (this time using a hand-operated bicycle pump for precision), then I sprayed soapy water all over the wing root area, all the seams and fittings, and the taped balloon connection. The problem became apparent pretty quickly. The vent fitting, the taped balloon connection, AND the fuel fitting were all bubbling like crazy.

I cut off and re-flared the tube, but the vent fitting still leaked. So I used Fuel Lube on the threads of both AN fittings, and that sealed them both perfectly.

Next, I tried two more techniques to attach the balloon to the aluminum tube before I found a method that worked without leaking: I cut off the bottom "lip" of the balloon, connected the remaining balloon with a very tight O-ring, and wrapped it all tightly with duct tape.

After inflating the balloon again and spraying more soapy water, there were no more bubbles anywhere, so I left the balloon inflated and moved on to other projects. Two hours later, the balloon was still fully inflated, so I think we're on the right track. I'll check it again in the morning.

  Jan 31, 2022     Fuel tank pressure test (L) - (1.6 hours)       Category: Wings

I started the process of testing the left fuel tank for leaks.

1. I first sealed the fuel cap with packing tape.
2. Next, I attached a party balloon to the vent fitting with two zip-ties. After looking at this setup, I decided it might not be the most reliable seal, so I fabricated a short length of 1/4" aluminum tube with a flared fitting on it.
3. Used electrical tape to attach the balloon to the tube.
4. Set my compressor to as close to 1 PSI as I could get, then carefully began pressurizing the tank. The balloon seemed reluctant to inflate, so I removed it, inflated and deflated it the "old fashioned way," then reattached it to the tube. This time it inflated much easier.
5. I left the balloon inflated while I worked on other things. After about an hour, the balloon had partially deflated, so I have some more work to do. I'm not sure where the issue is, but I'll figure it out tomorrow.

  Jan 30, 2022     Fuel tank pressure test -- preparation - (0.5 hour)       Category: Wings

The ProSeal on the fuel senders seems to have set up sufficiently, so I prepared for pressure-testing the tanks by attaching a plug to the fuel pickup fitting, applying packing tape to the fuel caps, and attaching a Schraeder valve to the fuel sump drain fitting. Once I buy some party balloons, I will zip-tie one to each of the vent outlets.

  Jan 14, 2022     Fuel tank sealing - (0.1 hour)       Category: Wings

Checked on my Proseal, after a week away. The first application batch (on the large cover plates) is setting up nicely. The second application (on the sender plates) is still tacky, but perhaps less so than the last time I checked. I added a second lamp and moved both lamps slightly closer. The temperature at the sender plates is now at least 80 degrees. I'll leave them like this for another week and see how things are progressing.

  Jan 06, 2022     Fuel senders - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Completed the installation of the fuel senders in the wings:

1. First, I had to make sure the sender floats would move freely inside the tank. Vans drawings and instructions are set up for those who built their tanks, which means they can clearly see what they're doing in there before they install the aft wall of the tank. For quickbuild people like me, we have to get creative with flashlights, borescopes, and such. The sender units are not 90-degrees to the sender plate, and I was suspicious of where that would place the floats, since there absolutely no guidance on that issue in any documentation. Just eyeballing it, the float in the right tank seemed like it would be mighty close to a nearby stiffener. I got an idea to temporarily install the sender, hook up the multimeter, and manually tip the wing so the float would move to its full ranges. And that's exactly what I did. The left tank float had full range of resistance (30-247 ohms), but the right one only went from 30 to 216, which meant the float wasn't moving all the way to the bottom of the tank. I removed the sender, snapped the float off and reinstalled it facing the other way (see Photo #1), and tried it again. Success. 30 to 247 ohms!

2. My biggest issue of the evening came when I discovered that there was not a screw-on nozzle included in the bag with my second Proseal cartridge. I ended up digging out the one I used last night from the trash. Since it was only about half-hardened, I was able to scrape out the old Proseal, clean it, and re-use it. (Photo #2)

3. I mixed the Proseal and applied a nice bead around the inside of each sending unit, where the sender is attached to the plate. Just for good measure, I covered the center contact rivet, too.

4. I decided to try a different technique with the sender plates than I used on the tank cover plates. I decided to run beads of Proseal around the tank opening, and push the sender plate into position on it, rather than make the beads on the sender plate. This turned out to be the way to go. I ran a thick bead around the edge, then around each screw hole, then a second bead parallel to the first. Then I carefully fed the senders through the narrow opening (trying not to get any Proseal on the senders in the process). I put in all five screws (including the one with the ring terminal and star washer), then tightened them down in a criss-cross pattern. This gave me a really nice bead of squished-out Proseal.

5. Used a mini paintbrush to apply Proseal around the heads of the attachment screws.

6. Connected the ground wires to the nearby spar bolts. (Again, this design feature is probably WAY overkill, but I really wanted a good ground, and it was easy to do.)

7. Used some of the remaining Proseal to go over every seam, rivet, and screw again. Wiped off what excess I could, and cleaned the socket screw heads with my finger. I hope I never have to take them off again!

Now, I'll work on some other stuff while I wait for the Proseal to dry in a few days. Once it's dry, I'll be pressure-testing the tanks -- the last major thing to do on the wings.

  Jan 05, 2022     Fuel Sender - (5.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Began installing the fuel senders in the wing root ribs. Note: I decided to throw away both the stock Vans cork gasket for the cover plates and also the rubber gaskets for the senders. Both plates will be Pro-Sealed on.

1. Inspected the right wing tank. It looks just as good as the left one.
2. Cleaned and tested the right fuel sender, using the same technique as with as the left one yesterday. The right sender reads 247 ohms at Empty and 30.9 ohms at Full.
3. Ran some protective painter's tape around the footprint of the tank cover plates, since I wasn't sure how much sealant would ooze out from under the plate when I tightened the screws. (As it turned out, this was not an issue.)

I began with the left tank. (The right tank was done the same way, only faster and better!)

4. Test-fit the cover plate and sender and found that I had to clock the pickup away from the cover plate a few degrees, in order for the sender/plate to fit the tank.
5. Prepped the Proseal cartridge and nozzle, following the instructions about mixing the catalyst with the base. I gave the cartridge at least 60 strokes to mix the two. Started a two-hour timer to reflect the working time of the Proseal.
5. Installed the anti-rotation tab by applying Proseal to the bottom of the tab and sliding it into position, putting a dab of Proseal on the outside rivet holes, and pushing the rivets through. I had previously set up my rivet squeezer with Dash-4 dies and adjusted it to the rivet length. Unfortunately, what I never practiced was to actually put the squeezer into position and see if it would fit next to the fuel pickup. It did not fit into the close quarters. Ack. At first I cussed a lot, then had to quickly set up my compressor and rivet gun to drive the rivets. Everything worked out okay, and I got the rivets set, but my Swear Jar got some donations today.
6. Safety-wired the B-nut to the anti-rotation bracket.
7. Glooped on some more Proseal around the base of the bracket and to both sides of its rivets.
8. Installed the cover plate to the wing rib. Ran a bead of sealant around the inside perimeter of the plate, and around all 12 holes. Put the plate in place with two #8 clecoes to establish the proper clocking. Pushed the attachment screws (stainless 8-32 x 1/2" socket-head cap screws) into the nutplates, adding internal star washers to three of them to make sure the plate is electrically grounded to the wing rib through the nutplates. Lightly tightened the screws in a criss-cross pattern, then went back and tightened them all to final torque. Added Proseal around each screw, being careful to NOT get any on the head of the screws. Cleaned up some messy areas with acetone, and added a bit of Proseal along one edge where the bead wasn't as big as I'd like.
9. Added a bead of Proseal around the main fuel fitting and its washer.
10. Removed the painter's tape and cleaned up everything.

* * * *
11. In preparation for installing the fuel senders, I beveled the top inside edges of the sender plates so that, if I ever need to remove the senders someday, I can get the tip of a prying tool under the edge of the plates to pry them off.
12. I also fabricated two ground wires, with #10 ring terminals on one end and #8 rings on the other. These wires will guarantee a good connection for each of the senders. One end will go under one of the five attach screws, and the other will attach to a nearby AN3 bolt on the spar. Adding this ground is probably overly conservative and cautious, but I do NOT want to have to someday go back and troubleshoot a faulty fuel sender in the narrow gap between the wing and fuselage if I don't have to.

I think everything came out looking pretty good!

  Jan 04, 2022     Fairing nutplates; MB antenna coax; Fuel senders - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Since I've had to move away from the firewall-forward area for a week or so, I decided to work on some wing-related projects:

1. Used my new screw-style dimpler to dimple the #8 screw holes for four fairing-attach holes at the wing roots. (I previously added four nutplates at these locations of the wings because I felt they helped the fairings lay down better. I must say, they sure are in inconvenient locations -- which is probably why Vans didn't have builders add them there). Installed the nutplates with Cherry rivets.

2 Since my avionics package does not include a Marker Beacon receiver, I finally removed the outdated Marker Beacon coax that was running through the left wing. (My custom-built MB antenna itself will unfortunately have to remain as a mute testament to the good old days, since it is bonded into the wingtip. It sure is a work of art. Such a shame...)

3. Removed the left wing tank cover plate. Inspected the inside of the fuel tanks, which still look as shiny and new as the day they were built. Tested the left fuel sender using a multimeter, since it hadn't been moved in many years. Initially I got some strange behavior from it, with the resistance readings jumping all over the place. But after a few sprays of contact cleaner and moving it back and forth a few times, it seems to be back in action. (247 ohms at Empty, 30.7 ohms at Full.)

4. Studied the installation steps for the fuel senders and cover plates, as well as the two Service Bulletins that affect the senders (The one pertaining to the anti-rotation tab and the one pertaining to safetying the B-nut.)

5. Checked the torque of the fuel pickup tube. Drilled the two attach holes for the anti-rotation tab up to #30, in preparation for riveting it on the cover plate. Drilled a 1/16" hole in the tab. This is where I will safety-wire the B-nut.

  Nov 06, 2020     OAT wiring; Marker Beacon wiring; Pitot line - (3.2 hours)       Category: Wings

1. Installed a 4-pin Seal-All connector on the 3-wire OAT cable at the L wing root. Even though it's not a CANBUS line per se, I used one of the pins to carry through the shield ground from one side to the other.
2. Installed a BNC connector on the Market Beacon coax cable at the L wing root.
3. Repositioned a 90-degree AN fitting on the second inboard rib to clear the aileron pushrod, and installed a Nylo-seal adapter to convert the aluminum pitot line's AN fitting to the nylon line that will take it the rest of the way to the ADAHRS.

  May 04, 2020     Right wing NACA scoop; flap rivets - (0.5 hour)       Category: Wings

Sanded the filler I applied to the blind rivets on the NACA scoop rivets and each flap. Cleaned everything and shot a coat of self-etching primer to protect the areas.

  Apr 30, 2020     Rivet filling - (0.6 hour)       Category: Wings

Filled and sanded the heads of all the blind rivets that were used on the flaps and left wing NACA scoop. Still have more sanding and priming to do...

  Apr 27, 2020     Forward wing attach slots - (1.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Cut the breakaway slots in the forward attach angles on both wings. These are the slots that ensure that the wing tanks will probably not rupture if you crash and fold one or both wings back.

Using a Dremel tool and a bunch of files is the easiest way to do this job. Piece of cake.

  Apr 26, 2020     Fwd wing attachments; fuel vent lines - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

1. Installed nutplates on the forward wing attach angles on the fuselage, and marked the attach angles on the wing for where they will be be slotted.

2. Finished fabricating the wing fuel vent lines that go between the wings and the fuel tanks.

  Apr 09, 2020     NACA scoop bug shields - (0.7 hour)       Category: Wings

Added some JB Weld to the bug shield on the fuselage vent. Glued the remaining bug screen to the PVC ring for the right wing NACA scoop, and installed it using epoxy. After it sets, it will also get some JB Weld.

  Mar 26, 2020     Wing root nutplates (R); Fuselage skin dimpling - (1.7 hours)       Category: Wings

1. Installed most of the wing-root nutplates on the right wing. (As on the left wing, there are still two nutplates that will be installed once the flaps are removed. 2. Dimpled the 11 attach holes on each side of the belly skin that will attach to the wings.

  Mar 25, 2020     Wing-root nutplates (L) - (2.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished installing all wing-root nutplates in the left wing (except the two that will have to be done after I remove the flaps). I also rediscovered a great little rolling cart that I used to use, but forgot about. It's super handy for localized jobs like this!

  Mar 14, 2020     Wing root fairings - (0.5 hour)       Category: Wings

Drilled out and dimpled the screw holes in the forward wing root fairings.

  Mar 13, 2020     Wing root fairing nutplates - (1 hour)       Category: Wings

Installed the nutplates on the upper spar flanges that will fasten part of the upper wing root fairings.

  Feb 23, 2020     Removed wings - (.5 hour)       Category: Wings

With the help of Jim, Jim and Bill, we removed the wings, which have been mounted on the airplane with temporary bolts for several years.This will make wiring the airplane much easier. I also got to finally see how close to center I got when I drilled the aft spar attach holes, way back when. They are dead center!

  Jan 25, 2015     Wing root fairings - (.8 hour) Category: Wings

No photo today! All I did was to drill the wing root fairing holes out to their final #6 size.

  Jan 18, 2015     Flap fairings - (1.1 hours)       Category: Wings

I shot some paint on the insides of the flap fairings, and also the outside of the fuselage skin where they will be riveted on. There is a substantial opening at the front of these fairings, and they will be exposed to 200 mph wind and some moisture from time to time. So a coat of paint can't hurt. It's a dark place in there, so I used black paint.

  Jan 17, 2015     Fuselage gaps seals; Flap fairings - (3.4 hours)       Category: Wings

I did some work on the fuselage gap seals. installing the rubber seals on both fairings as best I could. At the very least, I have proven to myself that a 1/4" gap between the fairing the fuselage might actually work. Prior to this, I did not believe it. The keys to getting the rubber gasket installed are to be patient, push hard, and try not to curse loud enough to wake the neighbors. The gaskets will still require a bit of trimming and fitting before they fit to my satisfaction.

Next, I dimpled the R flap fairing and the matching fuselage skin, then scuffed, cleaned and primed the fairing.

Finally, I spent some time working on my old "flaps-up" microswitch installation, which will require some modification thanks to the way I have my flaps rigged. More details and photos later.

  Jan 13, 2015     L flap fairing - (.4 hour)       Category: Wings

In my limited time this evening, I scuffed and cleaned the L flap fairing, then dimpled all the attachment holes and primed it. Then I began dimpling the corresponding holes in the fuselage skin.

  Jan 11, 2015     Final flap trimming and riveting - (2.2 hours)       Category: Wings

With the limited time I had available today, I did some final trimming on both flaps, especially along the inboard lower skins. I also trimmed off the two unused hinge eyes on each flap. Finally, I added two rivets on each flap where the two lower skins overlap.

  Jan 10, 2015     L and R flap fairings - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Tonight, my friend Bill came over and helped me drill the first 14 attachment holes for the flap fairings. These are the ones that are back-drilled from the inside of the fuselage. Once this was done, I spent the next few hours fitting, bending, trimming and drilling the fairings, getting them both attached with clecoes. I think I got a pretty good fit on both sides. The lower inboard flap skins still might have to be trimmed and bent a bit -- we'll see.

  Jan 09, 2015     L flap trim; R flap fairing - (2.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Tonight I trimmed the left flap to match the fuselage skin, and also filed the lower corners on the flap skins so they don't poke me someday when I'm cleaning the belly of the airplane. I also managed to shorten the right flap rod an additional turn. (Every little bit helps, since the right flap is a bit lower than the left one).

Then I began fitting the flap fairings, beginning with the right one. It's going to be more challenging than the left one, because of the slight droop of the right flap. Because of the difference, the flap fairing did not lay completely flat underneath the wing root gap seal. The fairing is non-structural, and the forward 2" of it could actually have been simply cut off, but I wanted it to match the left one, at least in outward appearance. So I notched the fairing and put a slight bend in it, and now it fits great. Later, some SuperFil and sandpaper will make the notch disappear.

By the way, I love how the Van's manual says that you can simply "massage" the fairing to fit, with your hands. YOU try putting a 4 degree bend in a piece of aluminum angle with your hands... Go ahead.

  Jan 08, 2015     Flap deflection adjustments; flap skin trim - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

I took care of a couple of flap-related tasks this evening. First, I shortened each flap actuator rod by 1/4 inch, re-tapped them, then reinstalled them. In a rare case of Zen, this was the exact amount that I needed to prevent the flaps from over-extending when the motor hits its bottom stop-point. Now, the flaps will extend until the top edge of the flap skin is about 1" from popping out, and none of the slightly distorted skin near the factory-cut relief notch will show.

Next, I trimmed the bottom skin of the right flap so it follows the skin edge on the fuselage. and marked it for possible bending later (see dotted line in photo 2 below.) A 10 degree bend would fill the slight mismatch between the flap skin and the fuselage, but I'll wait to see how noticeable this really is later.

I'll trim the left flap next. It will probably not require any bending.

  Jan 07, 2015     WIngtip lights; Fuel vent lines; Flap planning - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Did some minor projects this evening:

1. Fabricated the fuselage ends of the fuel tank vent lines that go between the tanks and the fuselage fittings. I made the bends and got them close to where they will be cut and flared on the wing end. The final connections will be made after the wings go on for the final time.

2. Completed the wingtip nav lights:
a. Bonded and screwed the R wing reflectors in place, then installed the light assembly itself.
b. Installed the nav light electrical connector in the R wing.
c. On the left wing, I had previously painted a black border on the outside of the lens to hide some very minor imperfections on the polycarbonate. A week ago, I found out that although the paint is very tough, it has a weakness that shows up when a piece of painter's tape touches it. Then it peels off fairly readily. Tonight, I had intended to re-mask and repaint the affected areas, but I decided to just peel off all the paint and install the lens "au naturale." So that's what I did. I screwed on both lenses, and they look fine.

3. The flaps will have an "up" microswitch that will cut off the flap motor before the motor housing touches the underside of the aft armrest. But it has no "down" microswitch. The motor reaches the end of its travel and just stops. However, I am not totally pleased with how far the flaps are extended when this happens. They are down too far, and are too close to "running out of skin," so to speak. I spent some time looking at shortening the pushrods and/or raising the upper attach point of the motor arm. I'll try the pushrod route first, But I now have a backup plan in case I can't get enough of an improvement.

  Jan 06, 2015     Forward spar attachments - (5.5 hours)       Category: Wings

You know it's a good day in the shop when you end up using ALL of your tools to complete a task. Such was the nature of the job of attaching the forward spar attach angles. The right wing went fairly smoothly. I had it final-profiled, drilled, and bolted to both the fuselage and the wing in about an hour and a half.

Because I had elected to install my fuel lines and fuel selector quite a while ago, I was presented with a much more daunting prospect on the left wing. Everything was a challenge, but after using just about everything in my toolbox at least once, and fabricating several tools to help move things along, I got it all done. My back might need a day to rest, though...

The only jobs remaining on the attach-angles are to install the nutplates on the aft faces of the angles, cut the slot in the tank angles, and safety-wire the bolts. I'll do the first two jobs when the wings come off, and the third one when they are reattached permanently.

  Jan 04, 2015     Wing root fairings; Forward spar attach - (5.5 hours)       Category: Wings

I spent a few hours finishing up the fitting of the wing fairings. I got them all drilled and clecoed, and trimmed a 1/4" gap between them and the fuselage all the way around. A test-fitting of the rubber gasket shows that there will a substantial amount of effort and cussing to get the gasket installed. I also might have to glue the ends of the gasket to the fairing, since the pressure required to get the gasket in place tends to roll it off the fairing.

The other major project was to finish profiling the forward spar attach angles to the sides of the fuselage, and also trim off the top forward corner of the angle so the gap seals fit. I might have to do a little more trimming when the gasket is installed.

The next hurdle will be to back-drill the spar attach angles from inside the fuselage. I am not relishing the thought of doing that, especially on the left side where the fuel lines and fuel selector are.

  Jan 03, 2015     Wing root fairings - (3.3 hours)       Category: Wings

I trimmed both aft wing root fairings slightly so they would fit onto the airplane, then joggled both of them by using the strips shown in Photo 1, and inserting the whole thing into a vise. Next, I drilled the #30 forward attach holes, and clecoed on the forward wing root fairings. Then I began the process of pre-bending the forward fairings to the leading edge of the wings. After marking the apex of the wing's curve onto the fairing strips, I set up a length of 1-1/2" OD PVC pipe, and clamped so it hung off the end of the workbench. This made it pretty easy to work the fairings to match the wing's curve.

  Jan 02, 2015     L flap - (4.1 hours)       Category: Wings

I got the left flap trimmed, mounted and operating electrically with the right one. I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the pushrod lengths so the flaps go down and up pretty close to the right amount. I'm really happy with the result.

Photo 3: The L flap rod hole in the fuselage is a slightly different shape from the right one.

  Dec 30, 2014     R flap - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

This was a nice, productive day. After a lot of reading and consideration, I decided to go with a modified flap rod attach point for the flaps. The stock, studded rod-end bearings simply will not work without creating another, larger problem -- namely, a tall hole in the fuselage that interferes with the flap fairing.

So I used a new straight rod-end, a pair of medium-sized 1/4" fender washers to capture the bearing, a 9/16" machined aluminum bushing from McMaster-Carr, and an AN970-4 fender washer with one side partially ground off. This setup accomplishes the same thing as the original, but moves the bearing about 1/2" further out from the flap. I think the load is reasonably distributed, and the stress points are minimized. Because I'm using an AN4 bolt as the main connector instead of the stock bearing stud, I was actually able to use a full-size AN365 nut on the inside of the flap rather than the thin-profile nut called for. Even better, I can still use the aftermarket Avery flap rod that I wanted to use.

I cut and gound down a cheap 7/16" wrench to more easily reach the nut inside the flap. This makes the job a lot easier than what I've been doing. You don't want to know.

I mounted the flap, installed and adjusted the flap rod, trimmed the flap hole to its final size and shape, and connected everything up. The excitement of the night came when I ran the flap up and down using the electric motor! What a great feeling to see that happen!

To celebrate, I took off the flap and trimmed the inboard top skin to its final shape, which I derived from a plastic French curve tool that I bought at Hobby Lobby. Aesthetically, it now looks "right."

  Dec 28, 2014     Flap rods - (1.1 hours)       Category: Wings

My rule after flying an international trip is not to use power tools for 24 hours, so tonight I decided to try to sort out the flap rod issue a bit. I fabricated a stock flap rod out of 5/16" tubing, tapped it to 1/4"-28, and threaded on the rod-end bearings, to see if it would work without enlarging the right flap rod hole in the fuselage. Surprisingly, it actually improved the situation a bit. I was not expecting that. However, it did not completely solve the issue, and I still would have to enlarge the hole a bit more, something I'm not anxious to do. Tomorrow I will consult with a couple of local RV-8 builders to get their opinions.

My gut feeling is that I will have to connect the flap rods to the flaps using an alternate method, and I have one in mind. More soon.

  Dec 22, 2014     Wingtip nav light reflector attach screws - (1.1 hours)       Category: Wings

I have been thinking about my plan to bond the nav light reflectors into the wingtips, and I decided that, despite all the great adhesive products out there, I just didn't fully trust any of them. I could envision a situation, many years from now, where the adhesive, subjugated to endless heating/cooling cycles and vibration, lets loose -- leaving at a reflector to rattle around and scratch my wingtip lens, among other things. So I installed three #6 screws to each outboard reflector. (The inboard ones will be held in place with the nav lights themselves, although they will also get a bit of adhesive to make sure they don't shift.

  Dec 22, 2014     OAT and remote compass; flap attach bearing - (3.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Did several little projects tonight:

1. A while back, I inadvertently got ahead of things and pulled the Dynon compass cable through the left wing conduit. Since the large DB-25 connector on this harness cannot be easily passed through the side of the fuselage, I pulled it out, replacing it with a string so I can pull it back the other direction when the time comes for its final installation.

2. I cut the OAT cable that comes out of the end of the the tip rib to a reasonable length for it to attach to the Dynon compass module. Added an Adel clamp near where the cable emerges.

3. Marked and drilled out four attach holes on the Dynon remote compass mounting shelf for the compass, then test-fit the hardware that will attach it. The AN3 bolts, washers, and nyloc nut are all non-ferrous (aluminum, in this case), as called for in the Dynon manual.

4. I am thinking about scrapping Van's standard rod-end studded bearings that are used to attach the flap rods to the flaps. They do not extend far enough inboard, as I found last night. So I am considering doing something like photo #3 below. The gap between the second and third washer will be filled by a substantial aluminum spacer. I may have to machine these, unless McMaster-Carr has something suitable. These assemblies would move the rod end out further from the flap, which is exactly what I need. Plus, they might be stronger than the stock installation.

  Dec 21, 2014     Wingtip lens attach nutplates - (.5 hour)       Category: Wings

Sanded the SuperFil on the nutplate rivets on both wingtips, then cleaned up the areas, masked them, and reshot the flat black paint. Now, each lens has six attach screws and they won't rattle in the slightest.

  Dec 20, 2014     Wingtip nav light lenses - (2.2 hours)       Category: Wings

As I mentioned yesterday, there was a tiny bit of unwanted slop between the nav light lenses and the wingtips, even when the attach screws were fully tightened down. So today, I located and drilled four new screw holes, then installed four more nutplates on each lens. With a total of six seat washers and attach-screws on each one, the lenses will be nice and tight, with no tendency to rattle.

Once again, I filled the nutplate rivets and tomorrow I'll paint them so they blend in.

  Dec 19, 2014     Wing root fairings; Nav light cover - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Tonight I resumed work on the R wing root fairings and rubber gap seal. I made two mistakes which resulted in having to order a replacement F-872BPP aft root fairing. First, I joggled the end of the aft fairing, but mis-read the drawing. It said to start the joggle "1/8 inch aft of the edge." The intended "edge" is the edge of the forward fairing. I interpreted it to mean 1/8" from the edge of the underlying spar, so my joggle was 1/8" off. Second, I struggled mightily to get the rubber seal channel to fit in the specified 1/8 to 1/4" gap from the fuselage. I measured the rubber channel and decided that there was no way it could possibly fit into the 1/4" gap I had, so I opened the gap to nearly 7/16" The first photo shows that the rubber channel fits tightly into a 7/16" gap, but I have been advised by several other RV-8 builders that this is way too big, and the channel will come out. So I have some investigation to do. While waiting for my replacement fairing to arrive, I will work on the left wing fairings, and I will start with a much smaller gap.

I got some new black polycarbonate paint for the edges of the nav lights lenses, and was going to paint them tonight. However, I have decided that there is a little slop between the lenses and the wingtips. They rattle a slight amount, even when the attach screws are fully tightened down. So I am going to install four more screws/nutplates on each wingtip, which will take care of the issue (Photo 3).

  Dec 18, 2014     L wingtip rib; Nav light lens paint tests - (.7 hour)       Category: Wings

Almost done with the wingtips! Tonight I riveted on the L wingtip rib, and also tested some paint that I'll use on the nav light lenses. I painted four different samples on some scraps of the Lexan material I cut the lenses from:

1. "Plastic" paint, un-scuffed surface.
2. "Plastic" paint, scuffed surface.
3. "Polycarbonate" paint, un-scuffed surface.
4. "Polycarbonate" paint, scuffed surface.

I bought both paints from a local hobby shop. I plan to subject both samples to some semi-scientific testing, subjecting them to high speed rain, cold, heat, and abrasion. The winner will get painted on the lenses.

I also cleaned up the lenses themselves with Plexis plastic polish. They look really good now.

THe second photo shows the two paint colors I tried: Steel Gray and Silver. Not sure which one I like better.

The third photo below show the way I painted the light cove so that there is ample surface area to bond the reflectors on. I will be removing the paint from the right wingtip in the same pattern.

  Dec 17, 2014     Wingtip nav light reflectors; R tip rib, misc. - (4.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Most of my efforts tonight were in polishing the wingtip nav/strobe light reflectors. I borrowed several different cans of "Nuvite NuShine II" polish and went to work with a bunch of soft cloths. The polishing progression of 'F7,' 'G6,' and 'S' polishes worked really well, but I must say that after spending 40+ minutes on each reflector, my fingers and arm are now pretty tired. After they looked nice and shiny, I test-fitted the reflectors to see what they will look like under the lenses. Not too shabby! I can't wait to see what they look like with a brilliant set of LEDs in there.

Next, I prepped and painted the light cove on the L wingtip.

Finally, I riveted the R wing tip rib in place.

  Dec 16, 2014     L wingtip nav light; L wingtip rib. - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent a couple of hours finalizing the fit of the L wing nav light lens, then cleaned it up, drilled and countersunk the two attach holes, installed the nutplates, and filled the hollow nutplate rivets with SuperFil. Once these areas are dry, I'll sand them and paint the coves with flat black paint. Then both coves will be ready for the reflectors.

I also sanded, prepped and primed the L wingtip rib.

  Dec 15, 2014     L wingtip nav light lens and reflector; Misc. - (5.5 hours)       Category: Wings

The new, gray wingtip is a bit different from the original white one. It has a prominent seam along its chord -- and I began my night's work by filing and sanding the seam off. Now the tip is nice and smooth, just like the right one.

Next up was to drill the three nav light mounting holes through the reflector and the left wingtip. I also did a little more contouring of the shape of the reflectors so they precisely match the edge of the wingtip cutout. Both pairs of reflectors are now ready to be polished to a mirror finish. I still have to decide how I'll go about doing this. There are several processes and products I might try, just for fun.

The big project of the day was cutting and fitting the left wingtip nav light lens. I thought that this might be a quicker process the second time around, but it actually took me longer on this wing, for whatever reason. There is no easy way to describe this process, other than to say that I used a bandsaw to make a rough-cut, a belt-sander to get the cut within 1/8", and then a bunch of files and sanding blocks in order to get a good fit. You just have to be patient and don't try to advance the trim line too quickly. Near the end, you'll be sanding off near-microscopic amounts of plastic to optimize the fit.

I found, on both wingtips, that the lens plastic was often thicker than the manufactured joggle in the wingtip, which causes the edge of the lens to stick up slightly above the level of the wingtip, especially at the corners where the attach screws go. I found that if you carefully sand the gelcoat in those areas, you can get the lenses to lay down flush.

Photo 1: Holes are: Fwd: #12 for a 10-32 screw. Mid: 5/16" for the wires. Aft: #8 for locating stud on light.
Photo 2: The lens half fits the wingtip best in this position, NOT in any other, more logical position.
Photo 3: Nav light lens is done. I would have removed the paper for a photo, but it was time for bed.

  Dec 13, 2014     Wingtip details - (1.0 hour)       Category: Wings

Did some more miscellaneous projects today:

1. Sanded several recently-filled spots on the R wingtip.

2. Sanded the filled nutplate rivets at the corners of the R wing nav light cutout.

3. Drilled out the wiring pass-through hole for the R wing nav lights to a larger size to accommodate the connectors and harness braiding.

4. Prepped and painted the R wingtip nav light shelf/cove with matte back paint. After the reflectors get installed, the only part of this paint that will be visible is around the extreme edges, in the slight gap between them in the middle, and in a small strip along the edges. But I felt it was important not to let the raw fiberglass show through, even just a little bit. Some builders leave those areas raw, and I've never cared for that look.

5. Installed the final 16" strip of fiberglass tape over the end of the Marker Beacon antenna in the L wingtip.

6. Prepped and primed the R wingtip rib.

  Dec 12, 2014     R wingtip nav light - (1.9 hours)       Category: Wings

I did some trimming in the fiberglass joggle under the right wing nav light enclosure to get the lens to fit perfectly. Next, I located and drilled the mounting holes for the nav/strobe lights (forward mounting screw, center wiring pass-through, and rear index post) through both the reflector and the wingtip. Next, I drilled the holes for the lens mounting screws, installed the nutplates in the tip, and countersunk and deburred the lens itself. Finally, I filled the heads of the four attach rivets with SuperFil. Tomorrow these will be sanded and painted so they disappear.

  Dec 11, 2014     Wingtip stiffeners -- last layups - (1.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Tonight, I finished the wingtip stiffener project. My "one pair-per-day, per wingtip" approach to installing these has resulted in a pair of strong wingtips that still retain their original, sleek shape. Nobody will even know the stiffeners are in there.

  Dec 10, 2014     Wingtip stiffeners - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

I did the fiberglass tape layups in the bottoms of both wingtip, plus glassed-in the first half of the marker beacon antenna in the left wingtip. The top stiffeners will be glassed in once everything cures. I used medium weight (5 oz), pre-cut 3"-wide fiberglass tapes from an R/C model store along with West Systems' 105/206 resin/hardener to make the layups.

This photo shows that the Marker Beacon antenna is just 40" of stripped RG-400 coax.

  Dec 09, 2014     Wingtip nav light lens - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

I decided to cut and fit the nav light lenses today. (In the end, I only finished the right one.)

I had already cut the large piece of plastic into two halves, so I took the "right wingtip" half and taped it into place on the wingtip. I drew a rough cut line on the lens with a Sharpie, then cut away the excess material with my bandsaw. Then I spent the next couple of hours progressively trimming and fitting the lens to the wingtip until it fit like a glove. I mostly used a belt-sander, followed by 80-grit and 400-grit sandpaper blocks. I also used Avery's fiberglass edge tool to finish off the edges.

Fitting the lens is simply an iterative process. Fit, mark, sand. Fit, mark, sand, etc. Many people seem to get the lens trimming done in an hour or so, but I have a bit of OCD about wanting to make them perfect, and also not wanting to scratch the plastic lens, so I spent a lot of time keeping every square millimeter of it covered with tape as the line moved, and using fine-line tape to create a precise sanding edge each time. That kind of detail is probably not needed, but it makes me feel good.

I also sanded the small areas on the left wingtip where I applied filler last night.

  Dec 08, 2014     Nav light reflectors; L wingtip repair - (1.9 hours)       Category: Wings

Today, I cut out all four nav light reflectors from a sheet of 0.020" aluminum, fitted them and trimmed them.

I also mixed up some SuperFil and filled a small chip on the trailing edge of the left wingtip.

  Dec 07, 2014     Wingtip internal fixtures and nav light reflectors - (1.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Since I haven't received my 3" fiberglass tape for the stiffener dowels yet, I did some other projects today.

1. Laid out the APRS unit, antennas, and power cable and decided on the associated wiring runs. Installed several zip-tie mounting bases inside the R wingtip and also on the right wing rib. Reorganized the wiring that is protruding from the R wing rib.

2. Traced the shapes of the nav light pocket onto cardboard, then transferred these tracings to a sheet of 0.020" aluminum.

  Dec 06, 2014     Right wingtip stiffeners - (2.6 hours) Category: Wings

Installed the last of the wingtip stiffener dowels inside the top-side of the wingtip, using CA glue and a thick micro fillet. After these cure, it will be time to apply the 3" fiberglass tapes to all eight stiffeners.

  Dec 05, 2014     L/R wing tip stiffeners; APRS mount - (3.1 hours)       Category: Wings

This evening, I glued the last of the wingtip stiffeners into the left wingtip, then created the fillets ouf of thick micro. While they were curing, I did the same for the lower-side dowels in the right wingtip.

Next, I glassed-in the APRS mounting rails inside the right wingtip, and did some planning for the installation of the APRS GPS antenna and VHF J-pole antenna.

Finally, I sanded a bit more on the area of the right wingtip where I had profiled the wingtip to match the wing skin. Specifically, I sanded the joggle area so it looks just like the rest of the tip.

  Nov 30, 2014     L wingtip stiffener dowels; MB antenna mount - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Today, I began the actual installation of the wingtip stiffener dowels in the lower half of the left wingtip. First, I tacked the dowels in place using medium CA glue and Zip-Kicker. after a few minutes to let them set a bit, I mixed up some micro mixture in a small plastic cup and applied it along the sides of the dowels, using a wooden ice cream spoon to create a nice fillet on each side. In a few days, I will apply 3" fiberglass tape over the dowels.

I also finished making the coax connector mount for the marker beacon antenna, tacked it in place, and applied two layers of fiberglass tape over its mounting tab to hold it in place.

  Nov 28, 2014     L wingtip stiffeners and MB antenna - (1.3 hours) Category: Wings

Tonight I sanded the inside of the L wingtip where the glass layups for the wingtip stiffeners will go, and also where the marker beacon antenna will go. Next, I cut the bottom pair of stiffeners to match the pair I already made for the top side. These stiffener dowels have their ends tapered so they lay nicely against the inside of the tip.

I also countersunk the holes for the wingtip rib attachment rivets.

  Nov 25, 2014     L wingtip; R wingtip; Nav light lenses - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Today I located and drilled the remainder of the rivet holes in the left tip rib. I also laid out, cut and sanded the stiffener dowels that will go in the wingtips. I also planned the installation of the marker beacon antenna in the left tip. It will go on the inside bottom of the tip, about 3" outboard from the wing skin. Both the antenna and the stiffener dowels will be glassed in place.

Now that the filler is dry, I sanded the leading edge of the right wingtip so it matches the nearby profile of the wing skin. Once I remove the tip, I will sand the joggle area so it completely matches the rest of the tip. I want to retain the slight gap between the tip and the wing skin.

Finally, I cut the wingtip nav light lens into two pieces, and began planning the other cuts that will have to be made to make it fit the wingtip. I used lots of painter's tape and masking paper to protect the lens as I cut it with a Dremel cutoff wheel, which worked great.

  Nov 23, 2014     Wingtips - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Today I checked on the left wingtip nutplates -- they are setting up nicely, and should be totally cured by tomorrow morning. Although the hangar's thermostat is set to 65, I set up an electric space heater near the tips to warm up the area to about 70 overnight. That will make sure they get a good cure.

I also installed the two #8 floating nutplates that will later be available to mount GoPro cameras on the outside of the wingtip. I also spent some time pondering how I might be able to install nutplates or rivnuts at several locations on the tail of the airplane. My eyeball engineering tells me that there's not enough structural substance at any of the desired locations to support a camera enclosure with a 200 mph wind pushing against it. I have a few other ideas about how I could mount cameras back there, so I think I'll pursue those first.

I took measurements and traced the light cutout on the wingtips so I can fabricate some wingtip light reflectors out of 0.020" aluminum. I plan to polish them to a mirror-finish, and they will be bonded into place inside the light cutout, nicely filling the otherwise-unused area on the aft side the cutout, as well as blinding passing airplanes for many miles around. ;-)

I also addressed a spot on the right wingtip that I've been staring at ever since I installed the right wingtip a long time ago. The leading-edge curve of the factory tip never did perfectly match the leading edge of the wing, so I mixed up a small batch of Super-Fil and spread it on the wingtip, right were it meets the wing skin. Tomorrow evening, I'll sand it to match the profile of the wing.

  Nov 22, 2014     L wingtip nutplates - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

This evening I mounted the ClickBond nutplates to the inside of the left wingtip. Once again, I was struck by how easy and clever the system is, for both the dispenser system and the blue plastic stubs that act as keepers/clamps for the nutplates while the epoxy sets. It really is almost foolproof to get nice results.

  Nov 21, 2014     L wingtip trim, final drill, dimple, reinforcement - (3.1 hours) Category: Wings

This evening, I removed the clamps from the nutplate backing strip, sanded the excess glue from the edges, then clecoed the wingtip onto the wing and marked a straight line out across the wingtip, extending the trailing edge of the aileron. I power-sanded and manually-sanded the wingtip to match this line, then radiused the trailing edge to match the aileron. The fit is very nice, and I don't think it will need much tweaking once I get the wingtip installed for good.

Next, I drilled out the holes in both the tip and wing skin to #28 for the #6 screws, dimpled the wing skin, and countersunk the holes in the wingtip. As with the right wing, there are two #8 screw locations for mounting a GoPro camera.

Since I had sanded off some of the trailing edge of the wingtip, I did the same thing on this wingtip as I did on the right one -- I mixed up a thick resin/flox mix, and filled the trailing edge with about a half-inch of the mixture to beef up the structure. I applied it deep into the recesses of the wingtip trailing edge with a 1/4” wooden dowel.

I added a bit of 15-minute epoxy to a small section of the nutplate backing strip where it did not get a good bond the first time. This will cure overnight.

Finally, I began prepping the wingtip rib by trimming a bit of it off where it conflicts with the nutplate reinforcement strip, sanding and filing the edges, and test-fitting it.

  Nov 20, 2014     Left wingtip trim, drill, cleco, backing strips - (3.2 hours)       Category: Wings

This evening I trimmed and sanded the new left wingtip to make it fit, then taped it in place on the wing. I adjusted the tip for the best alignment I could get with the aileron, then drilled and clecoed it in place. I marked the 1/4" gap between the tip and the aileron, then removed the tip and final-sanded the edge to achieve the desired gap.

Next, I sanded the inside edge of the tip and cleaned it with acetone in preparation for bonding on the reinforcement strips.

I prepped the strips by removing the plastic, roughing them up with sandpaper, filing the corners, then cleaning them with acetone.

Next, I mixed up some 30-minute epoxy and bonded the backing strips inside the wingtip, clamping them in place with a bunch of binder clips. Since the epoxy calls for a 70-degree curing temperature, I cranked up the heat in the hangar and also set up a portable heater near the wingtip. The cure time is 24 hours, so tomorrow night I'll plan to sand off the extra epoxy that oozed out, drill out the holes to final size, and mount the nutplates.

  Nov 18, 2014     Began fitting new left wingtip. - (.5 hour)       Category: Wings

I received my new left wingtip today. To my surprise, it is colored dark gray, very unlike the right one, which is white. So now my wingtips will look weird and unmatched unless I prime the right one with gray primer or something. I made the cut lines and set up the cutting tool for the job before I had to leave for the day.

  Nov 14, 2014     L wingtip assessment and replacement - (1.8 hours) Category: Wings

For the past three years, my left wingtip has been resting, open side down, on a pair of airline seats. (Yes, I know the manual recommends hanging them on a wall from their trailing edges... but sometimes I'm an idiot.) After clecoing it onto the left wing, I noticed that it has developed a subtle curve to the opening of the wingtip, and this makes a decidedly-ugly concave bow-in when you sight across the wingtip. It just doesn't match the curve of the adjacent wing. I spent quite a bit of time with a heat-gun and various types of clamps, trying to coax the wingtip into its proper shape, but whatever I did would only hold for a few minutes before the tip reverted to its former, misshapen appearance. After considering my options (including using filler on the concave area), I finally just bit the bullet and ordered a new left wingtip. It should arrive in a few days. No messing around here. I want to get this wingtip done in the next week or two.

  Nov 07, 2014     L wingtip drill and cleco - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Ensured the stick was clamped in the centered position. Zeroed the left aileron using the rib tooling holes. Clamped the left flap to the aileron. FItted the left wingtip, duct-taped it in position and carefully drilled and clecoed it in place.

  May 23, 2011     L wingtip fit and trim - (1.0 hour)       Category: Wings

Began fitting the left wingtip by marking the edges to a close approximation of where they'll be trimmed to. Began trimming off material with a portable, power belt-sander.

  May 19, 2011     Wingtip nutplates & sculpting; Wing root fairings - (2.2 hours)       Category: Wings

The ClickBond nutplates appeared to have cured sufficiently, so I fitted the right wingtip to the wing, with the help of my friends Jim and Tom. To my utter joy, the tip came out perfectly in line (vertically) with the trailing edge of the aileron. Sweet. Of course, installing floating nutplates helps immensely in this regard.

Once the tip was tightened down, I also test-fit the video camera mount on the top side of the wing. I think this setup will work out great for my small GoPro Hero cameras.

Next, I used a power belt sander and a sanding block to final-trim the trailing edge of the tip to match the line of the trailing edge of the aileron. (Previously, I had sanded the edge of the tip in a straight line from the aileron to the EXISTING corner of the tip, but today, I straightened it out so the entire trailing edge of the wing -- flap, aileron and tip, are all in a perfect line.) I then rounded the trailing edge of the tip to match the radius of the control surfaces.

Finally, I spent some more time trimming the gap between the wing root fairing and the fuselage to accommodate the rubber gasket material. I think I have the gap just about right but, of course, I'm an optimist.

  May 18, 2011     R wingtip attachment nutplates - (1.0 hour)       Category: Wings

It turns out that the first 9 nutplates I installed yesterday did not bond properly. I noticed as I applied the adhesive yesterday that the first six or eight squirts that came out of the mixer tip were dark green in color -- almost black, really -- while the later ones were much brighter green. The bright green blobs cured perfectly, but the darker ones were still wet after 22 hours. I pulled those nutplates off by hand, cleaned off the residual adhesive, and tried again. This time, I squeezed out a 6" line of adhesive onto a paper towel first, until the stuff coming out was really bright green. I also set up a portable heater nearby in my workshop to help with the overnight curing process, since summer has not yet arrived in Illinois.Tomorrow, I'll see how they did.

I also routed out the plastic baseplate of a small video camera mount that will attach to one of about six locations all around the airplane. The countersink I created will house a #8 screw and a finishing washer.

  May 17, 2011     R wingtip attachment nutplates - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Today, I began by countersinking the holes for the rivets that attach the small tip rib. The rib is now ready to install permanently, but I'll wait until all the other wingtip work is accomplished before riveting it on.

Next, I countersunk all the attach holes in the R wingtip for #6 screws. (One hole in the top and another in the bottom of the wingtip were countersunk to #8 instead. These two positions, just forward of the spar, will accommodate small attach-plates for GoPro video cameras. When the camera(s) are not installed, the larger screw will hardly be noticed.) I installed two #8 floating nutplates at these locations.

All the other positions are #6 nutplates, and I decided to use ClickBond floating nutplates, which are bonded into the wingtip instead of riveted. There was a bit of head-scratching as I figured out how to use the mix/applicator gun, since the ClickBond kit instructions contained references to a completely different method of applying the adhesive. I eventually got everything figured out, and found the installation process to be kind of fun. Basically, you apply adhesive to the underside of each nutplate, stick the wide end of the rubber stem through the hole, pull the nutplate down into position, then pull the stem so it stretches about an inch, and release. This sets the nutplate firmly into position and squeezes out a bead of adhesive. The spec sheet says the adhesive will be 90% cured in 8 hours, and 100% cured in 24 hours, so I think it will be fine to handle tomorrow morning. This stuff is used by Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Airbus Industries, so it should be good for a lowly RV-8. :-)

  May 15, 2011     R wing root fairing - (.5 hour) Category: Wings

Continued trimming the right wing root fairing to enlarge the space between it and the side of the fuselage.

  May 11, 2011     R wingtip; R wing root fairing - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished aligning the R wingtip to the wing and aileron, then drilled the mounting holes out for the #6 attach screws.

I also spent time fitting the wing root fairing so it evenly matches the contour of the fuselage side. I tried to test-fit the rubber grommet to see how much gap would be required -- it looks like at least 1/4" will be needed.

  May 08, 2011     Flap fitting and trimming - (3.3 hours)       Category: Wings

After locking both ailerons in the zero position using the aileron jig fixture, I clamped both flaps to the ailerons, and finished trimming the flap skin to match the fuselage skin. After doing this, I discovered what many people have found before me -- my flaps don't line up flush with the bottom of the fuselage. Specifically, the left flap gap is about 1/8" and the right flap gap is about 1/2".

I'm not sure exactly what I'll end up doing, if anything, to address this. More research is needed.

  May 01, 2011     APRS wingtip mount - (.8 hour)       Category: Wings

Today I fabricated a pair of mounts for the Byonics APRS RTG unit that will go in the right wingtip. The mount consists of two 2-inch lengths of U-channel aluminum (or is it C-channel? -- I guess it depends on how you're looking at it...) with a #8 nutplate installed in each one so the unit can be removed for maintenance or reprogramming. The mounting channels will be glassed into the inside bottom of the wingtip. I laid out the J-pole antenna, power feed lines, and GPS puck antenna to get an idea how everything will be routed. I wanted to make sure the 12V power wires for the ARPS and the nav/strobes lights do not cross the APRS antenna. It's a bit tricky to make it work, but I think I solved the puzzle. More photos will be posted as this installation develops.

I initially taped the mount in place and planned to lay a couple of plies of BID glass over them (as shown in the photo), but I ended up tacking the channels in place with glue instead. I'll layup the glass later.

  Apr 26, 2011     R wingtip trailing edge fill - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

A couple of weeks ago, I had to sand off about 1/4" of the trailing edge of the wingtip so it would match the aileron. This removed a significant amount of the original fillet inside the tip, so today I built the edge back up with a resin/flox mixture. I used a straight length of 1/4" aluminum tubing to not only insert the filler way back into the outboard end of the seam, but also to form a nice smooth bead.

For reference, I used West Systems 105 Resin and 206 Hardener, along with some flox. (The 206 Hardener is the "slow" hardener, which takes quite a while to cure, especially in a 55-60 degree ambient temperature.)

  Apr 26, 2011     R flap attach and trim - (1.6 hours)       Category: Wings

I trimmed and mounted the right flap this afternoon, which required a bit of zen to get started. Since there is no accurate drawing that shows the exact trim line that will be required, you have to make your best guess and trim off a bit at a time until the flap fits along the fuselage skin. I managed to get it pretty close -- it will still require some final trimming and sanding later.

  Apr 06, 2011     R wingtip sanding - (.3 hour) Category: Wings

I had a couple of minutes to sand off the cured glue that had squeezed out from under the reinforcement strips. It's now ready for final-drilling to the wingtip.

  Mar 19, 2011     R wingtip reinforcement strips - (1.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Today I fabricated the remaining reinforcement strips for the inside of the R wingtip, and bonded them in using 5-minute epoxy and lots of clamps. The glue needs to cure for a full 24 hours before I'll drill the the attach holes to final size and install the nutplates.

  Mar 18, 2011     R wingtip fit - (4.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Lots of progress on the right wingtip today. I enlarged the attach holes up to #30, adjusting the tip's fit slightly as I did so, then, with it clecoed in place, marked the trailing edge for trimming. After about an hour with a Dremel cut-off disc and a sanding block, I got the trailing edge of the tip to match that of the aileron. (I may end of mixing up some flox and building up the inside of the trailing edge a bit, since I trimmed off about 1/4" of the tip, and I want to make sure its strength is not compromised.)

Next, I trimmed and sanded the gap between the tip and the aileron to 1/4" on both the top and bottom of the wing.

I fitted the aft tip rib. marked the tip with a rivet fan, and drilled & clecoed it to the tip.

Next, I cut and fitted the 0.020" x 1/2" nutplate backing strips. I'll epoxy them to the tip tomorrow.

  Mar 17, 2011     R wingtip drill and cleco - (3.0 hours)       Category: Wings

This evening I got the right wingtip drilled and clecoed. I had to do some additional trimming and sanding on the tip flanges and leading edge to make it fit well. It still will need quite a bit of work on the trailing edge to make it line up with the aileron. I'll also need to tweak the fit slightly as I drill the holes up to final size.

Photo 1: Beginning to drill and cleco.
Photo 2: Here's how I used duct tape to pull up on the tip while drilling the attach holes.
Photo 3: Wingtip is clecoed on to check the fit.

  Mar 12, 2011     Flap hinge keepers - (1.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Last week, when I bent the flap hinge pins, I bent them at the wrong location because I forgot that there would be an additional hinge eye (on the flap itself) inboard of the ones attached to the wing. Today I re-bent and trimmed the pins into their final shapes. I had to fabricate one of the pins entirely over again, because it was slightly too short to work.

  Mar 08, 2011     R wingtip trimming - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Today I repeatedly marked, trimmed, and fitted the right wingtip. I'm trying to get everything lined up as close to perfectly as I can before I drill and cleco it on. The leading edge is fitting a lot better, but even with the tip pushed as far forward as I can get it, the trailing edge of the tip is still about 1/4" behind the trailing edge of the aileron. I'll have to so some more trimming, and I might even have to sand off the trailing edge and re-glass it. We'll see.

  Mar 07, 2011     Aileron adjustments; R wingtip initial fit - (2.9 hours)       Category: Wings

Before beginning the process of mounting the wingtips, I wanted to make sure the ailerons were exactly centered. I had centered them once before (using the centering template and a straight-edge clamped to the end rib) when the wings were in their vertical rack, but I adjusted them again, now that the wings are on the fuselage. The right aileron pushrod required a couple of turns to get things lined up perfectly.

Once the ailerons were rigged, I began trimming the right wingtip so it would fit to the wing. I cut off about 1/2" from the trailing edge half of the tip so it would fit around the aileron. The fit of the leading edge is pretty atrocious -- I can tell it will require a bit of work. Also, the trailing edge of the tip sticks out about 1/2" beyond the trailing edge of the aileron.

  Mar 03, 2011     Bottom wing/fuselage skins, NACA scoop - (3.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Drilled and clecoed the bottom fuselage skins to the wing skins, and also riveted and ProSealed the right wing NACA scoop to the wing.

  Mar 02, 2011     Mounted wings - (7.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Today was a momentous day in the project -- mounting the wings. Thanks to some good help (in the form of Tom, Chris, Luke and Eric) we pulled off the job with very few hitches. Some steps of the process were nearly miraculous -- for instance, the sweep was nearly perfect the first time I measured it, and remained very close to perfect all day. We managed to get all measurements within about 1/32" and/or 0.1 degree, which is as close as I think anybody could reasonably get them. Just after my assistants left and I decided to drill the aft spar hole, it didn't look like I was going to have the required 5/8" vertical edge distance on the aft spar of the right wing, by a tiny amount. I sat back and pondered why this might be, and what I might be able to do about it. I checked the fuselage level, and discovered that the tail had settled 0.1 degree at some recent point. After shimming it back of to zero, I re-measured the wing angle of incidence and, as I'd hoped, was able to lower the aft spars enough to comfortably get the required edge distance. Problem solved. (I wouldn't have thought that 0.1 degree on the fuselage would result in such a difference at the wings, but it does.) Everything went well with the actual drilling process. I used a set of straight reamers (0.309", 0.310", and 0.311") to sneak the holes up to their final size. Thanks to Tom for coming back to the shop to help me out.

After the wings were on, I was going to start drilling the screw holes on the bottom fuselage/wings skins, but there's a 1/4" gap between them, so I'm going to do some more thinking before I drill anything.

  Mar 01, 2011     RCP NACA scoop - (.8 hour) Category: Wings

I (mostly) installed the NACA scoop in the right wing. I fabricated a backing ring from 0.20 scrap and drilled about a dozen rivet holes through the wings skin, vent, and backing ring. I countersunk the vent and dimpled the skin, then got ready to rivet and proseal the vent on, but I couldn't find any suitable blind rivets. I'll have to order or borrow some. I'll have to mount the vent after the wings are on.

  Feb 27, 2011     Remove wing stand; Wing hinge pins and keepers. - (4.2 hours)       Category: Wings

With the help of my friends Steve, Tom, and Doug, I removed the wings from the work stands and put them back in their padded cradles. We plan to mount them to the fuselage later this week.

I removed the flaps and devised a method to secure the flap hinges. (I previously split the hinges into two halves, inserted from the middle.) For the pins, I first put a 45-degree bend in each one so they would lay against the inside of the diagonal braces in the flap well. I cut small segments of spare hinge material, drilled a #40 attach hole in each tab and match-drilled these to the airplane, then enlarged the holes to #19. I installed nutplates on the undersides of the flap braces, then screwed the retention tabs and pins in place.

The screws will be accessible from the top side of the wing after the flap actuator rod is disconnected and the flaps are dropped to the 90-degree down position.

  Feb 27, 2011     Canopy handle - (1.0 hour)       Category: Wings

I recently got my canopy handle back from the powder-coating shop. They had tried to powder-coat it with a black-and yellow stripe pattern, but after two attempts, they were unable to get the results we wanted, so I had just them coat it black. Today I carefully masked the handle in preparation for painting the yellow stripes myself. I'll shoot a clearcoat over the whole thing, and it should be pretty tough.

  Feb 21, 2011     Rivet R wing skin - (4.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Steve and Tom helped again, this time with the right wing's bottom skin, and we got this one done very efficiently and quickly. As with the left wing, every rivet looks really nice.

Just a few more little jobs, and the wings will be ready to mount!

Photo 1: We could be a NASCAR pit crew in our next careers.
Photo 2: Steve's got perfect arms for bucking. Poor guy.
Photo 3: Thanks to Jim for the photo documentary duties.

  Feb 16, 2011     Rivet L wing skin - (6.5 hours)       Category: Wings

My friends Steve and Tom came over today and we knocked out the left wing skin riveting. Everything went just about perfect. The four holes in the angle piece that ties the Gretz pitot tube mount to the adjacent rib had to be opened up a bit so the rivets would fit, but other than that, the day was totally uneventful. I'll wait to install the pitot mast and pitot tube until after I install the new phenolic connector for the pitot heater.

  Feb 15, 2011     Prep for wing skin riveting - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

With the help of my friends Kevin, Ken, Lorraine, and Glenn, I got the wings moved to a set of tall work stands in preparation for riveting the bottom skins tomorrow. I also made a final check of everything inside the wings, since they won't see the light of day after tomorrow. Other than a little dust on them, they still look as good as they day I put them away about three years ago.

  Jan 30, 2011     Wing closing prep - (2.5 hours) Category: Wings

I spent an hour doing some final prep-work on the wing wiring. Since I've now switched to LED nav/strobe lights, I wanted to upgrade my 22 AWG nav light wire to 20 AWG, so I used the smaller wires to pull the larger ones through the wing conduits. While I was at it, I also pulled an extra 20 AWG wire through each wing, just as a spare. You never know when you might need one.

Next, I turned the pitot line's wing-root AN fitting 45 degrees down from its previous orientation, drilled a hole in the rib aft of the wiring conduit, and installed a bushing for the pitot line. The down-turned angle will let the pitot line pass underneath the aileron pushrod and exit the wing more in line with the location where it will pass into the fuselage.

Note: My fitting is installed on the second rib, not the actual root rib. I'll get a photo posted shortly. The one I took last night wasn't too good.

  Jan 26, 2011     Wiring prep - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

In preparation for wiring, I installed a few Adel clamps in strategic locations, including next to the lightening hole at the top of the right gear tower, and along a couple of longerons in the avionics "hell hole."

I also added the final Adel clamp to the R brake line (Photo 3).

  Jan 25, 2011     Wing closing prep - (2.2 hours) Category: Wings

I opened up the right wing and prepped it for final closing, the same way I did on the left wing. I also drilled an additional hole in each tip rib, in preparation for moving the wings to a work stand I borrowed from a friend of mine.

  Jan 24, 2011     Wing closing prep - (4.5 hours)       Category: Wings

In the next week, I plan to close the wings, so much of this evening's work centered around final preparations for that. I removed the bottom skins and spent some time examining everything inside, making sure all the flight controls and wiring runs were secured correctly. I added some zip ties to the wiring runs in several locations, and re-checked bolt torques. As I was doing a test-fit of the pitot tube in the left wing, the phenolic power connector simply deteriorated in my hands, so I'll have to order a replacement. (The pins inside are OK, it's just the outer shell that broke apart.)

I also improved the wingtip ground points for the landing lights, and temporarily removed a couple of Adel clamps holding wires to the tip ribs. These would have gotten in the way of the fixture I'll be using to hold the wings while the skins are riveted on.

  Jan 08, 2011     Wing preparation - (2.9 hours)       Category: Wings

In preparation for mounting the wings soon, I filed bevels on the sides and bottom of the end of the spars, then touched up the alodining with a Touch-N-Prep pen. (If you bevel the sides of the spars, they fit into the fuselage much easier.)

I also spent some time putting protective plastic tubing on some of the wing wires where they might rub on nearby structures. I also marked the bottom skin rivets that will be drilled out for attach screws. (This is one of the things you have to check for on a Quick-Build wing. The assembly guys overseas sometimes get a bit too excited and accomplish more tasks than they should...)

  Oct 23, 2007     Right wing skin - (.7 hour)       Category: Wings

Last week, when I clecoed the skin to the wing, I noticed that the front edge of the skin was not quite flush with the adjoining leading-edge skin. I discovered that this was because the factory countersinks in the spar flange were not quite deep enough. I re-countersunk the holes along the spar flange, and now the skin lays down perfectly. I also re-primed the line of holes.

  Oct 20, 2007     Rivet-order markings on bottom skin -- R wing - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

In preparation for riveting on the outboard bottom wing skin, I marked the wing with the order theses rivets will be driven, plus the size of each rivet.

  Oct 18, 2007     Right wing skin - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Deburred the wing ribs.

Beveled the inboard edge of the bottom outboard wing skin, where it overlaps the inboard skin. Masked, scuffed, cleaned, and primed the lines of rivet holes on the inside of the skin, and prepped and primed the wing rib flanges.

Dimpled the skin, and dimpled or countersunk the ribs and flanges where appropriate. (Five or six holes in the aft row of holes have to be countersunk, since there's no way to dimple them and the underlying rib at the same time.)

Installed nutplates around the access hole in the wing skin, and began fabricating the outboard W-822 access plate. (I accidentally drilled #8 holes where there should be #6s, so I'm reordering the cover plate.)

  Oct 16, 2007     Right wing skin; Right flap       Category: Wings

Today, I drilled out all the holes in the lower outboard wing skin and ribs, and deburred all of them. Then I removed strips of blue plastic from the outside of the wing skin along the rivet lines, in preparation for cleaning, priming and dimpling. I also removed all of the blue plastic from the inside of the skin.

I also spent some time trying to increase the curl on the top skin of the flap, so I can mount the flap on the wing. Despite attaching a long iron pipe with duct tape and applying a lot of pressure, I was not able to get enough curve so that after the hinge pins are inserted with the flap in the "90-degree down" position, the flap can be swung back up to a normal, trailing position. Right now, the flap skin interferes with the trailing edge of the wing skin. I'll try a different method next time. Not sure why I didn't encounter this issue with the left flap.

  Oct 09, 2007     Flap attachment - (2.1 hours)       Category: Wings

The first photo will tell the average, astute RV builder an interesting story. Yes, those are 1/8" clecos in the skin, flap brace, and flap hinge. Yes, they should be 3/32" clecos. How did I fit those big copper clecos in those tiny 3/32" holes, you ask? Somehow, in the drilling of the flap brace, I apparently used a #30 drill bit. I didn't notice it until today.

My solution is to use MS1097 "oops" rivets in all 45 holes that fasten the flap hinge on. I drilled out the hinge and the skin to the larger size, then clecoed everything together to make sure it all looks good. It does. Nobody will ever know the difference except me and you. ;-)

I cut the hinge pin in two and made the first of two or three bends that will position the free ends where I can safety them to the flap brace. (By the way, I have found that hinge pins can easily be bent in a bending brake. It makes a nice small radius, and leaves no stress marks or gouges in the pin.)

  Oct 08, 2007     Flap attachment - (2.2 hours)       Category: Wings

With the help of my friend Jim, I drilled the flap to the right wing today. I began by removing the flap hinge and trimming about 1/16" from the depth of the "wing-side" of the hinge. This is so the hinge will completely clear the 45-degree bend in the flap brace.

Next, I un-clecoed and removed the lower outboard wing skin, temporarily pop-riveted the flap brace to the spar in five locations, then carefully positioned the flap in place and clamped it from each end, making sure the holes in the skin and flap brace lined up, and the edge of the hinge lined up with the reference marks I made previously. I taped the flap in the full-down position (90 degrees up, since the wing is upside down on my table), then drilled the holes through the skin, brace and hinge. Since it's impossible to get side-grip clecoes, or any other kind of clamp, near the hole being drilled, it helps to reach underneath and push up slightly on the hinge, while an assistant pushes down near the hole being drilled. The assistant can also drop a cleco in each hole as it's drilled.

After drilling the flap hinge, I removed the flap and hinge-half, then deburred the hinge and skin. I drilled out the pop-rivets holding the flap brace to the spar, countersunk the brace, and cleaned and dimpled the row of holes in the skin.

I primed the aft surface of the spar and the lower surface of the skin, then painted them both white. Finally, I painted the inside surface of the flap brace white. (This triangular area will be almost totally inaccessible after it's riveted together, and I wanted some lasting weather protection in there.)

Photo 1: Drilling the flap hinge to the wing. The blue tape near the drill protects the skin from the chuck.

  Sep 25, 2007     Wing skin - (1.0 hour)       Category: Wings

In preparation for attaching the flap, I clecoed the bottom outboard wing skin in place. This will make sure that everything is exactly aligned while I drill the flap hinge into place. As with the left wing, the ribs had to be gently pulled into position in several places, and there was considerable misalignment of the skin with the holes in the spar at first. More clecoes seem to do the trick.

The next time I work on the wing, I'll final-drill each of the holes to #40 size, then deburr them. Then I'll take a nap.

  Sep 24, 2007     Aileron pushrod and alignment; Hanging the flap - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

I attached the small aileron pushrod to the bellcrank, with the aileron alignment jig installed, then adjusted the pushrod length in order to line up the tooling holes in the end rib.

Once this was done, I tightened down the jam nut on the pushrod, and marked the pushrod so when I assemble it all again, I'll know which one is left and which is right.

Next, I clecoed the flap brace to the wing, then temporarily mounted the flap. I attached it to the wing with a couple of side-grip clecoes, then fine-tuned its location so I have a nice, straight trailing edge line and a 1/4" gap between the aileron and flap. Then I marked the skin line on the hinge for reference.

In the next few days, I'll try to get some assistance for the next step, drilling the flap hinge to the wing.

  Sep 20, 2007     R flap hinge - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

As I did with the left wing, I replaced the wing side of the flap hinge with a wider, "dash-4" hinge. This will allow me to mount the flap so its trailing edge lines up with the trailing edge of the aileron.

I also cut the center hinge eye off of the flap side of the hinge, and the two center hinges off the wing-side. This modification will allow two, shorter hinge pins to be inserted from the center, rather than one long one inserted from the end.

  Sep 20, 2007     Landing light - (3.3 hours)       Category: Wings

Mounted the ballast unit to the mounting plate using three screws, washers and stopnuts. Added an Adel clamp on one corner to hold the bulb power wire.

Installed the two nutplates on the main mounting plate which will attach the bulb assembly.

Cut the Plexiglas lens with the bandsaw (within about 1/8" of the cut-line), trimmed it to final size with a stone grinding wheel in the bench grinder, and sanded the edges with 400-grit sandpaper. (I'm still amazed at how well this technique works on what initially appears to be a pretty fragile medium.)

Fashioned a strapping tape handle (actually two of them) in accordance with the Duckworks instructions, then fit the lens to the wing and drilled the six mounting holes in the lens and skin. (Used a #40 bit at slow speed first, then a 1/8" Plexiglas bit. Opened up the lens holes to 5/32" with a Plexiglas drill bit and countersunk them. Deburred the six holes in the wing skin, cleaned up the inside of the wing, and masked & painted the bay with high-temperature white enamel.

Countersunk the nutplates mounting holes on the lens strips, then cleaned, primed and painted them.

  Sep 16, 2007     Cockpit side console - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

I made good progress on the right side console today. I finished fabricating the two aft attach angles and drilled/clecoed them in position on the inside of the console. Then I clecoed the console to the instrument panel. In order to get easy access to the underside of the console, I flipped the fuselage upside down and sat on a stool under the cockpit. With the console held in exactly in its final position, I taped its attach angles to the right channel cap. Then I righted the fuselage and un-clecoed the console from the attach angles, leaving just the angles behind. Now it was easy to drill and cleco the angles to the channel cap, in exactly their proper final position.

Initially, when I designed the console, I'd planned a gap of about 1/8" between the console and the wall. Later in the process, I changed my mind and was able to tighten up the gap to less than 1/32", everywhere except along the forward side of the channel cap cutout. To fill the gap and keep everything looking consistent, I made a small strip of 0.032 and drilled it for four flush rivets. I dimpled the console and the filler strip, and primed the strip. It will fill the gap nicely.

Finally, I drilled most of the console attach angles for their nutplates.

  Sep 14, 2007     Fuel tank attach bolts - (.3 hour) Category: Wings

In accordance with a Vans Service note, I checked the torque on all the fuel-tank mounting bolts on the left wing, (20-25 inch-lbs) then applied torque seal to all the bolts.

  Sep 12, 2007     Aileron attach fittings - (1.4 hours)       Category: Wings

Prepared the ailerons and their attach fittings by drilling the holes out to #12 size, deburring, and priming where needed, then bolted the attach fittings to the ailerons.

I attempted to attach the aileron pushrods to the bellcrank, but I'm missing an AN3-21A bolt. I have no idea why it's not in its drawer, but nobody at the airport, not even the maintenance shop, had a replacement one in stock. They had -20As and -22As, but no -21As. I'll order one tonight.

  Sep 10, 2007     Aileron brace - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Sanded, cleaned, dimpled, and primed the aileron brace. Sanded, cleaned and primed the flap brace.

Riveted aileron brace to the wing.

  Sep 09, 2007     Aileron and flap braces - (2.3 hours)       Category: Wings

Trimmed the W-721 flap brace in accordance with the drawings. Clecoed and drilled the flap brace and the W-724 aileron brace to the wing skin and spar. Deburred all holes, both sides (That's a lot of holes!) Primed spar and skin behind the where the aileron brace will go.

  Sep 08, 2007     F-810A bulkhead modifications - (1.1 hours)       Category: Wings

I measured the gaps between the pre-manufactured F-810A upper bulkhead and the QB skin. (I've mentioned this before -- the gap is up to 1/4" in places. I decided a while ago that I might cut off the existing flanges and make my own, in order to prevent the skin from being buckled and wavy where it meets the bulkhead.)

Tonight I cut 0.040 aluminum angle into eleven 3/4" wide pieces that will attach the bulkhead, and marked where they will go.

I'll think about this some more, and decide if this is the way I want to solve this problem. It's possible I might just make a new bulkhead.

  Sep 08, 2007     Aileron brackets - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Countersunk the two rivet holes on the aileron brackets that needed to be countersunk. Deburred and primed the brackets, then primed the "footprints" of the brackets on the spar. Riveted the brackets to the spar.

Clecoed the aileron brace to the skin and spar.

  Sep 04, 2007     Aileron brackets - (.4 hour)       Category: Wings

Clecoed and drilled the W-413 and W-414 aileron brackets to the aft spar. I used the Scotchbrite wheel to radius one edge of the inboard bracket to match the curve of the flange -- this will allow the bracket to lie flat on the spar.

  Sep 03, 2007     Corrosion mitigation - (.6 hour)       Category: Wings

A couple of weeks ago, when it was really hot, I spent a couple of sweaty hours pulling wiring conduit through the right wing. I remember drops of sweat falling off my face and arms as I did it. It eventually got smeared all over the bottom wing skin as I worked. Today, when I walked in the hangar after a week away, I noticed about ten patches of white surface corrosion on the skins, totalling about 1 foot x 2 feet. I was too busy to take photos of it, but I got to work on it right away.

I carefully masked and sanded the affected area of the skins, cleaned them up with acetone, then primed the affected areas with self-etching primer. I hope this takes care of it. I would have thought the Alclad would have protected the skins better. Perhaps I need to check my personal pH level...

  Aug 31, 2007     Wing wiring - (1.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Ran the rest of the required wires through the wing conduit, then connected all of them except the strobe cable and nav light cable, which will be done later. Used two Adel clamps and some tie-wraps to secure everything. Connected the grounds for the nav lights and the landing light to the outboard spar using a #6 screw, washers, and a stop-nut.

  Aug 21, 2007     Landing light; Tiedown; Wing wiring - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Touched up the paint on the lens mounting strips, then riveted the nutplates to the strips. Removed protective tape from lens. Attached mounting strips to the inside of the lens using two-sided tape. (As with the previous wing, this tape is somewhat defective. The adhesive layer on one side actually comes off the tape as the paper backing is removed.) Dimpled the #6 screw holes in the wing skin.

Attached foam tape to the edge of the the HID bulb, then mounted the bulb to the mounting plate. Plugged in bulb and secured the wiring along the side of the ballast unit. Installed entire assembly in wing and adjusted the mount angle. Installed anti-chafe covering on the landing light wiring where it passes near the edge of the rib lightening hole.

Installed lens. The fit came out pretty well, with less than a 1/16" gap on the sides at the leading edge of the wing. Good enough. (And, as luck would have it, it matches the left wing.)

Installed wiring through the wing conduit for the landing light (22 AWG), strobe light (multi-conductor), and LED nav lights (22 AWG).

Installed LED power puck on end rib.

Tapped the tiedown hole with a 3/8" - 16 tap, 1 inch deep, then test-fit the titanium tiedown ring.

  Aug 17, 2007     Landing light - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed the four platenuts on the wing ribs. These will attach the landing light assembly to the wing.

Located and drilled mounting holes in the mounting plate for the HID power ballast. Machine countersunk the platenut holes for the lightbulb ring attach points. Sanded and cleaned the mounting plate, then painted it with high-temperature gray enamel.

Taped the Plexiglas light cover in place on the wing, marked it for trimming, then applied blue painter's tape to both sides so it won't get scratched when I cut it on the bandsaw.

  Aug 12, 2007     Wiring conduit; Landing light - (2.9 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished installing the wiring conduit in the right wing. Squeezed a bead of RTV around the conduit where it passes though each rib, to prevent chafing.

Cut the landing light hole in the leading edge of the right wing. As with the left wing, I used a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel for the main cutout, then used a 2" sanding drum to get within about 1/32" of the line, then finished off the edges with a 2" Scotchbrite wheel.

Next, I used the template to locate, drill, and cleco the top and bottom lens mounting strips to the wing skin. After marking the strips with an etching pencil (so I can orient them correctly later), I polished the edges of the strips.

Located, marked, and drilled the holes for the 4 nutplates on the ribs.

By the way, I met the founder and owner of the Duckworks company, Don Wentz, at Oshkosh. He's a great guy -- very personable and smart. I mentioned that I might install an extra set of nutplates on the ribs so that I could adjust one of the lights downward and use it as a taxi light. He said that was unnecessary -- the HID lights are so bright, they can be used as either taxi or landing lights with no change in mounting angle. Cool!

  Aug 11, 2007     Wiring conduit; landing light - (2.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Wow -- an incredibly productive day today! I chalk this up to the fact that I've done today's projects before, on the left wing.

I began by marking, pilot-drilling, and enlarging the conduit holes in each wing rib to 3/4". Then I deburred the holes, masked them off, and shot primer around each hole. After it dried, I cut about 11 feet of conduit and installed it in all but the four inboard ribs. Total time elapsed on the conduit: 1.8 hours so far. (This was the same job that took over 7 hours of work the first time!)

Next, I prepped and taped the Duckworks landing light template to the wing, and marked the wing skin for cutting.

  Aug 10, 2007     Moved wing to work table - (.2 hour)       Category: Wings

It's time to repeat all the work I did on the left wing -- this time on the right one! With help from Mark P., I moved the left wing from the work table onto the wing stand, then moved the right wing onto the work table.

  Apr 03, 2007     Wing skin - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Increased the bevels on the edges of the bottom wing skins in order to create a smoother transition between the two. Ran an edge roller along the edge of the outer skin to pre-bend it it slightly. Re-primed the beveled areas on both skins. Marked the bottom outboard skin with Van's recommended riveting pattern.

Fitted, drilled, and dimpled the outboard access cover. Scotchbrighted edges, then primed and labeled inside of cover.

  Apr 02, 2007     Wing skin - (1.9 hours) Category: Wings

Did final prep on wing skins: Beveled edge of inboard and outboard skins where they join. Prepped and primed the surface of the inboard skin where it is overlapped by the outboard one. Vacuumed inside of wing and checked for FOD. Clecoed the outboard skin and pitot mount in place.

  Mar 29, 2007     Wing skin - (.9 hour)       Category: Wings

Prepped and primed the flanges of the ribs where the skin will lie against them.

Dimpled access cover holes and riveted platenuts to skin.

Removed blue plastic from inside of skin.

  Mar 28, 2007     Wing skin -- deburr, dimple - (2.9 hours)       Category: Wings

  Mar 27, 2007     Wing skin fit / drill       Category: Wings

Fit bottom outboard wing skin and clecoed in place. Drilled out all holes to full size.

Clecoed and screwed pitot mast and supporting plates to skin to test their fit. Inserted pitot head and tested the geometry of the air line connection.

  Jan 12, 2007     Hanging the flap - (1.3 hours)       Category: Wings

Dimpled the trailing edge of the wing skin. Countersunk the corresponding holes in the flap brace. Deburred the flap hinge. Finished the edge of the hinge with a Scotchbrite wheel. Blind-riveted the flap brace to the spar. Riveted the flap brace, flap hinge and wings skin together. Hung the flap and inserted flap hinge pins through the skin gap on top of the wing (the same way it'll have to be done once the flap is mounted on the airplane. This wasn't as easy as sliding a long hinge from the outboard side, but it was do-able -- the key is to lubricate the hinge pin first, and wear gloves to protect your hands from being pinched between the flap skin and wing skin.)

  Jan 05, 2007     Hanging the flap - (1.4 hours)       Category: Wings

It was flap-mounting day today! Here's how I did it (with help from my friend Jim):

First, I placed 5 clecoes holding the outboard end of the flap brace on the FRONT side of the spar, in order to to get them out of the way. I clecoed the bottom outboard wing skin in place. After holding the flap in position, I determined that the new, deeper flap hinge I installed is actually a bit TOO deep and is hitting the flap brace, knocking the brace slightly out of alignment with the skin holes. I removed the hinge and trimmed off about 1/8" of its depth with a belt sander. Next, I temporarily pop-riveted the flap brace to the spar in five locations -- this should hold it in place along its full length, and I can remove the rivets easily later. I re-mounted the flap, lined up the trailing edges of the flap and the aileron, verified the proper 1/4" spacing from the aileron, verified the distance between the wing skin and the flap skin was constant for the whole length of the flap, and clamped it all in place with two side-grip clecoes.

Now the fun part: Jim held the flap up at a 90-degree angle to the wing (in the "flap 90-degrees down" position, actually, since the wing is upside down) and reached up from underneath with one hand to apply slight upward pressure to the hinge. With the other hand, he pushed down from above. I verified the holes in the flap brace and the skin were lined up, then drilled and clecoed one hole on each end of the hinge to establish that the assembly was straight. After checking the alignment again, we continued drilling and clecoing all of the holes this way.

The results are really nice. The flap/aileron trailing edge is straight as an arrow, the flap moves with no hint of stiffness or binding, and the whole assembly looks great.

I removed the flap and wing skin, drilled out the temporary pop-rivets in the flap brace, and removed most of the clecoes in the brace to prepare for deburring and dimpling the trailing edge of the wing skin, and countersinking the flap brace.

  Jan 04, 2007     Hanging the flap - (1.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Primed and painted the back side of the flap brace, since it will be impossible to reach once it's riveted in place.

I spent a lot of time figuring out the proper order to do the tasks that will be involved in hanging the flaps. The problem is that, with the QB kit, several steps must be done contrary to the order suggested by the builder's manual. I have to sit down and think about the implications of every step. An example of the mental process: I can't dimple the skin and countersink the flap brace yet, because I need to drill and cleco the flap hinge in place first. However, I can't drill the flap hinge in place until I make sure the outboard end of the un-drilled flap brace is located exactly where it's going to be in relation to the pre-punched wing skin. Therefore, I have to cleco the wing skin in place. I can't cleco the wing skin in place until I remove the half-dozen blind rivets holding the adjacent skin in place, since I have to slip the outboard skin under the edge of the inboard one.

Another example: I can't drill the flap hinge in place without having the flap brace in place (naturally). The problem is, the clecos that hold the flap brace in place interfere with the fit of the flap, and I can't insert the clecoes from the back side of the spar -- there's just no way to reach in there that far. I suppose I could use a variation of Dan Checkoway's "temporary rivet" solution, but because my hinges are already riveted to the flaps, I'd have to modify that procedure somehow. After a while, I sorted it all out (in a sort of half-elegant way), and now I think I'm ready to clamp, drill, and cleco the flap and its hinge in place. I decided to install the three Cherry Max rivets that fasten the inboard end of the flap brace to the spar. This, along with some temporary pop-rivets, will hold the flap brace in place while I drill the hinge. After I drill out the pop rivets, I'll still have enough access to the flange of the flap brace so I can countersink it (and dimple the skin). Yowza. Hope it works.

  Jan 03, 2007     Hanging the flap - (2.4 hours)       Category: Wings

Drilled out all holes on the flap brace and wing skin. Clecoed the bottom wing skin in place and drilled out the remaining holes in the flap brace. Measured, cut and bent the flap hinge wire. Test-fit the flap to the wing. Lined up the trailing edge with the aileron, and positioned the flap to give the required 1/4" spacing from the aileron. Marked the hinge. Trimmed about 1/8" off the flap skin so it will clear the wing spar. Clamped the flap in place and devised a method to drill the skin/brace/hinge. Sanded, cleaned and primed the flap brace.

  Jan 02, 2007     Flap brace Category: Wings

Match-drilled the flap brace to the wing skins.

  Jan 01, 2007     Flap brace - (.9 hour) Category: Wings

Trimmed the new W-821-PPL flap brace, sanded all edges and lightening holes, and clecoed it to the wing.

  Dec 19, 2006     Flap hinge - (.5 hour)       Category: Wings

Received a new -P4 hinge for the flap. Cut one side of the hinge to match the length of the existing -P3 hinge. Used a Dremel tool to cut off the two center hinge eyes to allow future installation of hinge pins. Filed and sanded the hinge. Attached the hinge halves in preparation for clamping to the wing.

Marked the new flap brace for trimming in accordance with the plans. Noted that the new flap brace is not pre-drilled on the skin side, so I'll have to drill it to match the existing skin holes.

  Dec 07, 2006     R aileron attach brackets - (.1 hour) Category: Wings

Drilled out all the R aileron attach bracket holes with my nice new #11 bits. (These are the correct size holes to drill for an AN3 bolt.)

  Dec 06, 2006     Flap hinge; Aileron attachments - (.4 hour)       Category: Wings

Removed the center hinge eye from the "flap" side of the flap hinge. Used a cutoff disc in the Dremel tool, followed by a 1/2" sanding drum, with tape to protect the skin and hinge. Filed and sanded the edge. I'll remove two hinge eyes from the "wing" side of the new hinge when it arrives.

Torqued the aileron attach bolts and nuts, now that I have a bar-type in/lb torque wrench that reads down to the low inch/pound values I need.

  Dec 05, 2006     Flaps - (.4 hour)       Category: Wings

Clecoed the flap brace to the wing, then held the flap in position against the brace to check its alignment with the aileron. As many other QB builders have previously discovered, the flap is about 5/16" too far aft, i.e., there's not enough flap hinge material available to obtain the proper edge distance, when you drill the attach holes. I have read several builders' logs that say they ended up using half of an AN257-P4 hinge (with a wider flange) instead of the stock -P3 hinge. I will research this and decide what to do. (Another option, of course, is to ignore the misalignment of the flap and aileron.)

The photos below show the insufficient edge distance when I line up the trailing edges and use the stock hinge.

  Dec 05, 2006     Wiring conduit - (.2 hour)       Category: Wings

The hangar was sub-freezing when I walked in, and I ran out of fuel for the heater after about ten minutes, so I spent minimal time in the shop today. (The photo shows the story: 52 degrees in the hangar, 15 outside. Within five minutes of the heater running out of fuel, the hangar temperature had already dropped to 47. No way, Jose. 50 degrees is my minimum for working on the airplane -- otherwise I spend too much time shivering... :-( Brrr.

Marked most of the ribs in the right wing for drilling conduit holes.

Decided to order a -P4 hinge for the flaps. (See today's "Wing" entry.)

  Nov 29, 2006     L landing light - (2.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Thanks to some bizarrely-warm weather today, I decided to complete the L landing light, since it's best to work with Plexiglas at temperatures above 70 degrees F. With the shop heater going, I managed to bring the shop temperature up to around 70 in the vicinity of the work table, and I left the landing light cover sitting in the direct, 80-degree blast of the heater for a while before cutting it.

Cut Plexi lens using bandsaw (after tightening the blade a bit), then trimmed and finished the edges using a stone grinding wheel (!), files, and sandpaper. Inserted lens into wing with strapping-tape handle, then drilled and clecoed the holes through the skin and lens (#40 then #30). Removed lens, drilled out lens holes to 5/32" with a plastic-drilling bit, and hand-countersunk them using a deburring bit. Tested the fit of the lens using a dimpled piece of scrap 0.025 aluminum. (The Duckworks instructions say you can use a #30 dimple die on the skin, but this seems absurd, in my opinion. #6 screws don't sit in the dimple quite right with a #30, so I used a #6 dimple die and simply countersunk the lens a bit more.) Deburred and dimpled holes in wing. Attached the mounting strips to the lens with the included two-sided tape. (The tape was defective, losing some of its sticky surface when the paper was peeled off. This shouldn't matter much, because it'll be squeezed between the Plexi and the mounting strip.) Vacuumed and cleaned inside wing. Inserted lens into wing and tightened into place with Boelubed screws.

The installation looks great. I think the lens fits very well at the top, bottom, and outboard side, with about a 1/16" gap on the inboard side. On the R wing, perhaps I'll pull the leading edge of the lens forward with tape as I drill it, as well. The mounting screws are perfectly flush with the skin.

This installation was easy. Just take it slow, keep the Plexi warm, and drill carefully and slowly.

  Nov 29, 2006     L aileron and flap - (.6 hour)       Category: Wings

Removed protective plastic from the left aileron and flap. To my surprise, I found what looked like some minor surface corrosion on the flap and aileron skins, near the inboard edges. I pulled the plastic from the R wing control surfaces and found similar spots there. I cleaned, sanded and primed several of these areas, and will get to the rest shortly.

(These components have been stored in a dry environment since their delivery two months ago, so the corrosion must have occured during transit from the Philippines.)

  Nov 28, 2006     L aileron mounting - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Hung L aileron on wing. Attached W-818 aileron pushrod and bellcrank centering jig, then adjusted pushrod length to position aileron to neutral position. (Used taut string pulled from tooling holes in wing rib to the trailing edge of the aileron. The pushrod required about a full turn to line up the key points.)

Drilled, sanded and primed flap brace.

  Nov 27, 2006     Tiedown - (.6 hour)       Category: Wings

Tapped L wing tiedown hole for tiedown ring, using a 3/8"-16 tap, 1" deep. Test-fit the titanium tiedown ring. It fits great! (Due to a pre-existing gap between the face of the AEX tiedown block and the skin, the ring will probably not be able to be tightened down completely when it's in use. Such is the nature of the Quickbuild kit. I will also investigate some kind of anti-scratch rubber ring to put under the shoulder of the ring.)

(For those interested, the titanium rings are less than half the weight of a steel one, and they're stronger. I got them from McMaster-Carr, but unfortunately as of 2011, they were discontinued from their inventory.)

  Nov 27, 2006     Aileron brackets; Aileron stops - (1.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Drilled out all four aileron attach brackets (A-406s and A-407-Ls) and re-primed. Bolted two of them to left aileron. Test-hung L aileron on wing.

Fabricated two A-914 aileron control stops from 1x1 angle in accordance with plans. (Hand-cut the angle stock due to odd behavior from bandsaw -- the blade would not track straight through the material, despite using a fence and being well-supported. I suspect it needs to be tightened a bit.)

  Nov 26, 2006     Pitot line; Remote compass; L aileron - (2.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Fabricated and installed aluminum pitot line from rib fitting to pitot mast. (The line can be removed through the pitot mast with a certain sequence of twisting of the pitot tube.)

Test-ran Dynon remote compass wiring through conduit. Began assembling A-407-L inboard aileron bracket. (Will order #11 drill bits for drilling AN-3 bolt holes in these brackets. #12 bits are just slightly too small.)

  Nov 22, 2006     Aileron brace - (.6 hour)       Category: Wings

Riveted L aileron brace to wing skin. Had to drill out one rivet and replace it with a MS1097AD4-4 "Oops" rivet. Trailing edge of skin is slightly wavy in places, especially outboard. (See #2 photo below). The skin deviates about 1/32" to 1/16" from a straight line. I'm not especially happy about this, but I'm not sure how it could have been prevented. I squeezed the rivets as consistently as I possibly could.

Postscript: I've looked at several RVs in the days since then, and every single one has some slight waviness on the skin here. So I feel better.

  Nov 17, 2006     Aileron brace - (.4 hour) Category: Wings

Finished riveting L aileron brace to spar.

  Nov 15, 2006     Aileron brace; Flap brace - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Drilled aileron brace to wing and spar. Deburred all holes; polished most edges on ScotchBrite wheel, sanded all others with 600-grit paper. Rolled edges. Dimpled edge of brace that will attach to skin. Cleaned and primed brace. Primed inside of skin around brace attach holes. Began riveting aileron brace to spar. Clecoed flap brace to spar.

I noticed that the pre-punched hole in the rib did not match where the flap brace hole actually is. (Photo 3)

  Nov 14, 2006     Aileron bracket; Pitot line - (.7 hour) Category: Wings

Riveted W-413-L inboard aileron hinge bracket to spar. Used rivet gun with offset head because neither squeezer nor straight head would fit alongside bracket.

Completed installation of pitot line out to the 45-degree fitting in the rib. Re-installed aileron bellcrank. Taped protective sponge rubber to pitot line and spar to prevent damage from moving bellcrank.

  Nov 13, 2006     Aileron brackets; Pitot line - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Drilled and riveted remainder of W-414-L outboard aileron hinge bracket to spar. Drilled W-413-L inboard aileron hinge bracket to spar, then countersunk one hole and primed again. Primed rib under bracket contact point.

Removed W-421-L aileron bellcrank and W-823-L bellcrank bracket to gain more room. Marked and bent pitot tube around bellcrank. Fitted attach nut and flared inboard end of line. Installed 90-degree fitting on second inboard rib, and 45-degree fitting on rib inboard of pitot tube location.

  Nov 12, 2006     Aileron brackets - (.3 hour)       Category: Wings

Sanded a nick out of the outboard aileron bracket and re-primed. Primed around the mounting holes in the rear spar web in preparation for riveting of the aileron hinge brackets.

(Some people ask me why I go to the trouble to prime so extensively. I feel that anytime bare aluminum has been exposed -- in this case by drilling and countersinking holes in the bracket and/or spar web, these areas should be primed to prevent future corrosion. I especially think priming is important in locations where the plane will be painted and directly exposed to the weather later. Call me a perfectionist -- it just feels right to do it.)

  Nov 11, 2006     Aileron bracket - (.5 hour)       Category: Wings

Removed aileron brace to give access to end of wing. Mounted, clecoed, and drilled aileron hinge bracket to L wing. Countersunk one rivet hole for AN426 flush rivet (others are AN470 rivets.) It appeared initially that one of the factory-matched holes on the end rib was drilled incorrectly, causing the rib to push the aileron bracket slightly out of line with the chord line. I checked this later, and realized that the ribs have a lot of play in them. After riveting the aileron bracket, the rib lined up perfectly.

  Nov 09, 2006     Landing light - (1.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed nutplates on mounting plate. Painted second side of retaining strips. Painted inside of wing cutout with white enamel paint. Tied up ballast wiring with tie-wraps. Installed foam insulation on lightbulb. Installed nutplates on retaining strips. (Tip: When you intend to paint an assembly and then install flush rivets, you should countersink the holes slightly deeper than normal so the rivets are truly flush after assembly. What looks a perfect countersink depth before painting will not be perfect afterwards. It's very minor, but it's noticeable.)

  Nov 08, 2006     Landing light; Dynon remote compass mount - (1.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Painted mounting plate using high-temperature gray enamel. Countersunk nuplate holes in remaining retaining strip and drilled screw holes to full size. Painted one side of retaining strips.

Determined mounting location for Dynon EDC-10 remote compass (aft end of L wing tip rib). Marked rib for wiring hole and grommet. Since the compass has to be aligned with the panel-mounted instrument, I plan to install the wiring harness and OAT now, and wait to mount the compass tray until the wings are on and the panel is underway.

  Nov 07, 2006     Landing light - (4.1 hours)       Category: Wings

Fabricated cardboard-mounted template for locating holes in rib. Installed 4 nutplates (2 in each rib on either side of outboard bay). Etched ID info on retaining strips. Test-fit light mounting plate and verified best location of ballast unit (outboard of the bulb, with the wire harness protruding through the lightening hole in the outboard rib.) Drilled three mounting holes in mounting plate for ballast. Filed and sanded edges of mounting plate, retaining ring, and retaining strips. Primed mounting plate. Countersunk retaining strips.

I plan to leave the retaining ring natural aluminum, and paint the mounting plate and retaining strips with high-temperature enamel paint, baked in the oven at 250 degrees for a couple of hours.

  Oct 29, 2006     Landing light - (1.25 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished hole for L landing light. Used new 2" drum sander to get cut within 1/16" of line, then used files, 1" ScotchBrite wheel, and 320- and 600-grit sandpaper to finish the job. Taped template back on wing, drilled 6 holes for lens mounting strips into skin.

  Oct 24, 2006     Landing light; Pitot line - (1.4 hours)       Category: Wings

Rough-cut hole in L wing for Duckworks light, using a Dremel with a carbide cutoff disk. (Surprisingly, I did not need a stiff drink after cutting a gaping hole in my beautiful wing...)

Began opening up the hole using 1/2" sanding drum mounted in an electric drill, but they tend to wear out very quickly. Will buy a 2" drum sander this week.

Test-fit elbow fittings for pitot line (90-degree AN833-4D and 45-degree AN837-4D). Both will require washers against the ribs because these fittings were not designed for as thin an application as the ribs.

  Oct 23, 2006     Aileron pushrods, Landing light - (3.6 hours)       Category: Wings

Fabricated both W-818 (small) aileron pushrods. (These were easier to make than the large pushrods for several reasons: I used a sharp, new cobalt drill bit in the drill press; I spent a lot of time EXACTLY centering the drill guide, which I discovered was slightly off-center; I did not use cutting oil, which tended to make the bit slide on the surface of the pushrod last time I used it; and finally, I used AN470AD4-11 rivets for the end fittings instead of the 4-12s specified in the plans. I have noticed several too-long rivet callouts in the plans, and this is definitely one of them.)

Measured, located, and taped Duckworks landing light template to left wing. Marked cutout on wing surface, and read installation plans.

  Oct 22, 2006     Pitot mount; Landing light - (6.3 hours)       Category: Wings

Fabricated spar stand-in strip from scrap 0.60 aluminum. Match-drilled pitot backing plate, top and bottom spacer plates, and spar stand-in strip. Drilled assembly to skin. Drilled pilot holes in skin and used Dremel tool to rough-cut pitot mast hole. Filed and sanded hole to proper size. Roughed, dimpled, cleaned and primed all parts and inside of skin. Riveted platenuts to pitot mounting plate. Riveted mounting angle piece to rib.

Began laying out template for Duckworks landing light installation.

  Oct 18, 2006     Pitot mount and pitot line - (2.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Fabricated an 0.020" aluminum spacer plate for pitot tube mount. Drilled and clecoed angle bracket to rib. Clamped backing plate and spacer in place to check alignment with inside of wing skin. It looks like it will fit perfectly now. (The spacer is needed because the joggle in the backing plate is made for earlier RV models with thinner 0.040" spars. RV-8 spars are 0.063".)

Cut aluminum pitot line for left wing and began installing through grommets in ribs. Began routing line around the base of the aileron bellcrank. Removed AN3-6A bolt from bellcrank and sized Adel clamp for attaching the line there. Will use an AN3-7A bolt as a replacement.

Drilled out existing lower grommet hole on one rib to 7/16", primed hole, and temporarily installed a straight bulkhead fitting (-4). Will install a 45-degree fitting later to allow the pitot tube to be removed and serviced easier. Will install a 90-degree fitting on the second inboard rib to allow for easier connection to the plastic fuselage line.

  Oct 17, 2006     Wiring conduit - (2.0 hours) Category: Wings

Completed installation of wiring conduit in L wing after acquiring a 3/4" Unibit and a 6" extension. RTVed all remaining hole/conduit intersections except one.

Determined installation plan for pitot tube and pitot line. Located scrap .020 aluminum for shim beneath backing plate. Practiced cutting and flaring 1/4" aluminum tubing. Figured out how fittings on tubing will work.

The hangar lost one phase of AC, resulting in only one circuit and two lightbulbs operating, so I knocked off work early, just as the second circuit was shut off by ConEd.

  Oct 16, 2006     Wiring conduit; Pitot tube; Aileron pushrods - (5.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Drilled all remaining wiring conduit holes in left wing ribs, except for second and third ones from root end. Will have to figure out a way to drill 3/4" holes in these ribs. (I don't have a 3/4" Unibit yet.) Primed holes and pulled conduit through most of the holes. Applied Permatex Super Blue RTV to junction of conduit and three outboard ribs.

Filed backing plate and washer plate to fit pitot mounting bracket. Sanded and polished edges of both plates. Fabricated angle mount out of leftover angle stock from empennage. Marked centerlines of flanges, and clamped angle mount to rib. Hand-bent backing plate slightly to match curve of skin/rib surface.

Roughed, primed and painted both W-816 (large) aileron pushrods.

  Oct 11, 2006     Aileron pushrod - (.6 hour) Category: Wings

Finished assembling second W-816 (large) aileron pushrod.

  Oct 10, 2006     Wiring conduit and aileron pushrod - (.6 hour)       Category: Wings

Primed four holes and pulled conduit through first four outboard ribs on L wing. Primed inside of W-816 (large) aileron pushrod.

  Oct 02, 2006     Aileron pushrods and wing conduit holes - (4.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Primed inside of aileron pushrod from yesterday. (Used a squeeze bottle full of primer.) Primed outside of pushrod.

Began fabricating the smaller 818 pushrods for the L Wing. On the first one, I drilled the threaded rod end and attempted to squeeze the AN470AD4-12 rivets that hold it on. Even using a drill press with a drill guide, my holes through the assemblies on the first pushrod were not completely true, and as a result, I wasn't able to get good rivets. My impression is that a 4-12 rivet is too long for this application. I note in the plans that the rod end may be welded to the pushrod instead, and I'll consider doing that.

Began drilling 3/4" conduit holes though the L Wing. Used a Unibit and a homemade cardboard template to accurately and consistently locate the holes.

  Oct 01, 2006     Aileron bellcrank and pushrods - (7.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Driled out brass bushings for aileron bellcranks. (Used drill bit instead of proposed straight reamer, which worked fine.) Got bellcranks to operate very smoothly -- took lots of time to get bushings to fit just right by chucking them in the drill press and holding strips of 600-grit sandpaper against them.

Cut W-816 (large) aileron pushrod tubes to length, drilled end caps, deburred, cleaned, primed everything, assembled and riveted end caps. Test-fit L wing pushrod to bellcrank.

Will reorder two end caps for R wing W-816 pushrod, because edge distance is not sufficient. Will use existing pushrod as a drill guide, since its edge distances are fine. (The reason I messed up these holes is that I wrongly took an artist's view of the "look" of these pushrod assemblies, assuming that the beveled surface of the end caps would make a flush intersection with the pushrod. In reality, the end caps should be pushed into the rods further than you'd think by looking at them.)

  Sep 30, 2006     Aileron bellcrank - (.6 hour) Category: Wings

Moved L wing to worktable. Began assembling L aileron bellcrank, but didn't have a straight reamer for brass bushing. Will borrow one tomorrow.

  Sep 29, 2006     Aileron brackets - (3.8 hours) Category: Wings

Completed fabrication of aileron brackets. Began studying aileron bellcrank assembly.

  Sep 28, 2006     Aileron brackets - (3.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished assembling L inboard aileron bracket. Drilled, polished, countersunk, deburred, roughed and primed R inboard aileron bracket. Studied plans. Videotaped basic processes for RV builder video.

  Sep 26, 2006     L aileron hinge bracket; Flap brace       Category: Wings

Drilled, deburred, polished edges, and countersunk four holes on the W-413 left wing aileron hinge bracket for the left wing. Trimmed cutout on the left wing flap brace. Polished edges. Clecoed flap brace onto wing to check fit. Checked location of Dynon D-10A remote compass mount on left wingtip rib.

  Sep 21, 2006     L wing flap brace; Aileron hinge brackets - (1.1 hours) Category: Wings

Clecoed flap brace to L wing to check fit. Began assembling L aileron hinge brackets.

  Sep 17, 2006     Fuel sender fabrication and fuel tank attach bolts - (1.8 hours)       Category: Wings

Removed all four bottom wing access covers and checked torque on all fuel tank attach bolts, in accordance with Van's special notice sheet. Found at least four bolts not tightened to 20-25 in/lbs. Tightened bolts.

Tested both fuel senders with ohmmeter -- values were nearly perfect. Fabricated fuel sender float arms. Attached floats and arms to senders.

  Nov 10, 2005     Landing light; nav light - (1.0 hour)       Category: Wings

Installed landing light mounting plate in wing bay. Mounted ballast to mounting plate using AN515-8R8 screws, AN960-10 washers, and AN365-832A stop nuts. (Used a longer screw on one corner in order to mount an Adel clamp to hold the wiring harness). Mounted ballast and lightbulb. Put additional tie-wraps on several wires to keep them firmly away from edge of lightening hole. Protected lightbulb with Saran Wrap, then stuffed paper around entire mount to protect it from the subsequent drilling I'll be doing on the Plexiglass cover. To work with the Plexiglass, I'll have to warm up the hangar to ~70 degrees, or wait for warmer weather.

Held fiberglass wingtip in position to determine wire length for LED nav light. Drilled and clecoed nav light power converter puck to end rib.