Nov 16, 2023     Flaperon rigging - (2.0 hours) Category: Wings

This was going to be a quick job to set flaperon movement limits on the control rod mixer. Long story short, it took two hours to set flaperons, measure angles, and finally determined that the desired flaperon angle movement needed ALL lateral control movement available. All I did was screw in limit screws to touch the control stick. and will tighten lock nut. I spent a lot of time checking angles and wondering why the flaperons drooped compared to the wing. Then I read about checking angles at different flap settings.......ooooh...seems the first measurements I took were with flaps partially deployed instead of secured. I re-did all measurements using the App on my phone and all measurements within 2.5 degrees of desired. Left and right are within 0.5 degree of each. Then left for Colorado for Thanksgiving for 10 days.

  Oct 25, 2023     Flaperon push rod rigging, Fuel line - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Several hours to adjust push rods and hold control stick in proper position to determine rod ends adjustment length.. Had to mount some flaperon jigs with 4 foot sticks out front using a 2 13/16 wood block as brace to hold flaperons in a neutral postion while contol stick in neutral position and then adjust/install push rods.
Able to get fuel lines fitted to wing tanks in tricky access area. I had soaked the fuel lines in lawn mower gas for several days as result of a hint to help install tight fitting fuel lines. Use a little LPS 1 lubricant also and hosed slide right on. I did have to rout out a wing rib on right fuel tank to allow access to place and tighten hose clamp and also to provide access (with more routing) to remove/replace brass fuel tank fitting if needed in future.
Had to get some smaller 5/16 hose clamps as I guess I used all my allotment in the engine install

  Oct 25, 2023     Transport braces - (5.0 hours) Category: Wings

Multiple hours to get the transport braces adjusted to fit, holes enlarged, through holes drilled, appropriate nuts, bolts, washers collected and installed on transport braces....all this to be used for possibly only one trip to the airport.

  Oct 24, 2023     folding wings, flaperons - (4.0 hours) Category: Wings

Patrick came by and spent couple of hours working on installing the flaperons and trimming side hole in turtle deck to fit. Then worked on folding the wings process.
After Patrick left, found I had locked the upper turtle deck onto fuselage and had to use cutoff tool to trim enough to allow the upper turtle deck to pivot aft and upward. Now have a wide slot....oh well.

  Oct 23, 2023     Flaperon rigging - (5.0 hours) Category: Wings

Five hours on flaperon rigging and STILL not done. After several issues with trying to hold stick in neutral position with Gorilla tape while doing initial adjustments for flaperon rigging, I finally gave up when heat caused gorilla tape to let go. After several issues trying to install the flaperon actuators rods, I discovered there is a right and a left. Of course I had them bassacward.....one seemed too long and the other seemed too short. Thought my other actuators were misaligned. Just now switch tubes....getting hot and I'm dehydrated....again.
Before stopping this job, I removed main flaperon push rod running under my seat due to significant rubbing on floor stringer. Have to file off the powder coat and a little metal to get adequate clearance.

  Oct 22, 2023     Finding parts for flaperon - (2.0 hours) Category: Wings

Couple of hours looking for parts to rig the flaperons. Needed to find instructions, nuts, bolts, washers, rod ends, flaperon wood jigs, 2 13/16" block, spirit level, strapping tape....all to rig the flaperons

  Oct 22, 2023     Flaperon install - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Patrick came over to give me a hand installing flaperons, Got them installed and bolts/washers/nuts inserted and tightened. I'm short about 6 of proper size/type of bolts and have used temp substitutes...two outer brackes left flaperon and innermost bracket of right flaperon. Proper diameter, just not same length/shape as all others. Also got nuts installed on elevator hinge bolts.
Too busy working and didn't get any photos of install

  Oct 20, 2023     Flaperons counter weight install - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

All I had to do was glue/rivet four counter weights to flaperons, Holes were all ready drilled. Why did it take so long?

  Oct 17, 2023     Jury struts - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Got jury struts mounted. Lower left front bracket off center about 1/2....shouldn't be a problem

  Oct 15, 2023     ROLL OUT DEBUT - (10 hours)       Category: Wings

Had 10-15 friends, CAP members and neighbors over to help move plane out and attach wings, doors, rudder, elevator and horizontal stabilizer. At least got screws put in. Still need to confirm nuts and proper washer placement is done. Some of tail surfaces don't seem to be moving as far as they should....will have to check, confirm and/or fix/adjust.
Completely assembled plane looks good in the sunlight.

  Oct 14, 2023     Prep for roll out - (5.0 hours) Category: Wings

Plane to be rolled out of garage tomorrow. Today is prep for the event tomorrow. Can't believe it took over 5 hours to find all fasteners for parts I want help with to install. Also cleaned up garage and moved items to clear path to get plane outside.

  Oct 08, 2023     Paint touch up - (2.0 hours) Category: Wings

Spent couple of hours cleaning up from painting. Missed couple areas on my paint job yesterday and had to fix the mess the drop cloth made on fairings. Used a paint brush and some left over paint. Should be fine.

  Oct 07, 2023     Painting lift struts - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Four and half hours to get garage setup for painting lift struts, jury struts and repaint top cowl. Then about 2 hours for paint mixing, spraying, flipping parts, cleanup. Came out pretty good and didn't make much mess. BUUTTT, seems while my back was turned, a flap of drop cloth blew over onto bottom portion of both lift strut cuffs. I'll fix it tomorrow

  Oct 06, 2023     Sanding fill on wing strut fairings - (4.0 hours) Category: Wings

Sanding on Super fill patch, repair and fill. Took much longer (as usual) than expected

  Oct 05, 2023     Strut fairing body fill - (4.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Superfill used to fill in voids, close fairing cuff and patch sectioned fairing behind jury strut brackets

  Oct 02, 2023     Lift strut fairings - (5.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Clean up of excess Hysol on jury strut brackets. More got underneath bracket than I realized. I left some gaps on the fairings around the jury strut brackets not wanting to try to fit tight fairings over the brackets. I cut the fairings to leave a gap around brackets. After bonding has set, I bonded some wood stick supports across the fairing gap and plan to fit some pieces of trimmed fairing to fill the gaps.
Next, fitted bottom fairing cuffs and riveted back ends.

  Sep 26, 2023     Lift strut fairings - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Final trimming and fitting of lift strut fairings. Then spot bonded fairings to lift struts....about 1.5 inch long "glob" every 6-8 inches.

  Sep 24, 2023     Wing tips and pitot - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed wing tips with only 1/4 of required screws in case I have to remove for electrical inspection. Installed pitot mounting post. Glossy black paint job on mounting post seems invisible within the "M" letter outline.

  Sep 21, 2023     Paint touch up. Wind screen weather stipping - (6.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Took a long time but did yellow touch up painting on wings and tail surfaces. Had to remove tape on elevator hinges to paint them and areas mostly hidden in fuselage just to make them look better. Touched up multiple nicks and "tears" in yellow paint,
Then placed weather stripping for windshield. Man...is that stuff sticky....and foam tears very easily. No repositioning when adhesive touches anything.

  Sep 20, 2023     Decals, landing lights - (7.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Got Richard (Rich) Nacim from E-metro signs to make and install all my graphic decals, roundels, N-number, U.S.ARMY logos. Also worked on installing landing lights and clear covers. Left landing light is canted down about 10 degrees hopefully to work as a taxi light. I put in an extra nut to prop the lens down slightly.

  Sep 03, 2023     Lift strut fairings - (2.0 hours) Category: Wings

Finished fitting lift strut fairings for both.

  Sep 02, 2023     Lift strut fairings - (2.0 hours) Category: Wings

Worked on getting lift strut fairings cut and fitted for left lift strut.

  Dec 10, 2021     Wing tip fill - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

When fitting wing tips, was left with 1/8-1/16" gap between fiberglass and wing rib. Mounted the wing tip and filled with Hysol on top and bottom. Also worked to use blue Super-fil for remaining defects in fiberglass wing tip.

  Dec 09, 2021     Wing holders - (8.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Built a wing holder to provide more compact storage for wings and allow easy access to wing ends for wiring. Used some plans I found on internet and repurposed one set of wing rotisserie stands for the wing holder. Still had to buy more 2x4's and one 4x4. Cut needed gussets from scrap chip board from other projects. Sacrifice a small dolly to take the wheels off to put on wing holder.....much cheaper than buying wheels separate. Only one little minor screw up but only resulted in structure 3 inches shorter than planned....no issue.

  Nov 02, 2021     Flaperon hinges install - (7.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Two work sessions over last two days to install flaperon hinges. I'm very disappointed with paint. It is still tacky after 2-3 days…particularly the flaperons. Paint slow to cure and flaperon picked up some wood splinters from long boards I had them on after painting to move them around. Many nicks in yellow paint with slightest insult. Tried on countrrweights and marked location. Tapped edges and tried different solvents to remove yellow paint to epoxy primer to prep for eventual bonding of weights. Didn't have to look far. Alcohol removed paint quickly.
When using hydraulic rivet gum, some of oil (brake fluid) leaked out. I wiped it off but residual weakened paint.
After attaching wing hinge brackets with flaperons, I placed them on hooks at ceiling. If paint doesn't set hard, will consider removing paint on flaperons and leave in epoxy primer.

  Oct 31, 2021     Finished painting wings - (5.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Time today for setup, mixing paint and spraying bottom of left wing. Yesterday had noted slight-moderate orange peel on first of what I painted.. toward end of session, my arm was tired and I kind of hurried the spry passes. Lo and behold, I ended with better, smoother finish…..putting on too much paint. Today, passes were quicker and farther away by 2+ inches giving wider spray fan and less passes as a result. Bottom of wing only took 30 minutes as opposed to upper taking 90 min…..a LOT of paint on wing. First passs didn't seem to cover well but by time I started x-coat, paint had flowed and very little additional color saturation with second. Now that over half of painting done, I've figured out how to spray the paint. I calculated about 14-16 pounds of paint per wing.
Spent almost 2 hours cleaning and reconfiguring to work on fuselage but decided to finish install flaperon brackets on left wing before I store the flapper and put away the left wing.

  Oct 30, 2021     Painting - (17 hours) Category: Wings

Bought more paint…..2 gallons of white (Emerald Urethane satin) and one more yellow. Took more than anticipated for base white and color. Determined today (after painting top and bottom one wing) that I'm applying too thick/heavy.
17.0 over three past days for setup, prep, light sanding of overspray, spraying, and cleanup. Arms and back are tired.

  Oct 25, 2021     Final color - (8.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent all day applying final yellow color on left wing. Paint went on a little "rough" so I slowed spray passes to see if would flow out....it didn't.....just used a LOT of paint. Found out I could spray faster (use less paint) and still get the needed coverage. Thought I could paint all wing and tail surfaces with just one gallon. Nope!! Will need two gallons and then will only have a little left over. I had spent almost 3.5 hours straight painting and was 1/2 panel of being "done" for the day....when I remembered: the flaperons and hinges.....rats! I still had paint in gun and a little more in mixing bucket. I put a wet towel on the spray gun tip and rounded up the parts to paint. Took 1.5+ hours to retrieve flaperons from ceiling and locate the flaperon hinges. Then got some soapy water and 3M scotch bite pad to clean dust and overspray off of flaperons and break epoxy glaze. Spray top side of flaperons, waited 2 hours dry time, flipped and painted the other side.
Color paint is Sherwin WIlliams Resilience exterior acrylic latex with satin finish cut with -20 degree washer fluid with about 3.75:1 paint/washer fluid. Paint color is Cheerful SW 6903 yellow. Paint went on a little rough but leveled to some degree. Finish is nice satin with very slight orange peel which does an excellent job hiding a LOT of surface defects that would be blatantly obvious with gloss finish. Color wont cover dark areas well. I'm extremely happy I did a white undercoat base.

  Oct 24, 2021     Finding paint and reflective lights - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent the day recuperating from painting last several days. Arms weak and legs ore very sore from crouching as I sprayed vertical wing....maybe a little to do with a high speed hike I took the other day and then fell...backwards just short of turn around....banged head when rock step went out from underneath me.
Went to Sherwin-Williams to see about getting some paint. Couldn't get my Emerald urethane enamel in white, but able to get it in my close to "Bahama Blue" and also my "cheerful Yellow" in Relience acrylic latex but no white Emerald urethane----Covid 19 BS.
Also stopped by Harbor freight and got some shop lights to help with spray painting by reflected light. Will try it out tomorrow.

  Oct 23, 2021     Painting wing - (14 hours)       Category: Wings

Well,,,painting didn't go quite as planned. Many hours spent over several days to start painting process. Had tested some paint I had in garage on test panels then tried spraying same paints on test panels. Determined that SW Emerald water borne Urethane enamel (single component paint....not catalyzed) I used on Ski Patrol sign sprayed very nicely. Some other paint, SW Weatherbeater, I got at Lowes didn't spray worth shit. I spent couple hours on YouTube trying to determine problem and got few pointers that made SW Emerald spray even better. Went to SW paint store to buy my paint for white base and for color......not that simple. COVID has messed up supply chain. No SW Emerald available. Also can't tint that paint to desired Yellow and blue anyway. Have to use a different paint, Resilience, for the color. None of that available either. Have to start with pre-colored yellow and blue base paint and tint to desired color. Before committing to buying $100's of paint, I bought quart of yellow tinted satin color to see how would spray. Sprays OK, but not as nice as the Urethane; however, it does level nicely and quite a nice finish. Thinned the paint with -20degree windshield washer fluid per Weinerdogaero.com about painting with Latex. Thinned it more than I was trying for but sprayed and covered nicely. I sprayed top and bottom with immediate cross coats (N/S and E/W) for thicker paint film. The white covered the pink Poly-Brush very nicely with only one spray coat. After one day drying, I sprayed another cross coat layer for total of 4 passes of paint on top for better UV protection. Only couple of small runs. Paint has a lot of titanium dioxide which is supposedly good UV absorber. I used this to avoid all sanding required for PolySpray silver but still spent hour or so sanding off small imperfections and drip runs on first paint try.

  Oct 19, 2021     Sprayed Poly Brush - (5 hours) Category: Wings

Two sessions to clean up, prep and prepare garage for spraying the Poly brush. Mixed up reduced PolyBrush (determined that previous wing was NOT sprayed with reduced Poly Brush (Seems when I measured the reducer to add to can of reduced Poly brush, I poured the measured amount of reducer back into dispensing container of reducer. That would explain the pink colored reducer coming out of the reducer can I had been using) and sprayed 2 coats on top and bottom of wing and also on two test panels. Only one small run fixed with clean brush and reducer.

  Oct 18, 2021     Horizontal finish tapes - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Multiple sessions to apply longitudinal finish tapes on leading, trailing edges and top of rear spar. Also many hours of ironing to remove high spots and rough areas. Did manage to glue bottom 2" final horizontal tape 1" too forward. Didn't notice until I applied the final leading edge 4" tape on top of 2" tape when I noticed the problem. I didn't have enough tape on bottom leading edge to cover aft portion of front spar to have 1/2-1" extension past possible wear on fabric. I just added another 2" tape just aft of bottom aft edge of the 4" horizontal tape. Added extra coat of Poly=Brush over the junction of the 4" and 2" tape. Then when ironing smooth, I tried to fill joint between the two tapes. Came out OK, the extra tape should not lift even though it's leading edge is technically in the wind stream. Junction between the two tapes is now pretty smooth.

  Oct 14, 2021     Smoothing some finishing tapes - (3.0 hours) Category: Wings

Spent 3.0 hours smooth areas prior to applying longitudinal finishing tapes. Also pre-coated same areas with Poly-Brush

  Oct 13, 2021     Finish tapes Right wing - (6.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Got most of the finish tapes applied today along with dealing with last minute tax issues for Tax extension filing deadline on Oct 15. Will finish tapes in next day or so.

  Oct 12, 2021     Poly brush tapes - (6.0 hours) Category: Wings

Hours spent applying Poly Brush to reinforcing tapes, then layer Poly Brush prior to applying finish tapes, had to cut some more doilies, applied all the doilies to right wing, second coat to doilies, drawing lines for finish tapes, mixing more 3-1 reduced Poly brush, dealing with CPA over extended tax filing deadline (last minute items to be answered NOW)

  Oct 11, 2021     Rib lacing finish and Poly brush - (5.5 hours) Category: Wings

Finished up the rib lacing. Cleaned wax off of lacing with alcohol. Determined I was short a couple of doilies. Pulled out stretching frame and stapled some more light weight Poly Fiber on frame and shrunk to 250 degrees. Then cut out 6 round, 3 rectangular and 6 smaller round doilies. Two coats of Poly brush applied to re-enforcing tapes and laces. Then applied poly brush coat to rest of my test fabric panels. I want to have some panels to test spray painting.

  Oct 10, 2021     Rib lacing - (8.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished applying re-enforcing tapes on rib caps. Spent hour or so marking and drawing lines for finishing tapes. Also marked chalk lines for position of lacing holes. Then about 45 minutes reviewing modified, hidden seine knots on EAA.org homebuilders hints. Next was tying lacing knots. Got about 2/3 of lacing done today. May go hiking tomorrow morning (haven't been in several weeks)

  Oct 09, 2021     Rib lacing - (3.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent several hours chalk striping the wings top and bottom in prep for rib lacing. Used strip of fabric I had marked out on first wing to mark rib lacing points on second wing. Measured and cut all the re-enforcing tapes for the lacing and applied about half of tapes. Need to relearn how to lace.

  Oct 08, 2021     Wing tip metal brackets - (8.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Had applied the single brush coat of Poly Brush last night and worked today on correcting defects: drips, brush hairs, oogats, etc. Also turned and smoothed excess fabric at leading and trailing edges on inboard and outboard ribs. Then melted fabric out of wing tip mounting holes on rib #10. Mounted the metal strips, fitted wingtips, marked wing tip mounting holes, drilled holes through wing tip and mounting bracket, drilled holes for nut plates, counter sunk holes, hammered in the solid rivets, remounted the metal brackets, redrilled and counter sunk holes on outboard rib, tried on the wing tip, detached all and bonded metal mounting strips to last rib with Hysol and flush rivets.

  Oct 07, 2021     Poly Brush first coat - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Clean up and prep of fabric for Poly brush. Applied Poly brush and came up with plan for next day to try to catch up with planned work for the month of October.

  Oct 07, 2021     Anti Chafe tape - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Couple of hours getting set up and changing around the workshop. Moved left wing to edge of garage and pulled out the other wing skeleton. Decided while research paint to finish covering the other wing and get it painted while I still have swamp cooler running for next 3-4 weeks. Applied the anti chafe tape to several pokey area on right wing that I found on Left wing.

  Oct 07, 2021     Ironing and smoothing - (8 hours) Category: Wings

Spent couple of work sessions working to clean up excess Poly Brush and resealing tape edges and any other rough areas in prep for painting white primer paint.

  Oct 04, 2021     Covering right wing - (12 hours) Category: Wings

Several work sessions to glue on top and bottom fabric. Then hours and hours of ironing to take out wrinkles. I did a much better job of covering the first time. Maybe beginners work. Sure made a mess of the second wing. Ended up with HUGE wrinkles on leading edge bottom.....but.....with all the ironing at different temps, time and pressure removed 95% of wrinkles I created. Still several inches of creased, almost flat fabric in several places but I hope that finishing tapes will hide the worst of the errors.

  Oct 03, 2021     Wiring and GMU 11 connector - (6.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent multiple hours placing wiring in right wing for magnetometer, GMU 11, and fabricating connector. I installed GMU 11 onto its bracket shelf before covering and then decided would be whole lot easier to fabricate connector and plug it in before covering. Spent several hours researching and reading about wiring in- and out-puts for the GMU 11 and e=mailed former avionics instructor about what was needed. Determined only two shielded cables with four internal wires needed. Re-read about CAN-BUS and termination. Installed CAN-bus terminated onto GMU 11 and then placed and secured the connector I fabricated. Going to use standard shielded 22 ga, two wire for CAN Bus. Re-learned about crimping pins, pin-out charts and fabricated connector before installing . Over 5 hours to accomplish a 5-10 job. Soldered pig tail from shield to connector case ground.

  Sep 27, 2021     Patrol refresher and bad back Category: Wings

Ski Patrol refresher and tweaked back kept me out of garage for almost one week.

  Sep 21, 2021     Spraying Poly brush - (6.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Two days to spray four coats of poly Brush. After finishing, got to reading directions closer and determined that depending on how you interpreted the instructions, either 4 coats of sprayed Poly brush needed or just 2 coats. I contacted Poly Fiber and found out needed......just two coats. $90 of extra poly brush sprayed on Left wing.

  Sep 13, 2021     Nutplates - (5.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Took awhile to learn to do these and come up with a system. Only up-drilled two holes wrong....(wasn't supposed to up-drill holes for poprivets to wing). Checked to be sure that wing tips would fit after enlarging holes then Hysol bonded the metal strips and pop rivetted strips to rib #10. Added filler to wing tip with unused Hysol.

  Sep 12, 2021     Ironing finish tapes - (4.0 hours) Category: Wings

Spent several hours ironing and flattening bumps, wrinkles and raised edges. Will still have to do this with the false rib tapes and leading/trailing edges but got wide tapes ironed.

  Sep 11, 2021     Wing tip fitting - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Had to stop my finish tape attachment process to get the wing tip fitted. Poked holes through fabric at sites of previously drill mounting holes for metal strip to be used to mount wing tips. Then used my new soldering iron to melt/burn holes to uncover counter sunk holes.....ruining solder tip in process....another tip now on order so will have one for melting fabric and one for electrical soldering.
Next step is to learn to rivet nutplates

  Sep 10, 2021     Ironing finish tapes - (4.5 hours) Category: Wings

Spent many hours ironing down finish tapes that have been applied. Still waiting on order for 1" finish tapes for false ribs. Had done the spanwise finish tape for spar on top of wing. Was going to place the one for tail when thought about how I was going to find holes for mounting metal strips for wing tip mounting. Read the instructions (what a novelty!!)....suppose rivet on wing tip mounting plates BEFORE finish tapes on #10 rib. Oh well, just one more layer of tape. NOT a safety of flight issue....just cosmetic. After riveting metal strips, will put another finish tape to cover over rivet heads.

  Sep 08, 2021     Finish tapes - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

About 12 hours of work over three work sessions to draw lines on wing to position finish tapes and doilies. Then applied coat of 3:1 Poly Brush, let dry, apply doilies and finish tapes. Had to order some 1" finish tape.....didn't want to cut 150+ feet of 2" with pinking shears.

  Sep 03, 2021     Doillies - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Went to Lowes to get some 2 x 2 wood to make stretching frame for light weight fabric to make doilies. Had ordered 2 yds of light weight fabric assuming 72" wide. ended up on 70" wide and not wide enough to fit on frame. I messed up trying to make a 3' x 3' frame..... ended up 37.5" x 37.5" but fabric only 35" x 36 " and could not get 2 full square yards to shrink on the oversized frame. Long story short, had to put more 2 x 2 on inside of frame to make is smaller....worked.....but quite heavy for its function.
Stapled fabric to frame and shrunk at 250degrees. Used paint can, piece of cut off PVC and desert dish to draw three different sized doilies. Took and hour or so to cut out all patches.

  Sep 02, 2021     Wing covering and lacing - (15 hours) Category: Wings

15 hours over 3 sessions for Poly Brush, re-enforcing strips, lacing, more poly brush. After spending several hours Spent about 3-4 hours trying to see how to rib lacing and tie knots on practice boards. Knots tolerable but not very tight. Didn't take as long as I thought to do lacing. Initially, took about 5 minutes per knot but later got it down to about 2.5 minutes. Would have been a lot quicker with curved tip. That order arrived late today with only 5 lacing knots left. Those five went VERY quick with curved tip.
Took hour or so to apply re-enforcing strips on capstrips. Then about 4-5 hours for lacing. 1.5 hours spent on priming re-enforcing strips with 4+ coats of poly brush to fill the weave.

  Aug 29, 2021     Fabric and needle lacing order - (1.5 hours) Category: Wings

Got all prepped to start rib lacing and found Kitfox had sent only a straight needle. It works but necessitates multiple needle passes top to bottom to advance running Seine knot to next hole. I decided to bend the tip.....not a good idea....hardened steel.....tip broke off. I quickly ordered curved tip needle and half moon needle for lacing just top capstrip and some lightweight fabric for doillies as suggested by Poly Fiber.
In meantime, I wanted to start lacing so took some small stones and formed a new tip.

  Aug 28, 2021     Heat shrinking and iron calibration - (6 hours) Category: Wings

Spent long time heat shrinking fabric. My infrared thermometers don't read accurately when pointed directly at bottom. I get better reading when teflon paper placed on iron and thermometer pressed directly onto teflon that is directly on iron. It seemed my expensive digital iron wasn't functioning properly. I ordered some Silicone heat shrink paste and bought couple of cheap clothing irons at second hand store. Place candy thermometer I got with Kitfox builders kit into silicone paste wrapped in teflon paper on top of stack of towels. Candy thermometer proved to be worthless. Best temp results came when silicone heated and infra-red reading taken off of silicone immediately after iron removed. None of my irons heat over 325..... I guess to keep people from scorching their clothes. I did shrink top and bottom to about 325 degrees.

  Aug 27, 2021     Covering initiated - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Before trip to Washington for TJ's retirement bash, Got everything prepped and ready to cover left wing. After return from trip, over two work periods, was able to bond both top and bottom fabric to left wing. Have to work really fast with Poly-Tak and use heavy application to be able to "bed" the fabric into cement. Don't have the 5-10 minutes as described....more like 20-30 seconds. Learned NOT to be neat when gluing fabric, Just get it aligned and glue quick. Several creases and wrinkles in the bonded areas but I learned with proper heat and adequate time for heat application, ALL creases and wrinkles were eliminated on the bonded areas. Tomorrow I start heat shrinking top and bottom fabric.

  Aug 06, 2021     Painting aluminum pieces - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

After prepping aluminum pieces, used some of remaining Steward System, water borne paint to epoxy paint prime for several aluminum pieces yet to install. Used foam brush to apply, Not best finish but a little sanding and topcoat of final color with correct issue.
Getting ready to head to SEattle for 2 weeks, (TJ retirement ceremony). Before leaving, got everything ready to start covering. Unrolled fabric and cut section to start covering on bottom left wing.
Got a picture of draped fabric and sample of painted pieces on wing.

  Aug 06, 2021     Poly Tak and aluminum panel prep - (4.0 hours) Category: Wings

Picked up $33 of Acetone, Lacquer thinner for Poly brush and painting clean up. Put one coat of Poly Tak on all rib caps per KitFox instruction manual...only took about 30 miniutes. I'm short on time due to upcoming trip to Seattle in 4 days and 3 days flying CAP before leaving. Spent about 3 hrs and Pulled out several aluminum panel pieces, filed/smoothed edges, etched, Alodine Tx in preparation for epoxy primer....sometime down the road.

  Aug 05, 2021     Set up work shop and Poly brush primer - (4.0 hours) Category: Wings

Spent hour or so re-arrangement position of wings and fuselage to work primarily on one wing. Mixed some reducer/poly brush to place two coats of cut polybrush to fuel tank and leading edge per Poly Fiber instructions.

  Aug 04, 2021     Practice wing covering process - (4.5 hours) Category: Wings

Practiced covering backside of previous practice panels and tried another technique. Laid down glue, let dry, applied fabric, applied glue/MEK cut mix to soak through and reactive glue to stick to fabric. I couldn't get to work well. Tried very heavy/wet application on 4-6 inches and placed fabric into glue, applied another 4-6 inches with pulling off previous stuck fabric, then used brush to tap all wet fabric back down. Quick glue dry even with 60+% humidity.

  Jul 21, 2021     Bubble door panel fitted right side - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Trimmed and fitted right door panel. Went better than I thought. Had watched FarmFox build by Harlan for his door fitting. Panel with Barely clearance from door frames but will be better after block sanding/smooth the edges. Still need to fabric cover door sill before final fitting of door panel/frame.

  Jul 20, 2021     Wing tips light fitting holes - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Pulled out wing tips, nav and landing lights. Read up on wiring and how to mount lights. Drilled holes and cut slots for Nav lights and landing lights. Found out I still have a little bit of fill work needed on wing tips. Need to order some #6 nut plates to use for mounting lights into wings. Holes all drilled for nav light mounting bracket. Slot drilled for landing light in wing tip leading edge recess. Holes drilled to mount. Clear lexan cover fitted for joggle in leading wing tip edge...ready for screw mounting.

  Jul 13, 2021     Practice wing covering process - (3.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Worked on 2 painting canvas frames I got at Hobby Lobby. I stripped the canvas and epoxy varnished the frames to tolerate the Poly Tac. Measured and cut spare fabric (obtained last year from EAA covering process class in Las Vegas). Use Poly Tac to glue fabric. Used the small iron with Kitfox basic tool kit but won't hold temp well and heat shoe with various temperatures around the heating area. I paid some bucks for a digital iron (believe got it from Kitfox). It worked VERY well and more consistent temp. Results pretty good considering very sharp corners on picture frame and work to heat contour and cement into a contoured side. Not bad for first try. Need to remember to coat fabric and surface to have enough cement to wet through the fabric

  Jul 08, 2021     Deglossing wing varnish - (3.0 hours) Category: Wings

Spent several hours de-glossing all areas to be coated with Poly-Tack to glue on fabric. Instructions don't call for it but I do recall fabric covering class mentioned to use Scotch brite to buff bonding areas.

  Jun 30, 2021     Touch up prep for covering - (7.0 hours) Category: Wings

Multiple work sessions to accomplish. Did final fill and sanding on wings and empenage. Then did two coats Poly varnish on areas sanded to wood during faring of all ribs, tank, etc. Then used some of Stewart system water based epoxy to paint bare trailing edges along rib #1-#3 and touch up exposed aluminum here and there. Forgot to paint the fuselage formers....again.

  Jun 24, 2021     Fuel tank false ribs - (6.00 hours)       Category: Wings

Several work sessions to trim/fit/bond fuel tank false ribs on left wing. Used belt sand resting upside down on work bench to gross trim extra false ribs to fit on bottom of fuel tank. After bonding, used 24" level to check and trim contour of false ribs to match contour of Ribs #1 and #3. Also finish bonding Rib #2 to bottom using shims to match bottom contour of Ribs #1 and #3.

  Jun 20, 2021     Magnetometer mount - (5.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Came up with idea for mounting magnetometer in right wing similar to Pitot mount in left wing. Cut a couple of wood blanks and sent them to TJ to cut a rabbet to help sit on bottom rib cap, small wing spar, and false rib. Cost $22 for postage to and from TJ. Good fit. Mounted near end of false rib to make for easier access through future access panel in fabric

  Jun 13, 2021     Flaperon hinges remounted - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Had realized I had mis-measured location of flaperon hinge brackets by more then 1/2" on right wing. Re-mounted and re-drilled ribs for hinge brackets. Then filled in incorrect holes with Hysol

  Jun 12, 2021     Repair, Magnetometer and Pitot mounts - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent hour or so figuring out how/where to mount the magnetometer in the right wing. Has to be 36" from heavy steel or power consumption. Able to locate spot about 34 1/2" from from spar strut bracket and lights in wing tip.
Also found good spot for Pitot mount on fuselage side of rib #5. In plans, calls for pitot mount farther towards wing tip by rib #7. Reading builder logs shows people bump pitot a lot in this area. Rib #5 position put pitot above lift strut and below wing in protected area.
I plan to mount magnetometer similar to the mount for the pitot with 1/4" plywood bonded between main rib and next outer false rib. Have sent two wood blanks to TJ to have him cut some rabbets along one side to help mount wood square to main rib. Cost $22 to mail and return postage for $3 of wood.....well... beats trying to do the impossible myself.....and save a lot of time.
Also worked hour or so figuring repair of broken upper false ribs on outer right wing. Repaired with a bonded scab "splint"
Cleaned, acid etched and alodined the added trailing edge behind both fuel tanks. Then bonded in the aluminum stiffening tubes into trailing edge.

  Jun 12, 2021     Flaperon mounting Left wing - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Mounted the hinges for left flapern. Looking at instructions, I realized I had mounted the right wing flaperon INCORRECTLY by measuring 1/8" on wing flaperon bracket in wrong area.
Left flaperon mounted with #1 and #9 rib brackets only off 1/16".....tolerate with "slop" in flaperon hinge bushings.

  Jun 11, 2021     Research and reading - (4.0 hours) Category: Wings

Couple of weeks ago, bought a 1/4" plywood board for shelving for magnetometer.
Not much work done recently due to kids and families came to town for a week for Billie Jean's memorial. Great family reunion in Ruidoso.
Spent most of today trying to figure out mounting of pitot tube and magnetometer. Came up with a plan for both. Have sent two blanks of wood to TJ to have him cut a rabbet in both to help fit to wing full rib and false rib and allow room for magnetometer mounting. Position is almost 36" (desired distance) from steel spar stiffeners and wing strobe lights per Garmin install instructions

  Jun 04, 2021     Filling and sanding - (6.0 hours) Category: Wings

Multiple hours over several sessions using Superfill to fair fuel tank to front spar and adjacent ribs. Also filled on front and back ends of multiple ribs. Also attached Rib #2 and trailing edge from Rib #1 to Rib #3. Lots of sanding and filling. While doing so, also took opportunity to fill around metal trim around doors and triangle window.

  May 25, 2021     Fuel tank install - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed fuel tank in left wing with adhesive. Had spent several hours before trip to Colo for Jason's memorial getting tank fitted and spars painted. Today, also took wheel pants out of shipping box, stored them in empty shelf in garage and disposed of large box. Kids coming from Billie Jean memorial and need to make room for Scott.

  May 18, 2021     Flaperon alodine and paint - (8.0 hours)       Category: Wings

8 hours spent over couple days to hang drapes to prevent overspray onto items in storage shelves in garage, Cleaned and alodined flaperons, spray painted the spars, flaperons and flaperon hinge wing brackets Had also fitted right flaperon to right wing and drill holes for flaperon brackets.

  May 18, 2021     Flaperons - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

12 hours over several days. Final fitting, filling and sanding of flaperon end caps, inboard end cap with fitting of #1 rib hinge for flaperons. Also worked with jigs to adjust "clocking" of flaperon angle actuator

  May 07, 2021     Flaperon...right - (3.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Worked on right flaperon. Install trailing edge rivets, drilled drain holes, fitted inboard end cap, fitted and bonded outboard end cap (preformed plastic). Drilled mounting holes for inboard end cap. Had to re-bond flaperon skins to internal foam rib on inboard side. Not sure if necessary as end cap only couple inches away.

  May 07, 2021     Snading and filling - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

More sanding and filling on right wing tank fairing to rib and spar.
Also worked on sand and fill right end cap tip

  May 06, 2021     Flaperon mounting jib - (7.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Had to get two pieces of 1.5 x .75 x 4-6 feet sticks to make the jig to hold flaperons to properly clock time the actuating arms for roll. I screwed up the first set of jigs, then got better doing second set. A lot of time spent for jigs to be used for just 5-10 minutes to properly set the control arm for L and R flaperons.

  May 06, 2021     Super fill contouring - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Super Fill to contour fuel tank to ribs and spar.

  May 05, 2021     Flaperon counter weights - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

drilled holes for flaperon counter weights 1.5

  Apr 27, 2021     Fuel tank false ribs - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Several work sessions over three days. Trying to get ready and pack for Cozumel dive trip. Bonded false ribs to bottom of fuel tank. Used Hysol with coating of SuperFil to fair tanks to front spar and #1 rib. Will need to sand and re-fill. Also place wood braces between tank and #1 rib to prevent rib distortion when fabric shrunk.

  Apr 24, 2021     Fuel tank false ribs - (5.0 hours) Category: Wings

Spent hour or more trying to figure out how to fit false ribs to bottom of fuel tank. Spare false ribs came with the kit....quite warped. So I had bonded a 1/8" stiffener to each rib to straighten it. Now I had to shorten height of each rib substantially to fit on tank bottom and blend into airfoil contour. I thought initially that the stiffener would be a problem but actually helped the fitting process. Instead of shim under ribs, I ground and fitted the ribs to fit flush with tank bottom.
I don't have picture yet, but yesterday, I did fit Rib #2 and cut/fitted the metal trailing edge. All are now ready to bond to tank.

  Apr 21, 2021     Epoxy primer - (3.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Epoxy primer applied by brush to all metal parts on wing. Used some Stewart System 2 part epoxy primer I got some months ago. Says can be applied by brush with "good" results but I found it didn't apply very smoothly. Expensive paint so will use in "hidden" area.

  Apr 15, 2021     Super fill contouring - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Used cutout leading edge contour template to get proper airfoil contour to leading edge. Had to sand some high portions on top, front edge of rib caps near the front spar. Used Super Fill to slightly over fill needed contour. Then sanded back. Sand paper kept gumming up and Super Fill didn't seem to be completely hard. I read directions again. Suppose to mix 2:1.....I had mixed at 1:1. Not perfect, but it will work....material will eventually set.

  Apr 13, 2021     Counter sink rib #10 - (1.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Used my fancy counter sink assembly to counter sink rivet holes in rib #10 for future installation of metal backing strips for wing tips

  Apr 10, 2021     Leading edge fitting - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Fitting and bonding of leading edge extrusion

  Apr 08, 2021     Butt rib install - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent quite some time today to do process to install butt rib. Had to drill new jig to be able to drill holes in small, tubular butt rib brackets. Got all butt rib brackets trimmed, drilled and installed with clecos when I realized that the temp mounting of butt rib was incorrect, 3.5 mm too low for matching with #1 rib. Determined that only choice was to remount butt rib and redrill cleco holes. Spent 1.5 hours redoing what already was done.

When drilling the holes in small diameter tube of butt rib brackets, had to drill a new jig because alignment hole was over drilled. Couldn't remember what drill I used in Jan 25 to do previous jig. Finally determined that 1/2 spade wood bit was what was needed. Got #30 holes drilled into block fairly true and holes into tube done quickly.

  Apr 02, 2021     Jury strut, #1 rib fitting - (5.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Patrick came over again to help mount right wing. Had to file fuselage tubes on forward and aft mounting points but got file done and allowed pins to drop with minimal internal hole reaming. Forgot to trim and mount #1 rib before mounting wing. Went ahead and fitted jury strut, bonded jury strut brackets and figured location of jury strut clamps. Removed jury strut. Jeanne and I very easily removed the wing onto sawhorses. Trimmed, fitted and bonded #1 rib. Then very easily replaced wing. Had left the lift strut in exact position when wing fitted so made removing and reinstalling wing a cinch.
These tasks were done over a couple of days.

  Feb 25, 2021     Multiple small tasks - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Multiple tasks over several work periods. Alodine treated flaperon brackets, door frame moldings, wingtip attachment metal strip, trailing edge stiffeners, console trim panels.
Drilled, fitted and installed flaperon brackets for both wings. Fitted and bonded trailing edge stiffeners. Fitted wing tips both sides along with metal attachment strips.
Decided not to slosh anti-corrosion treatment inside of spars on right wing due to debonding of six ribs on left wing. In future, will use Corrosion-X or similar to treat inside

  Feb 20, 2021     Various wing projects - (8.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Eight hours over several work periods.
Wing tip fitting of trailing edge to match wing trailing edge. Had to split tail of fiberglass wing tip to fit. Filled with Hysol and will need more SuperFil later.
Also fitted leading edge. Used masking tape to hold edge in position. Supposed to trim leading edge to fit around front spar lift strut bracket. I trimmed WAY TOO much and had to patch over-trim. Used balsa wood and hysol for bulk fill then day or so later with some SuperFil. Trimmed and sanded to contour. Went pretty quick, only took about 40 minutes over couple of days.

  Feb 20, 2021     Sand blaster and parts - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Various items, tape, hobby sticks for mixing, cups, countersink cutters with cages, lubricants, air gun for sand blaster.
Was on internet and saw how to make crude sand blaster for steel parts before painting
Generic plastic bottle with hole drilled through neck to tightly fit the metal air gun nose. A notch is cut into tube for sand pick up when activated. Look at tip of my finger. Tube hole inserted into bottle, bottle filled with sand, sand siphoned out when air activated.

  Feb 18, 2021     Flaperon hinge brackets - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Worked on trimming smoothing and fitting flaperon brackets. Pre-drilled one side fitted and clamp matching bracket pair, drilled, cleco, deburred, bonded and riveted bracket onto ribs #1,3,5,7,9.

  Feb 11, 2021     Alodine treatment - (6.0 hours) Category: Wings

No photos but did Alodine treatment of aluminum spars/braces on left wing. Used material called Bonderite. After pre-cleaning with a metal prep material called Bonderite C-IC alumiprep and rinsing on exterior and interior slosh. Internal sloshing was a mess as solution leaked out of all the pop-rivets on the wing. Spent about an hour on previous day filling all rivet holes with Super Fill. Filling holes would have worked great had I filled ALL the holes....missed a group of rivets. Next day, set up wing on saw horses, plugged spars with foam ball covered in plastic wrap, poured in solution into spars, removed one saw horse and pivoted wing up and down. Used alumi-prep and Bonderite Alodine to treat inside and outside. Left surface with slight brown/gold appearance....not as much as I expected. Hope will provide the needed protection. I decided against painting inside and outside of spars as the Alodine treatment is supposed to be sufficient enough for protection unless plane operates on floats or in water.....which is wont be.

  Feb 09, 2021     Fitting of wing tips - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Jumped between working on fuel tanks and fiberglass wing tip fitting. First had to fit metal strips to cap strips on #10 rib. Drilled and clecoed strip. Had to remove about 1/2" of front spar to be even with outside edge of #10 rib cap to allow proper fitting of wing tip. Trimmed top of wing tip, fitted marked and trimmed lower portion of wing tip. Both top and bottom cuts right on "scribe" line faintly visible in gelcoat. Very little fitting needed after cutting carefully.
Had to spit the trailing edge of wingtip to fit around metal strips and then patched tip with Hysol. Will work on filling, finishing and sanding on wing tips and then wait on final holes and nutplate mounting until after fabric covering.

  Feb 08, 2021     No work, no time - (0.1 hour) Category: Wings

Very little work recently due to flying with CAP and working at ski area. Got to fly to Ozona last week to deliver "gray ghost" back to Georgetown squadron. We had had the plane since late November for Falcon Virgo and then spent over 30 days in maintenance for 100 hr.
Then spent several days/flights learning new-to-us plane, C-182RG, with Shane. Finally got checked out yesterday so no legal to fly the retractable gear plane.

  Feb 05, 2021     Butt rib work - (4.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Fitting of butt rib close out sheet metal that fits above door and below butt rib. Also found some balsa wood sheet to close up front and back holes in butt rib just leaving the center hole open to view fuel level. Also painted the butt rib.

  Jan 25, 2021     Root and Butt ribs - (5.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Yesterday, had Patrick Mulvey stop by and with his and Jeanne's help, got the wing mounted on fuselage. Only had to do some minor filing on hole of front spar reinforcing brackets to be able to drop the bolt....probably 0.1-0.2 mm had to be remove on one side of hole. Then fitted the jury strut, marked position of jury strut brackets on spars, drilled holes, bonded and riveted the brackets, fitted the jury strut clamps, record the distance to jury strut clamps. Bonded in the root rib to wing. Today, after slow start at 3:00pm, I fitted the butt rib, butt rib brackets. Did drill holes for butt rib brackets in wrong place for three of four brackets, so had to had another hole. Extra hole on top of bracket and once completed, no one can see it unless they use a mirror. No structural/functional issues with extra hole.
I don't have a drill press. Had to come up with idea on how to drill hole into a round tube. Came up with idea of small block of wood with 1/2 inch hole drilled to tightly fit bracket and guide hole drilled through the top of the wood block. Put the wood block with the bracket into the vise and drilled #30 hole with no prom. Since soft wood, guide hole only good for 3-4 holes. When right side done 2.5 months later, had to drill a new block.

  Jan 22, 2021     Supplies Category: Wings

Bought another gallon of denatured Alcohol and some small foam balls to use to plug ends of spars to allow internal cleaning and painting.

  Nov 02, 2020     False ribs-not on fuel tank - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings

After installation of lift brackets on spars, needed to install 3 false ribs on top and two false ribs on bottom of wing. I had varnished all wood parts as soon as I opened kit to prevent warping. Looking back, I remember the false ribs as being distorted somewhat when I first got them and kept them clipped to table for some time. They became reasonably straight and after varnishing, I threw them into a box on top shelf assuming they were protected. When I retrieved them, (15-16), all but 4-5 were noticeable warped. I found some 1/4" square poplar/pine pieces and epoxied them with multiple clamps. Came out fairly straight.

  Oct 22, 2020     Strut tryon and spar reinforcement fittings - (8.0 hours)       Category: Wings

Not much work in last 1.5 weeks as kids in town. They did help with getting wing down and supporting while I tried on left wing strut. I had paid for pre-rigging of wing and bolts into wing/fuselage lugs and strut fittings fit perfect. Will assume right wing is ok also. Took many hours to trim, fit, drill, debur, clean and bond the reinforcement fittings for both wings. My pneumatic rivet puller quit after only a couple of pulls. Rest of the 56 rivets had to be hand pulled.
Had to move ceiling hooks to store wings as Rib #1 would not allow both wings to be hung on ceiling with rib #1 attached (won't be done for awhile). Scott helped to move wings several times.
Got one rib #1 trimmed and fitted over the reinforcement plates.

  May 30, 2020     Sanding wing ribs - (1.9 hours)       Category: Wings

Sanding wing ribs. Thought all done with sanding and found horizontal stabilizer and elevator ribs......more sanding.