May 13, 2021     Wing stands - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Rough wing stands stand built (4) for holding the wings adjacent to the fuselage at the approximate dihedral angle. Final positioning will be with shims. Hauling project to the airport tomorrow Tom set up in position for drilling wing spar to fuselage holes.

  May 03, 2021     Aileron close-out second wing., - (9 hours) Category: Wings

Putting the aileron pocket panels on to close out the aileron cavities the last few days. This is the last, most rearward line of rivets on these wings. Also went to see Bob G about how to fix a few oversized rivet holes on the flaps and. Ailerons. Immensely helpful.

  Apr 18, 2021     Nutplates for control surface hinges. - (4 hours) Category: Wings

Daren Silvernagel helped me remove the hinges from my first aileron and flap. Tristan helped me today riveting nut plates on the back of the spars for mounting the hinges. It's very slow going with the gussset plates and ribs crowding everything, but I don't want to drill them out so I will persevere and slowly get all those nutplates on.

  Apr 01, 2021     Control surface hinges and horns - (9 hours)       Category: Wings

Last four days, I mounted the control horns and the steel hinges on the aileron and flap spars of the second wing with nutplates. On the first wing, I didn't realize the plans called for nutplates, and I used AN nylon lock nuts. I'm now removing the nuts (really hard now that the sheet metal gusset plates are all riveted to the control surfaces). I'm going to get them all removed and then reinstall with nutplates.

  Mar 28, 2021     Hanging ailerons and flaps 2nd wing - (6.5 hours)       Category: Wings

I have not done much besides research lately. I went to see another BH project the other day which was very worthwhile, as I met some great guys, saw an awesome 4 place build, ready to cover, and saw a ton of great ideas and processes. Most importantly I got re-inspired. With a bit of help from Linda today, I got the ailerons and flaps hung on the second wing. I'm now mounting nutplates on the back of the hinge mounting reinforcements on the aileron and flap spars. I did not do this on the first wing (just used nylon locking nuts. They are stronger, but you would have to fit the fabric around and over, and if you ever needed access to the hinge nuts, you'd have to slit the fabric. These pictures show the nutplates riveted onto the back of the control surface spar, and the resulting flush surface on the front face of the spar, which will be easy to secure the fabric covering to, and then bolt the hinge brackets to after covering. I'll try the nut plates on this wing and then most likely do the same on the other. Unfortunately,this will require working between gusset plates on the control surfaces.

  Feb 11, 2021     Pop rivets removed on 2nd wing aileron and flap - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Removal of pop rivets in skin gussets in preparation for mounting of hinges and control rods and flush riveting of skins. Minus 30 weather precludes working in the electrically heated garage. Last few weeks

  Jan 01, 2021     Fuel tank 2nd wing - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Not much progress in the last month due to flight training and. Christmas 2020. I started plumbing the second wing fuel tank tubing. In the process I discovered that the sump drain hole drilled in the completed cover is not located correctly due to the tank not being cinched into position when I cut the hole. I will rivet a circular stiffener around the area and cut a new hole. Probably will do the same on the other Tank cover in interest of symmetry.

  Nov 06, 2020     Wing root fitting, bottom skin riveting, continued. - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

The guide hole in the rear spar attachment fitting got marred while mounting the wing on the rotisserie. It will be drilled out to a larger size as part of the process of mounting the wing, but I was worried about it. I showed it to Mike Silvernagel who predicted that the hole would get fixed in the course of the wing mounting process. I also took pictures of it and sent them to Mark Goldberg. He concurred. He said they had dealt with this issue in two planes at the factory and it worked out fine. There is no need to change the spar fitting. If the damage isn't removed by drilling the hole to the final 5/16 size, it can be drilled out to 3/8 and a bigger bolt used, which still maintains plenty of edge distance. We can involve the designer as needed at any time.

Since we did not need to access the wing spar mounting fittings, I elected to rivet the bottom skin around the root, and finished all the fuel tank bay nutplates on that skin. There are only a few bucked rivets to finish, but I prefer to have the boys help me, since they have a better feel for the rivet gun, and I can concentrate on the bucking bar, as I have been so far.

  Nov 04, 2020     Bottom skins, - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Aidan and I finished all the bucked rivets on the second wing, except for a few on the small piece of skin behind the fuel tank. The remainder can be done with the squeezer, probably after the control surfaces are mounted.

  Nov 01, 2020     Bottom skin attachment cont'd - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Aidan and I continued riveting the bottom skin onto the second wing. We also permanently riveted two inspection hatches to the skin.

  Oct 30, 2020     Riveting bottom skin on - (3 hours) Category: Wings

Aidan and I kept going on riveting the bottom skin. We got another 4 rows done, since we have to keep pivoting the wing to different angles to assist in reaching inside with the bucking bar. My back gives out after a couple hours. Heres a video of us after we got our technique down. We drilled the holes around the perimeter of the hatches and added nutplates along the edge of the tank bay in line with the 5 rows of skin rivets done thus far..

https://youtu.be/vPAOu24NJd4

  Oct 29, 2020     Riveting bottom skins on - (4 hours) Category: Wings

Aidan helped me start riveting bottom skins on. We did a bunch of practice riveting first, then moved onto the wing. Hard going. We got one row done. However, we also worked out our technique, so it was a productive day.

  Oct 27, 2020     Inspection hatches - (7 hours) Category: Wings

Installed many nutplates in inspection hatches

  Oct 26, 2020     Inspection hatches - (5 hours) Category: Wings

More work on installing nutplates and match drilling hatch covers and frames.

  Oct 25, 2020     Inspection hatches, aileron cables - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

I discovered that I had forgotten to install a turnbuckle between the aileron bellcranks and the cables. Obviously, they are needed for adjustment of the ailerons. My hardware kit had 5 turnbuckles: two AN 130 and three An 140. The 130 has a fork on one end which attaches to the aileron bellcrank and a hole for a cable loop on the other. The only problem is that these are also required on the flap system, and I've already used them. We pirated them from the flaps, and I will replace in my next ACS order. The 140 turnbuckles have holes on both ends for cable loops. I need one to join the aileron transfer cable at the top of the cockpit, and I will use the two extras for rudder adjustment.

Andre came to help so in addition to the cables, I put him to work drilling the inspection hatch frames for nutplates, and then dimpling them, and installing nutplates

  Oct 17, 2020     Wing skin stiffenners - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Bonded the 5 remaining upper leading edge skin stiffeners out board of the tanks. I will do the ones in front of the tanks later, since I can still do it once the bottom wing skin is riveted on. We built a tent under the wing and put an electric heater in it. The hope is that the polyeurethane adhesive will set up in the next three days and then we can start riveting the bottom wing skin on.
Wing is otherwise ready to close.

  Oct 16, 2020     aileron cables finished - (3 hours) Category: Wings

Finished installing aileron cables, rib doublers, and Snap bushings. Added several more upper leading edge stiffeners.

  Oct 15, 2020     Aileron cables - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed aileron cables with swages, cable loops, Shackles and AN bolts, castle nuts and split pins. Started drilling aileron carry-through cable holes in ribs. Some required doublers due to proximity to lightening holes in ribs. Snap bushings installed on all ribs to prevent cable wear in turbulence.

  Oct 12, 2020     Fuel tank covers - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Nutplates installed along front of fuel tank bay for tank cover. Holes drilled for nutplates all around remainder of tank bay perimeter, deburred and dimpled. Nutplates to be installed as bottom wing skins closed out.

Aileron bellcrank installed

Installation of stiffeners forward of top wing spar cap begun. 4 out of 13 done

  Oct 07, 2020     Aileron pulley, Cable guard and wiring channel - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Built the cable guard for the forward aileron cable pulley. This was challenging due to the a complex angle of the anti-rotation leg. Fortunately, I got it working the first time though, with a plumbing hose clamp to hold the anti-rotation leg to the pulley mount. Mounted the pulley and cable guard.

Drilled holes and inserted 1/2x1/4 snap bushings for wiring sleeve in wing. 1/4” Looks too small, and is smaller than the other wing so I will replace. Guide string is threaded in wiring sleeve.

  Oct 06, 2020     Wing tanks, Checking bolts and drilling for aileron carry through cable - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

As in the other wing, one of the steel fairlead mounts for the cable through was mounted in the wrong spot. I drilled it out and riveted it on next to the flap actuator. It's purpose is to hold the cable off the flap actuator. Kieran and I drilled the holes inboard of that fairlead and managed to get them lined up.

We checked all the bolts for torque and for size. A few bolts holding the aileron and flap hinges in place were too short as received so we took the bolts out and replaced the washers with thinner ones in order to have at least one thread exposed outside the nuts.

We put the fittings in the wing tanks. I forgot to order the fittings which screw into the tank and accept the flared fitting for the fuel gauge tubes. AN 816-4D I think. 1/8” male NPT on one end and flare fitting for 1/4” tube on the other.

  Sep 29, 2020     Riveting wing skins video Category: Wings

We had trouble with our flush riveter. Tristan and I tried many times. Turns out the rubber cup stuck out too far past the riveting surface, preventing the rivets from setting flush. Once we got that figured out, we ground down the cup and things went better. Kieran and I practiced and then we did all the wing riveting, taking our time. Happy with the results. Here's a short video of us working together.

https://youtu.be/Wk2yPPC867I

  Sep 29, 2020     Rivet Bottom skins on and close out - (60 hours)       Category: Wings

Lost previous entries on this task. Bulk entry last three weeks follows:

Kieran and I bucked all flush rivets attaching bottom wing skins to spars.

Attached skins around perimeter of fuel tank bay with about 100 nutplates, dimpled for 6-32 CS screws. This took 2 tries because as in previous entry, I initially used a 1/8” dimple die, which does not accommodate a 6-32 screw flush. So I drilled all the rivets in the nutplates out and dimpled skin and substrate with the correct dimpler, then re-riveted the nutplates on. The tank cover fits nicely

Squeeze-riveted all the trailing edge skins by back-riveting against a flat bar. Trailing edge stiffeners and aileron pocket skins riveted on at this time.

Wing is complete except wing tip which must be mounted after wing is painted. (Wing can't be mounted on rotisserie for painting with wing tip in place)

Left wing removed from rotisserie and mounted on the wall.

Right wing mounted on rotisserie. Pop rivets removed and sticks with nails placed to prop up skin for installation of controls and wiring channel.

  Sep 03, 2020     Inspection hatch again - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Built a new aileron inspection hatch out of .032. Still buckles a bit. Maybe using a seam roller is a bad idea. Really hard to get the holes to line up. Built a hole finder out of steel. It's ok but needs a more solidly attached finder pin.

  Sep 02, 2020     Inspection covers again - (9 hours) Category: Wings

Paul came out to help. We re-dimpled a bunch of the inspection hatches for 6/32 screws using a #6dimple die. They look better, but seem to be stretching the metal covers so that they curl in two directions like a potato chip Looks pretty bad on the 8”X11” cover over the aileron bellcrank. Accidentally poked a hole in the pitot inspection hatch while trying to re-dimple to correct size. 2 more hours to build a new one. Looks ok.

  Aug 29, 2020     Inspection panels again - (6 hours) Category: Wings

Turns out the countersink screws did not fit in the 1/8” dimples because they are 82 degree screws and I need 100 degree. I went to kadex in yyc and they had some. They don't fit properly either. I called Ralph and it turns out that a 1/8” dimple die will not work for a 100* 6-32 screw. Ralph had a one of the correct size so I drove out to YBW to get it. I tried it and it does work fairly well

  Aug 19, 2020     Pitot - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Decided to mimic Steve W's pitot on his Patrol. He uses a little 3/16” tube mounted onto a bulkhead AN union. Aluminum tube is fitted on the front for pitot tube and on the back (inside the wing) there is a short piece of 3/16 tube and then the nylon pitot line to the instrument slips tightly overtop with a bit of sealant. I finished the hatch by the strut and mounted it in the centre of the hatch.

  Aug 12, 2020     Fuel tank cover nutplates continued - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished nutplates along the front of the fuel tank. Ralph I says I should use dimpled AN 426 rivets where possible. Since it's possible along the sides of the fuel tank cover I will do that.

  Aug 10, 2020     Fuel tank cover nutplates - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Started installing nutplates Along front of fuel tank using NAS1097 skin rivets to hold the nutplates on.

  Jul 19, 2020     Pitot tube - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Pitot tube will be a 3/8” tube (same as fuel lines) to a brass plumbing elbow, to a 1/4” nylon line all the way to the airspeed indicator. The brass elbow will be brazed to a sheet steel plate, which will be mounted with rivets to the rib just outboard of the strut. The tube goes forward through a hole in the leading edge, protected by a grommet.

  Jul 19, 2020     Inspection plates - (10 hours)       Category: Wings

First crack at installing an inspection hatch. Factory hatch is a tiny bit small for the hole it goes in but close enough for me. Hardware ordered for me by Avipro was dome-headed screws-not countersink. I called Mark and he verified they should have been countersink screws. The nutplates he provides at fairly low cost are also not countersink, but it's no problem to countersink the centre hole in the sheet metal with a 5/16 drill to accept the dimpled bottom of the hatch cover. I had to grind a bit off one of the dimple dies to allow it to dimple the nut plates. This system works well. I attached the hatch to the ring first and then will rivet the ring to the sheet metal skin. I wouldn't do this next time. I think it would be better to attach the ring to the skin first, then the hatch to the ring. It would provide greater confidence that edge distances are maintained. I haven't actually riveted the ring to the skin because it makes the hole smaller and I'm waiting to install my pitot tube, which will benefit from more access room for my arm. Not a ton of progress but had to stop and learn along the way, along with coping with an incorrect hardware spec issue. Still, I know how to do it next time, so all in all, a productive couple of days.

  Jun 13, 2020     Stiffeners - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Barrows has designed a system of u-shaped sheet metal stiffeners between the ribs at about 15% MAC on the top surface only. This will prevent oil canning of the surface in flight in the vicinity of the strut. This has been seen on one plane only, but its easy and cheap to put a stiffener in so I will do it. I spent the day cutting 020 sheet into strips and bending them into u-channel. I intend to bond them to the inside of the wing with 3M 5200 polyurethane. I glued a few in and also made sacrificial test pieces for test purposes. They seem to hold very well. Someone on the Bearhawk forum recommended VHB tape (very high bond?) but I couldn't find it locally. I need to get this done and move on, so 5200 it is. I just used a piece of coreplast as a 4“ spacer to place the goopy channel ahead of the spar, and then pieces of coreplast jammed between the channel and the bottom skin to hold light clamping pressure. The 5200 takes at least a week to harden.

  Jun 13, 2020     Install wiring conduit and pitot line - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

My neighbor is an avionics tech, and he said PET hollow tube is the best, lightest conduit. Getting up into the nose cavity forward of the spar is hard, so I ran the nav light conduit just aft of the fuel tank bay. It's about 4 feet of extra wire, but a much more reliable place to work. I ran the pitot hose up in front of the spar and it was indeed quite hard to work up there. I only had to go through about 8 ribs though. Im waiting for a friend who might have a pitot tube from a 182. Hopefully its12 volt, which will allow use of the pitot heater. Not sure if a 24 volt heater can be configured to run on a 12 volt system.

  May 07, 2020     Left wing Control surface Final,ssembly - (10 hours) Category: Wings

Kieran and I mounted the trailing edges and all the gusset plates over the last few days. Alignment of trailing edge, drilling and de-burring of holes and pop-riveting trailing edges on. Avipro specified 1/8��steel pop rivets which have a bit of a donut shaped head on them. I double-checked with Mark G and he verified this. He told me to buy 90 of them for he whole plane, but I ended up using 75 for just one wing. I also used some 3/32 flush pop rivets for places on the gussets which I could not get a rivet squeezer of bucking bar on. I wish I had used these in a 1/8��size instead of the regular SS cherry rivets, as they have a nice flush head which will be nicer under the fabric. I made the suggestion that since countersunk rivets are in fact available, that they should be specked or provided. mark agreed, but too late for me unless I want to drill out 75 steel rivets. I'll live with the bumps. I wish the kit either came with them or the hardware list provided by Avipro had listed them, and in great enough quantity to complete both wings. I have to put another order in to ACS to complete the other wing.

I also needed to bend a joggle in the control horns since the bushings on the pushrods are wider than the hinge bearings. Flaps
ailerons are done now to covering stage other than dressing up the centres of the pop rivets where there is a little bit of sharp steel shaft protruding on some of them.

  Apr 30, 2020     Aileron cable fairleads - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

In discussion with Mark G it was discovered that a steel loop which accommodates a 3/4��nylon fairlead Is misplaced on my kit. It is supposed to be adjacent the flap drive but instead it's located on the 2nd rib inboard from the root. I drilled out the rivets and relocated it to the first rib outboard of the flap where it can hold the aileron carry-through cable away from the flap pushrod. In the process, I discovered that the hardware list which Avipro gave to Wicks on my behalf was short by six of these fairleads. They have been ordered from ACS. SS pop rivets have arrived from ACS. They are to be used to fasten the trailing edges of the flaps and ailerons permanently. I tried several on practice sheets and they are very hard to pull. I'm a little worried about damaging the structure so I checked with Avipro and Mark says they are indeed specified on plan sheet 11.

The inner rib had a 3/8��hole in it for the aileron cable. I tried a 3/8��snap bushing but the fit was loose. Every picture I have seen has a 3/4��hole there so I made it bigger and dispensed with the bushing.

  Apr 24, 2020     Flap alignment - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

We rolled the wing over in the rotisserie so it's now bottom side up again. At a glance we could see that the inboard end of the aileron was almost 1/8” closer to the bottom sheet skin metal than the outer end. In other words, the gap between the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the aileron was tapered. This could have been a discrepancy in the shearing of the skin, but on closer inspection, we think the cause is a difference in overall length between the tripod hinge mounts which are used at the pushrod locations and the bipod hinge mounts which are used elsewhere.

The flap has three hinge points, the middle one also being the pushrod location, which resulted in an inward bowing of the centre of the flap when it was installed on the hinges. (corrected with washers under the hinge mount) In the case of the aileron, there are only two hinges. The inner one has the pushrod and again, it was brought outward by installing washers under the hinge mount. The gaps between wing skins are looking nice and uniform now.

The trailing edges of the flaps vs the ailerons are quite different as provided. They are temporarily pop riveted in place and can be moved in or out prior to final riveting. I'm reticent you go too far with this though, since the aileron trailing edge skins get kind of ��ushy��or less rigid when moved very far out past the back of the aileron ribs. Conversely, when they get moved in too far, they get a puffed up or rounded look from being stuffed up over the ribs which does not conform to the overall shape of the control surfaces which is otherwise quite triangular. We will lay some string to arrive at the best location and if required, pinch some of the aileron and flap ribs a little thinner.

We also mounted the aileron carry-through cable (Which goes from one aileron bellcrank a cross the cabin roof to the other one). Unfortunately, it currently touches the flap pushrod when the flaps are down. So the holes in the adjacent ribs must be raised until there is clearance (about 3/16��. I think the best solution is to make the holes bigger and then use larger nylon snap bushings. I verified this with Mark G and with an AME friend and they approved. I have some snap bushings ordered from ACS, but it turns out they are available for about 1/20th of the price at Fastenal right here in Airdrie. I'll try tomorrow or next week.

  Apr 18, 2020     Left Aileron and flap hung - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Kieran and I completed the drilling and mounting of hinges for left flap (left aileron done already). Flap wanted to bow out slightly (1/8”) in the middle, away from the the rear wing spar. This was evidenced by the centre flap hinge having to be pulled toward the rear spar when it was pinned. Sighting down it we could not tell if the cause was a bow in the flap, the rear spar bowed in the other direction, or a difference in the dimensions of the hinge points, which stand about 3”aft of the rear spar or a combination of factors (most likely). In any case, the flap needed to be flexed inward toward the rear spar slightly (1/8”�in order to connect the hinge. We decided to take out half of the discrepancy by placing one large washer under each of the three mounting points of the centre flap hinge bracket where they bolt onto the rear spar. In this way, we averaged out any error (we think). The flap now only has to be flexed half as much (now 1/16”). Everything looks straight, and the flap and aileron are SMOOTH with plenty of range-of-motion. One wing to go. Biplane guys must have a lot of patience. Tomorrow we will roll the wing over and install the pushrods, flap springs and and control cables to the point where they exit the wing. Then coil the excess and leave it inside the wing until wing mounting.

  Apr 17, 2020     Left flap mounting - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

As with the ailerons, Kieran and I ended up drilling the actual hinge bearing hole which accepts the spherical bearing (already mounted to the aft wing spar). Then we bolted the assembly together. Then we clamped the hinges onto the flap spars, adjusting them for left and right. As with the ailerons, we will set the up and down placement of the flap using the template provided for the top and a straight edge on the bottom. Then we will drill the matching holes for the hinges onto the spars, and bolt them on. Cosmetically, the aileron and flap trailing edges are a little bit different along the TE. Mark Goldberg called as we were looking at it and he reminded me that they are only loosely pop riveted on, and the kit is designed so you can adjust them prior to riveting. Feeling quite good about this! Final bolting tomorrow. Picture shows the boys clecoing the bottom wing skin back on prior to rotating the wing right side up for aileron and flap mounting. Kieran on the left and Aidan on the right.

  Apr 16, 2020     Aileron mounting - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

This view is of the bottom of the wing focussing on the rear spar and the flap and aileron bearings which are bolted to it. We mounted the aileron hinges onto the aileron spar by clamping them into place on the aileron spar. The other end of the hinge was previously bolted to the spherical aileron bearings inside each welded hinge mount, so it's position is mostly fixed. We can move the aileron (Or flap) up or down, left or right, but not in or out. The aileron seems to seems to be about 1/16�� thicker that the wing in places, so we averaged out the difference. From my experience in RC planes I know that making the ailerons thicker than the training edge they are attached to is an effective flutter-prevention strategy. I'm not saying this is intentional in the case of the Patrol, but it is working out well and I'm happy with it. Alternatively, I could have moved the control surfaces 1/16 of an inch closer to the rear spar by drilling the hinge holes closer to their bases, at the risk of running out of clearance. Also, we were not successful in mocking this up without the hinge points bolted together. As it is we have about 30 degrees of up aileron available and 40 down. However, the covering materials have yet to be applied, so that will reduce clearance. Required aileron range of motion is 20 degrees up and down. This will be established with mechanical stops, and until then, we want to make sure we have unimpressed range of motion beyond the limits. I think it's good, as I do not want that tight, ��pongy��feeling nearing the limit of travel. Mounting of left flap is next.

  Apr 15, 2020     Aileron alignment/mounting - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

After several attempts to clamp the hinges to the fuselage and to the bearings Kieran and I tried something different. We drilled the hinges for mounting to the spar, but not into the spar yet. Then we drilled the bearing and pushrod holes. The pushrod holes ended up being slightly different, skewed from one another, so we put one back for use in the other wing, took out a fresh one, and drilled matching the one from the first pair. This worked.

We bolted the hinges onto the spherical bearings on the hinge mounts (steel assemblies bolted onto the the rear spar) then we clamped the hinges onto the aileron spar. It's looking fairly good. We had to do some minor trimming of the bottom skin at the junction of the aileron and flap. The plywood template meets quite well along the entire span of the aileron. The tip rib seems to have been drilled with a 1/4 inch droop at the trailing edge. We will correct this later by drilling new rivet holes and/or enlarging some to a larger size where possible just prior to riveting.

There is a 2x2 stick wired onto the trailing edge of the bottom wing skin for use in lifting it out of the way while working inside the wing. We need to remove it prior to drilling the aileron hinges into the aileron spars . Then we can check the top of the wing with the wooden template and the bottom with a straight edge.

  Apr 13, 2020     Left aileron - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Clecoed the bottom wing skin back on, then spun the wing in the rotisserie right side up. Using smaller c clamps we tried to clamp the aileron in position. Better, but no where near secure enough to let it go without holding it, so not good enough for making adjustments or marking either. It looks like the aft edge of the top wing skin might need to be trimmed, but I would very much like to avoid this if possible, by judicious placement of the aileron hinges. We just need to find a way to hold the ailerons in place during alignment.

  Apr 13, 2020     A Category: Wings

  Apr 12, 2020     Left aileron - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Trial fit aileron to wing using C clamps to attach hinges to aileron spars and bearings. No luck. Clamps too big, didn't hold well. Not getting a sense of how to make this thing hold together well enough to mark locations. Smaller clamps required for sure.

  Apr 07, 2020     Left wing Aileron hinges - (2 hours) Category: Wings

Kieran and I drilled out the pop rivets holding the aileron skins on near the hinge area to allow access for mounting the hinges to the aileron. We sanded some paint off the aileron hinge fittings, then pressed the spherical bearings in place. We used various socket wrenches and a C clamp to press on the bearing housing until it slid into the hinge bracket. If it was too tight, we used the same technique to press the bearing out of the hinge bracket, sanded a little more, and tried again for a press fit.

It looks like we will need to drill the holes for the aileron hinge points and also on the mounting flanges for mounting the aileron hinges to the ailerons. Then, hold the aileron in place while marking the locations of the hinges on the aileron spar. Then drill the holes for attachment of the mounting flanges onto the aileron spar, before bolting them in place. I'm going to check with Avipro before doing the drilling.

  Apr 07, 2020     Aileron cable pulley guard - (3 hours) Category: Wings

Kieran and I drilled out the rivets attaching the new anti-torque leg to the old, since the new one was getting fatigued from bending to shape too many times. Made shorter one, attached again to the existing pulley guard with pop rivets, and then drilled 2 holes in it. We lock-wired it to the mounting leg (twice, independently) with heavy wire. Then we re-attached the pulley bracket to the main spar. It's solid now.

  Apr 06, 2020     Aileron pulley (again) - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Tried to wrap the new sheet aluminum leg of aileron pulley guard around pulley mount. Unsatisfactory. We are going to remove the pulley mount from the main spar, then securely mount the pulley to the pulley mount, then lock wire the anti-torque leg to the pulley mount using heavy lock wire, then re-mount the pulley mount to the main spar. It has been a huge struggle to mount this part, which was made for a different iteration of the Bearhawk. Hopefully, tomorrow we will see success.

  Apr 05, 2020     Aileron cable pulley - (2 hours) Category: Wings

There is an aileron cable pulley which directs the cable from its horizontal run inboard from the aileron down at a 45 degree angle through the strut. The cable guard had the anti-torque leg angled incorrectly. A small piece of aluminum was rivet on, then I attempted to mount it on the pulley. My modification requires that I bend the leg around the pulley mount in order to secure it so it can't spin with the pulley. Easier said than done. Still working on it. Wondering if it wouldn't haven't been better to just drill a hole in it and then safety-wire it to the pulley mount. I think I have seen hose clamps used for this purpose too, but only on pipe, not rectangular mounts.

  Apr 01, 2020     Inboard flap bearing - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Flap bearing mount assembly was skewed slightly. Previously, we elongated the hole in the tab in the wing root so the inboard flap bearing would line up with the outboard one. I made a doubler plate, primed it, and Aidan and I riveted it on to the existing tab. Then we inserted the bolts with blue Loctite. We greased the bearings and the torque tube now rotates smoothly. Mark G commented that the .032 aluminum doubler might not be thick enough (original tab is about .040 aluminum. He will check with the designer, Engineer Bob Barrows and get back to me. It seems very strong to me, but if Barrows says to replace it, we will drill out the rivets and make another one, or replace the mounting tab altogether.

Apr 4, 2020. Mark Goldberg from Avipro checked with Designer Bob Barrows and Bob has approved this fix.

  Mar 29, 2020     Flap inboard bearing tube - (1 hour) Category: Wings

Kieran and I made a doubler plate, elongated the original hole, drilled, and added the doubler plate. Can't find any pop rivets in the kit or the supplies from Wicks. Don't have a compressor yet but I will rivet with universal rivets when I get one. I have been supplied with flush rivets only, so I need to buy some universal rivets. And some pop rivets for the trailing edge skins. Since we we couldn't work on the wing, we started on the rudder pedals

  Mar 28, 2020     Flap torque tube - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Removed torque tube, removed torque tube inboard bearing. Moving front bearing mount hole will allow bearing to align correctly. It's about 1/2 hole out (1/4��hole). Hole will be elongated as necessary. A doubler will be drilled and riveted to the mounting plate. and the mount bolted back in. Mark G gave his blessing after discussion with Bob Barrows.

  Mar 27, 2020     Flap torque tube - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Kieran and I checked the flap activation torque tube in preparation for flap mounting. It was found to be so stiff we could barely move it. We are instructed to remove paint from bearing surfaces on both torque tube and bearing surface. We completed this task but there remained a significant amount of friction. This turns out to be resulting from the inboard bearing for the torque tube being skewed out of alignment; it should be parallel to the torque tube but it is skewed several degrees, causing both a bow in the torque tube as it is forced into the bearing at the outboard end, and the friction noted previously.

The inboard flap bearing mount was removed from the wing and verified to be out of alignment. At this point we are uncertain if it can be forcibly skewed by mounting it in a a vise and of pulling on a shaft through the bearing or if the sheet metal flanges supporting the bearing must be cut and then re-welded. The arrow drawn on the flange in the picture indicates which direction the bearing must be moved.

  Mar 26, 2020     Aileron cable pulleys in wing - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Kieran and I installed aileron bellcrank and pulleys. Turns out there is an issue with the orientation of the anti-torque leg of the cable guide over the pulley. It doesn't line up with the pulley mount to which it will be secured. Mark G at Avipro will advise how to fix it. Not sure whether the one for the other wing will be ok or whether it will also need to be fixed.

  Mar 25, 2020     Aileron bellcrank - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Attempted to assemble aileron bell rank and mount it. Assembly done after call to Avipro to help with locating bearing. Bearing is not well-depicted on plan and was in an unmarked bag separate from other wing hardware. Not sure how exactly to mount it since plan does not include a side view indicating washers or bolt length. Will call Bob Barrows tomorrow to verify intended setup of bell crank.

  Mar 25, 2020     Torqued factory hardware - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Checked all bolts for torque on left wing. Found 2 bolts too long, causing nut to to screw up onto unthreaded portion of shank. Replaced with shorter bolts and new nuts. Found 3 bolts too short (no thread visible outside the nut, including one which was too short to grab the nylon insert. Replaced. Harbour freight torque wrench did not release on first bolt. Replaced bolt and nut and changed wrenches.

  Mar 23, 2020     Mounted wing on rotisserie - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Mounted left wing. Drilled pop rivets. Tied a stick onto the trailing edge of bottom skin and suspended from ceiling