Jun 27, 2023     Flaperons, Turtle Deck and Feed Through - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

After fitting the turtle deck as a single piece on the fuselage and locating the flaperon feed thru holes, I marked out the hinge location and made the required cuts. Sanded the turtle deck edges smooth so there are no sharp edges anywhere on the deck. I had read that actually inserting the turtle deck into the hinge was a royal pain and as promised, it started out that way. My father's words came to me while fighting with the hinge; "A man cannot have enough clamps." So I laid two clamps (in the pic) down on the flat surface lengthwise under the turtle deck and then clamped a couple 2x4s over the top. The 2x4s were not clamped to the turtle deck anywhere so that the deck could slide underneath them but were there to keep the deck from flexing up and the hinge from buckling. Slowly added pressure to squeeze the deck with the lower clamps and the deck is now inserted into the hinge all the way.

Rolled the plane out of the shop, unfolded the wings and installed the flaperons. I had fitted these last winter when I first built them up so the installation had no surprises. I also installed the firewall feed through and filled it off with high temp RTV to seal it. After the RTV set up, I installed the clenching ring and the hose clamp so that is complete.

  Jun 19, 2023     Wing Tips and Flaperon with Taxi Lights - (11 hours)       Category: Wings

Used the broom stick method to locate the hole for the flaperon shaft through the turtle deck. Went ahead and riveted one side of the flaperon brackets to the wing. Will do the other side of the bracket when I actually hang the flaperons. Fabricated brackets to mount taxi lights to the cabane bracket and ran the wiring down there on each side. Am awaiting some longer AN5 bolts to attach the brackets. Painted the ends of the wing tips in trim, installed the landing lights and the navigation lights. Got my helpers to assist and got the right wing attached to the fuselage. Hopefully I won't be taking it off again.

  Jul 15, 2022     Port Wing Plumbing - (10 hours)       Category: Wings

Covered the lower half of the port wing, let it sit for 24 hours and then this morning I tightened it up. Then came the part of plumbing and installing the wiring in the wing. I installed the mast as well as the pitot tube/AOA itself. Ran the tubing to the outboard edge of the wing where I will route it down the aft spar later. Installed the Outside Air Temp (OAT) sensor and ran the wiring for that to the outboard edge of the wing. Installed the magnetometer and its wiring cable. At the outside edge of the wing, I combined the OAT, Magnetometer and the Landing/Navigation light wiring all into one covered cable that will route down the aft spar along with the pitot tubing. Next up will be to go back and check/test all the wiring so I am certain it's all good. Once that's done, I'll cover the top of the port wing.

  Jul 09, 2022     Finished Stbd Wing Cover and Started Port Wiring - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished shrinking the starboard wing Oratex and attached the wing tip mounting strips. I remember back when I fabricated the strips where I read on the forum that care needed to be taken placing the rearmost nutplates so that they do not interfere with each other. As I was attaching the strips, I was thankful to whomever posted that because they are close and could easily cause issues. I am really happy with the way the wing turned out and felt much better starting on the port wing. That one is a bit more complicated since the pitot system, OAT probe and the GMU11 are located on that wing and need to be installed before closing the wing up. Needed to run the wiring for the heated pitot tube down behind the gas tank before covering the lower half of the wing. The rest of the stuff gets installed before the upper half gets installed.

  Jul 07, 2022     Covering - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Put it off long enough. Ran out of excuses to hold short on covering. Started on the right wing (no real plumbing like pitot tube etc.) on the bottom panel. I covered the whole Laker leading edge and with the help of my wife, we pulled and stretched the Oratex to get it glued on to the frame. Then we did the same for the top panel. So now it's all covered but hasn't been tightened. Oratex wants you to wait 24 hours at least for the glue to fully cure before you go back with the heat gun and tighten up the skin. You got to know it's tempting cause you really want to see it done. The wife did come up with the major rule for this - Don't hurry. So maybe on Saturday I'll get to fire up the heat gun and tighten it all up.

  Jun 30, 2022     Wing n Stuff - (9 hours)       Category: Wings

I finally got to start on skinning. Cut my first piece of Oratex, marked off where the glue need to go, laid down the glue and let it dry three hours. Then I applied the second coat of glue which also got to dry. Going to lay down the glue on the right wing and once that has two coats that have dried, I will get to attach my first piece. While waiting for the glue to dry, I attached the clips to my tail inspection panel opening that will allow me to use 6-32 screws to hold the panel. They attached pretty securely but I did put a dab of Hysol on them just for insurance. I also assembled my battery box just cause I could. Last but not least, I attended the Kitfox Factory Fly In last weekend and was able to take a very close look at an almost assembled factory build aircraft. That let me see some of the little tricks Brandon and crew use when building those. One of the takeaways was a small opening up of the forward floorboard that allows you access to the nut when you attach the landing gear. So you know I took max pics and today I did the same to mine.

  Jun 20, 2022     Paint, ELT and Skin - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Finally got home and was able to work on the plane again. Still working things that get me ready to start the skinning. I wired and installed the bracket for the ELT, painted the inboard section of my wings and tail section inspection panels silver to match the skin. I also mortgaged my house to buy two sheets of plywood to set up a table to layout and cut my larger pieces of Oratex. I unpacked the roll of Oratex so the actual start of skinning is now truly in sight.

  Sep 27, 2021     Storage and Tail - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Not exactly aircraft but progress in my mind anyway. The goal was to get the flaperons and wing tips primed and stored out of the way before Winter. Done deal. Built some shelves to do just that. Flaperons are high up on the shop wall where I won't bash, dent, or otherwise screw them up. The wing tips went up on the wall in the garage. While certainly not Mil-Spec Class A storage, the tips are covered up and should survive well up there. Now I can safely work on other things in the shop and not worry about those parts.

I did do some aircraft work in that I finished sanding all the ribs for the horizontal stab and the elevator.

  Sep 23, 2021     Primer Done and Reaming - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Banner day in that my flaperons and wing tips now have a primer coat of paint on them that isn't a bunch of runs. Finished painting the left flaperon this morning. Tomorrow I will put both of the flaperons into storage for the Winter knowing they are protected. Same with the wing tips. This afternoon I started on the horizontal stab and the elevator by doing the reaming of the pivot points. I built an out feed table for my table saw many moons ago and put hold down tracks in it to allow me to use the table as an assembly base as well. Used the hold downs to secure the HS and Elev while reaming and that made it pretty easy. All in all it was a good day of progress.

  Sep 20, 2021     Tips and Flaperons - (8 hours)       Category: Wings

A friend of mine asked me the other day how the plane was coming. Thought about that for a bit and came up with a one word answer; stagnated. I have a really nice HVLP paint system that is pretty high quality. That's the good news. The bad news (and the reason for the stagnation answer) is that the HVLP paint sprayer operator (me) isn't good at all. My last week of effort has been pretty much sand, spray, sand, repeat. I am so good at running that I should have been in the Olympics. I am very good at sanding out the runs. Maxed myself out on You Tube vids on how to and just keep winding up with runs. Today I tried again on both the wing tips and one of the flaperons. The good news is that while there are still some minor runs on the tips, I took what I learned there and applied it to the flaperon. No runs there. It actually came out pretty nice. So maybe my days of stagnation are behind me. God I hope so.

  Sep 03, 2021     Electrical Cables - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Have been building the electrical cables that go into the wings. Now have the magnetrometer, pitot heat and both port and stbd cables for lights (landing and nav lights) completed. The light cables are set up with connectors where the wing tips attach as well as at the wing root. I haven't attached those wing root connectors just to make routing them down the wing spars easier. The magnetrometer is also going to be routed down the rear spar while the OAT cable will route behind the fuel tank to keep the length of the cable in spec. The magnetrometer, lights and OAT will all be incorporated into the one wing root connector for the port wing. Stbd wing is easy with only the lights coming out to the root.

  Aug 21, 2021     Wing Tips - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Getting ready to go off on travel again for work so didn't want to get into anything major. Thought I would do a bit of fit and finish work. The flaperon hinges are punched out of flat sheet during manufacturing so the edges are sharp with some square corners as well. Just like a good punch will do. So I smoothed the edges and rounded the corners to make them look a bit more finished. I had run a fillet of Hysol along the edge of the wing tip and the fence just to give a touch more support. Started going over the Hysol with the filler to smooth out that fillet and give it a better look when I paint the tip.

  Aug 18, 2021     Flaperons Mounted - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Got both the left and right flaperons mated up to the wings. Not sure why but I never took a pic once they were mounted. (OK - turns out I did take some - just didn't forward them to the computer) More pics of the hinges cleco'd to the wing - this time it's the right wing that got it done but the bottom line is that they are mounted and back off. According to the instruction manual I have finished building the structure of the wings which was my goal for this summer. I still have to do the wiring for the nav and landing lights as well as primer the wing tip assemblies. Then there is the covering but will hold short on that till I am ready to do the fuselage as well since the glue has a shorter shelf life.

  Aug 15, 2021     More Flaperons - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

I really didn't like the prefab tips for the flaperon just cause they felt really thin and would self destruct without much effort. But I did like the way they looked when they were installed. So I took some Hysol and lined the inside of the tip. Not pretty but it really made them feel solid when they were installed. Finished the control arm install on the left flaperon so that part was done. I started on mounting the hinge mounts on the left wing. I sandwiched a piece of aluminum between the two hinge pieces (literally a couple thousandths thinner than the washers the instructions say to mount between the mounts. Marked a line on it for the 1/8 inch space between the trailing edge and the mount and pressed it up against the washer so I could see my spacing. I clamped a three foot aluminum L to the ribs so that the back of the mount pressed against the L when the 1/8 spacing was right. That way I was certain the mount would not slip back and I would loose my space. Got both my inboard and outboard hinge mounts drilled and cleco'd with the proper spacing I measured between the hinges on the flaperon. Now I am ready to mount the flaperon to the wing and install the remaining hinge mounts.

  Aug 14, 2021     Left Flaperon - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Got the left flaperon counterbalances mounted and the end caps all Hysol'd and riveted. Got the control arm installed correctly on the right flaperon and will do the left one tomorrow along with some wiring in the left wing. No real pics of the left side since it looks just like the right.

  Aug 12, 2021     Right Counterbalance - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Worked on getting the counterbalances installed on the right flaperon. Got all the counterbalances drilled and got the two for the right flaperon riveted and Hysol'd on. Not a lot done there but for whatever reason working on the flaperons makes me overly careful. Must be that they are so thin and so fragile when they aren't all connected to their pivots.

  Aug 11, 2021     Flaperons - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Started working on the flaperons. Fabricated the support blocks used to align the control arms for the flaperons. Did the rivets along the trailing edge of the flaperon using 3/32 flat head solid rivets and completed the fitting and installation of the inboard edge. I bought the parts to close out the outboard of the flaperon but am not sure I am going to use them. Still trying to figure a way to make them fit 'nicely'. May require the elixir of all creative thought........bourbon.

  Aug 03, 2021     Pitot System - (7 hours)       Category: Wings

Started installing the pitot tube into the left wing. I am installing the Garmin heated version of the pitot tube. My goal was to install the pitot tube so I can remove it without taking the wing apart should it require maintenance. There will be an access port at the lower wing that will allow me to disconnect the tubing from the pitot tube itself as well as disconnect/remove the heater controller. With the bend in the hard line tubes I am able to remove the pitot tube from the mast without issue and still meet the Garmin requirement to keep the tubing as long as possible. However I felt that with that configuration, I needed to support the tubes a bit so they just didn't vibrate in free space. I added a support to hold the tubing. I put a clear piece of tygon tubing around the aluminum tubing and then made a clip that holds the aluminum tubing against the support. That clip screws into a nut plate to make it easier to remove/install through that wing access point. Got it all installed but not permanently since there is plenty left to do on the wing itself.

I also added a spacer to my magnetometer mounting plate to support the electrical connector. It uses a standard DB9 connector but in my install, this is the end of my CANBUS so it also has a termination in there making the overall connector pretty long. The spacer will support the connector and the termination.

  Jul 29, 2021     Wing Tip Attachment Strips - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Spent the day drilling the attachment strips so I could rivet the nut plates to them and then installing the nut plates to the strips. Got both strips for the left and right wing done so now I put them away until after the wings are covered. Then they will get riveted to the outer rib capstrips.

  Jul 24, 2021     Wing Tip Install - (9 hours)       Category: Wings

Finally got time to work on the plane again. With the landing light fairings all installed the wing tip install to the wings was next on the list. Installed the aluminum strips on to the capstrips of the outer rib but you don't rivet them yet. Slipped the wing tip on to the wing and noted over 1/8" gap in some places between the tip and the rib. Ran a 1 1/4" piece of blue tape on to the wing tip that was lined up on the rib capstrip and drew a line following the outboard edge of that tape on to the tip. So that line ran parallel to the rib capstrip. Pulled that tape off and ran another piece of 1" tape that followed the line I drew. That left me with between 1/4" and 1/8" edge of the wing tip to cut off. Used a Dremel with a cutoff wheel and cut along the tape (left the tape on there cause it's easier to see than a drawn line when you're cutting). Installed the wing tip back on to the wing and it fit perfectly. Per the instructions, I drilled #40 holes with a 4" spacing through the wing tip and into the aluminum mounting strips, clecoing as I went along. Once complete, I used a straight edge to mark the rear edge of the wing tip and trimmed that to length. Both the right and left wing tips are now fitted. Next will be installing the nut plates on to the aluminum strips that the #8 screws will go into when the wing tip is mounted for final install (after the wing is covered)

  Jul 06, 2021     More Landing Lights and wing tips - (8 hours)       Category: Wings

Completed the fitting of the wing tip attachment strips as far as you're supposed to go before covering the wings. Also continued fitting the landing light fairings to the wing tips but before I did the epoxying, I decided to add an aluminum strip to the fairing bracket. The lens for the landing light is attached to the wing using sheet metal screws much like Kitfox uses on the windscreen attachment to the butt ribs. Decided rather than just screw into the fiberglass, I would borrow the metal strip idea from the Kitfox playbook and put this strip in for the screws to have that to bite into.

  Jul 01, 2021     Landing Light Fairing and Leading Edge - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Finally got my correct nut plates in for the landing light backing plates. Got them riveted in and epoxy'd into the fairing. Had fitted in the leading edge for the wing and today was able to epoxy them to the wing. The realization for me today was that I believe Kitfox has major stock holdings in the blue tape industry and that's proven by how much tape you need to get the leading edge set up on the wing correctly!!

  Jun 21, 2021     Little More Landing Light - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished off the right wing landing light fairing and started fitting the backing plate and light to the fairing mount. Still waiting for the right nut plates before epoxying in the backing plate but it appears that it will fit fine. You can see the heat sink on the back of the landing light itself that required cutting away a bit more of the tube section of the wing tip.

  Jun 21, 2021     Landing Light Fairing - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Decided to cut in the landing light fairing into my wing tips. Traced the lens shape onto the wing tip and cut it out. Made a 1/2" shoulder along the fairing itself and cut that out of its mold form. Read the instructions over a couple times where it said to cut the tube in the wing tip to make room for the fairing and looking at that tube inside the wing tip gave me some trepidation about making sure I understood the cutting of the tube. So I did what many Kitfox builders do - called Brandon at the factory. He confirmed cutting the tube so off I went. Started slow removing only a minimum section of the tube and then fitting the fairing. In the end, the fairing fit in nicely but the landing light itself has a heat sink on it that protrudes back behind the rear of the fairing itself. So I wound up measuring 3/4" behind the back of the fairing and removing more of the tube. My ruler said that with the landing light installed, I should have about 1/4" between the back of the light and the cutout tube. Putting it all back in after the cut, my eyeballs said my ruler was correct. So now I am ready to epoxy the fairing which I will do after I finish doing the same install to the left wing tip.

  Jun 18, 2021     Wing Tips and Leading Edge - (12 hours)       Category: Wings

Have been working on the extended wing tips a little at a time. The leading edge was the next thing to do on the wing but I had a work trip coming up and didn't want to start that until I had some time to work on it without interruption. As I looked at installing the nav and landing lights I decided that I wanted to make some doublers with plate nuts for that install since the extended wing tips are made out of all fiberglass. I was able to find the right floating plate nuts for the nav lights but had to order corner plate nuts for the landing lights. I also started fitting the landing light lens/fairing after fabricating the doubler so that I knew how that was going to work in the overall install. Last but not least I ran a fillet of Hysol along the edge of the wing tip fence and along where the fence joins the wing tip itself. This was all before the work trip. Today I started fitting the leading edge which requires cutting the supplied pieces and joining them together at ribs 5 and 9. I got the left wing parts cut and fitted. Will do the right wing tomorrow and then start checking to be sure I am ready to Hysol in those parts. Going to wait till I get in the Hysol I ordered before I start since I am running low. Those wing tip fillets used a lot and am sure that the leading edges will as well.

  Jun 09, 2021     Wing Sweep Testing,Pitot Tube Fit Check and More - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed the wings on the fuselage today for two main reasons: wing sweep clearance check and pitot tube clearance with the wing strut. There were builders on the Kitfox forum who ran into issues where the butt rib interfered with the wing as it was swept back and they had to trim the butt rib to get it to clear. So we mounted the wings and then VERY slowly swept them to a position where they were actually over-swept a bit (normal sweep has 8'6" between the two leading edge wing tips and we were right at 8' 1"). Happy to report that even with the over-sweep I did not have any interference issue. Yes there was a happy dance and no there are no pictures.

The Kitfox forum also has reports of the pitot tube being damaged by persons as they walk around the aircraft (lookie-loos) and run into the tube/mast. The instructions have the tube located just outboard of the wing strut. The damage normally is to the wing mount for the mast and requires some pretty major repair. I decided to place my pitot tube inboard of the wing strut to provide it some protection from this issue. I had measured twice and all but had never set the mast and pitot tube in the wing with the wing mounted. Happy to say that the tube clears the wing strut by over three inches and is now well protected.

The next step in the wing build is to fit and epoxy the fiberglass leading edge fairing. Started sanding the capstrips and make sure rib forms correctly to the leading edge. This is one of those steps that isn't really hard but needs to be sure it's done right. So I am working the ribs now and once that's done, will begin fitting fairing.

  Jun 06, 2021     More Wing Work - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Little more progress. Got the lower false ribs fitted and epoxy'd on both wings. Cut and installed the braces between the fuel tank and the #1 rib assembly and epoxy'd those in too (epoxy not in the pic). Did the fitting and installed the trailing edge pieces that go between ribs 1 and 3. Riveted the trailing edge to rib 2 per the instructions. The odd number ribs will get rivets later when the flaperon hinges are installed. You can appreciate the "lots of fitting and epoxying" theme that describes working on the wings here.

  Jun 03, 2021     Rib 2 - (9 hours)       Category: Wings

Thought after I had the fuel tanks installed in the wings I would start to make some real progress. Well there's progress but it's slow. Has to do with all the fitting required to install Rib 2 using shims, the fuel cap fairing, the stringers, and both the upper and lower false ribs. Installation of the upper part of rib 2 is pretty simple. Only needed a couple shims to get the capstrips even with the other ribs. The lower capstrip of rib 2 is harder in that you shim it directly to the tank. I used pieces of angle aluminum across ribs 1 and 3 to use as references for shimming in the rib 2 capstrip. Thank God for an accurate table saw and belt sander to make this job easier. Once you get the shims dialed in, you Hysol them on to the tank and the capstrip. But then you have to wait for it to set up before you can move on so you do one wing, Hysol and then move to the next. The good news is that you stay busy. The bad news is that it doesn't seem like you're moving along. Then you Hysol in the fuel cap fairing (yes I used a tool box to weight the fairing down after Hysol) and stringer but again you have to wait for that to set up before you can start fitting the both the upper and lower false ribs. The pic with silver tube coming off the back of the fairing is the overflow tube that you install in the fairing, seal, and route the other end down to the bottom of the wing. None of the false rib, upper or lower, are a direct install either. Each rib has to be modified to be installed on the tank. The picture below shows the upper false ribs where they belong but they aren't Hysol'd on yet. That will come tomorrow and while those set up, I'll do the fitting of the lower false ribs on the other wing. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have the rib 2 and other parts all installed over and under the wing tanks.

  May 28, 2021     Fuel Tanks and Butt Rib Close Outs - (8 hours)       Category: Wings

Have finally gotten some real progress on the build. Part of my issue was that I wasn't impressed with the way the banjo fitting interfaced with the #1 rib and didn't like the rubber hose that was supplied with the kit (seemed to weep some which gave a fuel smell in the cockpit). So I ordered some parts to basically assess options I might have. I ordered a different type of banjo fitting and decided that the fuel lines would be better off using AN6 PFTE hose and fittings. So while waiting (I'm not good at waiting by the by) I fabricated the butt rib close out plates and the plates for the fuel gauge. I also purchased some carbon fibre arrow shafts to glue into the trailing edge of the wings to help stiffen them some so when I cover the wings with the Oratex, I don't have the trailing edge get pulled in and warped.

After receiving the parts and looking at how the 'new' banjo fitting interfaced, I decided to go with the one from Kitfox. I am still going to use the PFTE hose and transition the banjo fitting over to AN6 fittings. The good news is that now that I was able to see how things were going to work, I was able to actually glue in the fuel tanks. Tomorrow I can start making some better progress and work on installing the #2 rib along with the false ribs.

  May 17, 2021     Fuel Tanks - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Had a few bumps on the road to installing the fuel tanks. First one the banjo fitting kit from Kitfox had adapters that were not drilled correctly and stopped the banjo bolt from fully threading in. Kitfox sent me new ones that were correct. While waiting for the shipment, I followed the directions to notch out the #1 rib to clear the fuel strainer and banjo bolt. Did both wings and was happy with the result. I also primed the outside of the spars with 2K epoxy primer. Received the new adapters and got ready to install them and glue in the tanks. Found out the directions that are in the STi wing section are incorrect and for the 7SS Sport wing. The notch that I put in the rib per the directions is not even close. Not happy about that don't you know. I notched out the rib in the correct place but am now thinking about using PFTE fuel hose rather than rubber and changing the fittings from barb to 6AN. Waiting for a 6AN banjo so I can compare the fit and function. Hopefully I will get the fitting here shortly.

  May 14, 2021     Spars primed inside - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

I finally got some time to get this job done. Admittedly I was not looking forward to this since paint, messes and I have a long term relationship. But the truth was that it wasn't so bad. I did scour the Kitfox forum on how others had done this and used many of their lessons learned which I am certain contributed to my success in completing this without my normal big mess. I also had the wife helping which was a huge help in getting the paint where it was supposed to go/ when it was supposed to go there. One thing we came up with was using the smaller cups that we normally use to mix Hysol and put them over the ends of the spars after removing the tennis balls and draining the major amount of remaining paint (read the drip phase after draining). Really contained the mess.

I also did the cut out on rib #1 for the fuel tank feed. You can see in the background the cut out from the factory and then they instruct you to do the same with the inside of that rib stack. I changed the shape a bit so as to not have that sharp lip on the rib nearest the fuel tank. Besides it looks better IMHO.

  Apr 30, 2021     Tank Sloshing - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Been a bit since I added to this log. Have been doing the varnish of the mounts that I made for the left wing and checking (for the third time) the set up of the wings when mounted to the fuselage. The directions say to check it again before you set in the fuel tanks so I did. Also fabricated the fuel sight gauge plate for the left wing and primed it.

Today I did the sloshing (cleaning out) of the fuel tanks. You plug all the holes with NPT plugs and then seal the fuel filler so you can slosh around the mixture of gas and acetone. Sealing of the fuel filler is apparently the hard part. I modified the top of a spray paint can so that the inside section went into the tank and the outside was trimmed short enough to then wrap it with electrical tape to seal it. Also note the two holes in the top. That mixture of acetone and gas builds up quite the pressure. When you slosh over the filler, you just put your finger over the two hole. When sloshing the rest of it you release your fingers and you can hear the pressure coming out the holes. The one pic is of a helper who showed up near the end of the festivities.

  Apr 24, 2021     Magnetometer Mount       Category: Wings

After building the other mounts, I felt ready to tackle the one for the magnetometer. It needs to be in the same attitude as level flight so there was that consideration as well as I wanted to be able to remove it should I need to later and finally to see how many clamps I could use to glue up the frame. Last but not least the connector assembly for it is a bit long since the CANBUS termination is in line so I wanted room to support the assembly. When the wings were attached to the fuselage and it was leveled, I drew a line on at the end of the wing that was also level so that I could place the wing in the level flight attitude when the wing was not on the fuselage. In one of the pics you can see a stick that is clamped to a rib that allows me to set a level on it and check it. Got the magnetometer mount done and the initial glue up with CY glue. Tomorrow I will start filling in with epoxy to give it a bit more strength.

  Apr 21, 2021     Catching Up - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

I am trying to keep both sides of the wing build at pretty much the same level. The left wing has a few more items to do than the right and then you have to wait for epoxy to set up which gets you started on other things. So today was a bit of catch up. One of the options in mounting the butt ribs is to use #6 screws rather than rivets to attach the mount brackets to the actual butt rib. That allows you to remove the rib for painting and such should you decide to at a later date. I liked the option so that's what I did. #6 stainless steel screws and self locking nuts. Got both sides installed on the fuselage along with the bending and fitting of the flange that goes on the bottom of the butt rib. You bend that flange to shape which is what the vice grips and two pieces of steel are for; a cheap bender Also finished installing the last of the false ribs. They had warped just a touch so I epoxy'd in the fronts, let them set up and then flexed the rear of the rib to straighten them, held them flexed with the tape and epoxy'd the rear of the ribs to finish the job. In reading the Garmin OAT installation instructions (yeah I am breaking the bro code by reading the directions) they indicate that they like the sensor to be set on metal and grounded along with the grounding wire in the harness. So one pic here is the install of an aluminum strip that the OAT will set on and a screw that will act as a grounding point and get wired with an aircraft ground. Last but not least, I riveted in the plate nuts on the pitot tube mast. Lots of little stuff done today.

  Apr 19, 2021     More Pitot Tube and OAT - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Only a couple hours in on the plane today. Fabricated a mount for the pitot tube temperature controller and got it ready for epoxy along with a mount for the OAT probe. The two cross pieces on the back act as stiffeners as well as holding the sensor in place if the need arises to tighten the OAT sensor nut a bit. The probe won't spin. This mount too is ready for epoxy then I'll be able to varnish both after installing them in the left wing.

  Apr 18, 2021     Pitot Tube Mount - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished epoxying the metal strip to the butt rib so that's all done. Started working on the mount for the pitot tube. Have the wing on the rotisserie but drew a line that allows me to position the wing in the same attitude as it was when mounted to the fuselage in its level flight condition. I am mounting the pitot tube inside the lift spar to keep the tube from being run into by people walking around the aircraft. The yellow string in the pictures simulates the front beam of the lift spar but note the spar will pass below the actual pitot tube by 1 1/2 inches and the tip of the tube will be about 2 1/2 in front of the beam. Being able to level the wing allowed me to set up the mount so that it met the Garmin mounting requirements with respect to the chord line and parallel to the fuselage center line for direction of flight.

  Apr 17, 2021     Jury Struts - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Got my questions answered on the jury strut instructions so went ahead and installed both the right and left wing struts. Brackets are drilled and cleco'd. Tomorrow I can put the wings back on the rotisserie and get my shop back to it's normal state.

  Apr 14, 2021     Right Butt Rib Fitting - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Did the final fitting and drilling for the right butt rib. It is ready to have the metal strip Hysol'd under the cap strip to support the screws that will fasten down the windscreen. I started mounting up the left jury strut to the lift strut. Got it plumb with the spars and such but had some questions about a Caution that was in the instructions stating that the jury strut needed to be centered on the front lift strut. In the one picture it's hard to see but at the top of the pic, the jury strut is way forward on the lift strut in front. Have asked Kitfox for some 'enlightenment'.

  Apr 12, 2021     Left Wing Butt Rib - (5 hours)       Category: Wings

Installed the left wing on the fuselage, leveled it all and then began installing the left butt rib. Got the left butt rib drilled and cleco'd in place. Removed the rib and will do the remainder of the work on getting it ready for a full install tomorrow.

  Apr 10, 2021     Right Wing - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Easy day. Installed the false ribs on the right wing along with the flaperon doublers.

  Apr 08, 2021     Finished Right Wing Rib 1 stack and finalized small parts - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Hysol'd in the third rib of the three rib 1 stack to finish the rib 1 install on the right wing. Started the fabrication of the attachment hardware for the wing strut braces.

  Apr 07, 2021     Right Wing Rib 1, flaperon doublers and Last left wing doubler - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

Fitted all the right wing flaperon doublers on ribs 3, 5, 7, and 9. Painted and will be ready for installation tomorrow. Hysol'd in the right wing rib 1 center piece of the rib 1 stack and Hysol'd in the last left wing flaperon doubler on rib 3.

  Apr 05, 2021     Rib 1 Right Wing - (4 hours)       Category: Wings

LIttle background...... I finished Hysoling the left rib 1 stack and posted on the Kitfox forum in my build log there. A person who has completed his Kitfox (and it's really well done) commented asking if I had glued the stack up with the wing attached to the fuselage. I indicated that I hadn't and he told me that his brother who is also building a Kitfox and glued his Rib 1 stack up without attaching the wing to the fuselage and it flexed the spars a bit causing them not to fit when they tried to attach the wings. Fast trip down to the shop to measure. The ruler said I was OK but the wife and I swung the left wing to the fuselage and it fit. Figured I may have ducked the bullet on that one but wasn't going to take the chance so I spent yesterday coming up with the supports required to hang the wing and work on the project. Made two stands, prepared the ribs of the stack for attachment and today, we hung the right wing on the fuselage and Hysol'd in the first rib of the stack.

  Apr 03, 2021     Left Wing Rib 1 Stack - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

HYSOL'd in the third piece of the rib 1 stack. Had some HYSOL left so I riveted in the flaperon doublers for ribs 9, 7 and 5.

  Apr 02, 2021     Short Day - Left Rib 1 stack - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Easy day today. Epoxy'd in the filler rib of the rib 1 stack. Tomorrow it will be the final rib of the stack.

  Apr 01, 2021     Left Wing Progress - (3.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Set the first rib on the left wing. Should dry tonight and be ready to do the next rib in the stack. Also fit all the flaperon doublers for the left wing on ribs 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. They are now ready to be glued and riveted.

  Mar 29, 2021     Finished Varnishing wing and installed flaperon doubler - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

More varnishing but now I have both wings varnished. Will still have to do the rest of the ribs that get added but for now, the major part is done. Installed the flaperon doublers on the left and right rib 1. This has to be done prior to installing rib 1 as the stack of ribs that are built up next to rib 1 won't let you install the doublers when you do the rest of them on the wing assembly.

  Mar 28, 2021     As Promised - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Yup. Another day of varnish. First coat on this wing is done. Best part of the day was getting this done and happy hour

  Mar 27, 2021     Another Exciting Day of Varnish - (3 hours)       Category: Wings

Yeah I know. Exciting. Like watching grass grow or golf. But it's got to be done. Completed varnish on the left wing, the butt ribs and have started varnishing the right wing. Guess what I am going to do tomorrow?

  Mar 19, 2021     Varnish Rib 1 stack - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Cut out the center rib of the stack which I guess is a factory suggestion and then put on the first of two coats of varnish. Pretty easy day here

  Mar 18, 2021     More Wing work - (7 hours)       Category: Wings

Today I did the fitting of the flaperon bracket on the right wing rib 1. Once done, I started doing the fitting of the left wing rib 1 stack (which is the main rib along with a spacer and an outboard rib for a total of three ribs) I got the ribs notched to clear the mount doublers and all the flaperon brackets match drilled so they are fully ready to be installed. Don't be fooled by the fuel tank in the wing pics - it's just sitting there so I can be sure that it doesn't have any interference with anything.

  Mar 17, 2021     Right Wing Strut Mounts and Rib 1 Flaperon Bracket - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Finished riveting and epoxying the right wing strut mounts. Started the left wing rib 1 work getting ready to fit the rib on to the wing. Have to install the flaperon bracket on to the rib because if you don't do it now, the rib stack and butt rib will not allow it to be done later on.

  Mar 16, 2021     It's a Dirty Job But Someone Has To Do It - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Riveted and HYSOL'd the strut mounts on the left wing. Messy job but came out nice in the end. Had to modify my riveter to get into one of the rivets on the mount. Have seen this on other build logs as required so wasn't surprised. Also finished riveting and the HYSOL on the right wing doublers so that wing is now ready to have the strut mounts done. Probably tomorrow.

  Mar 15, 2021     More Doublers       Category: Wings

Finished the left wing doublers and mounted the wing back up onto the roteriseree.

  Mar 14, 2021     Installed Wing Mounts and prep'd Left Rib 1 - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

Permanently installed the wing mounts with rivets and Hysol on the left wing. Started the prep on the first rib for the left wing which requires a Flaperon bracket, filler rib and inside rib to be installed as an assembly. Before I install this first rib, I am going to bring the right wing up to the same level of assembly as the left just to be sure I don't miss something.

  Mar 13, 2021     Drill Cleco Repeat - (6 hours)       Category: Wings

More drilling, clecoing and fitting for the wings. Strut mounts and the fuselage/wing mount doublers

  Mar 12, 2021     Bracket drilled and ready - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings

Match drilled the front and rear strut brackets. Ready to install with hysol

  Mar 12, 2021     Fitting wing strut mounts - left wing - (2 hours)       Category: Wings

Started the initial fitting of the left wing strut mounts. Hose clamps are temporary