Jul 07, 2023     Ailerons       Category: Wings

With the finishing kit came the last few parts needed to finish the ailerons which went together pretty quick. This also freed up the parts stand that I made a year or so ago which held the fuels tanks, tail pieces, flaps etc. Things are starting to get tight as this plane gets bigger. The ailerons are now mounted on the wing and the only thing left to do is to rivet the leading edge of the flaps and ailerons while ensuring they have the correct twist to match the wing.

  Jun 25, 2023     Wint tip lights and wing tip instalation       Category: Wings

I have been working on mounting the wingtip nav/position/ strobe lights. It was kind of a pain for several reasons: I had to source some rivnuts, then when trying to set them with a bolt and nut, it wasnt working and the bolt was stripping. I have a rivnut tool but it didnt have the size I needed. I had to purchase the rivnut tool stem size I needed. But the one I got didnt fit my tool so I went down to Harbor Freight and they had a tool with the size I needed. It was good enough to get the six rivnuts set. Setting the rivnuts in the fiberglass was a little tricky because in some areas it was solid fiber, others were hollow behind and other were on the line half filled/hollow.
After the light mounts were mounted I extended the wires off the lights, ran them thru the wing tip and also mounted and secured the wires inside the wingtip. Lastly I made the connectors that plug into the wing side and tested the lights. They all worked. Next up was to mount and rivet the wingtips on.
Now that the wing tips are on I am going to work on mounting the flaps. But, most importantly my landing gear and fuselage kit are set to arrive on July 2nd and I am very excited to see this thing go up on landing gear.

  Oct 28, 2022     Right wing wingtip install and Left wing pitot wireing       Category: Wings

With the right wing almost done I removed the construction jigs and with the help of my wife lowered the wing into the wing cradle I build and then worked on installing the wingtip. I followed the instructions which had me ratchet strap the tip forward into position. I went as hard as I felt comfortable with but I still had 1/8 inch gap at the front of the wing tip. I can put filler and form it before paint. I then match drilled, countersunk and dimpled as appropriate. I didnt rivet it on yet as I still need to install the position light. I think I will wait to do that when the wings are mounted on the plane so I can make sure the lights are parallel to the ground as there isnt a very good reference point.

On the left wing I cleaned up the wiring a little more and installed all the clamps i wanted to secure the wiring in place.

  Oct 24, 2022     Rt wing top skin       Category: Wings

Today I riveted on the right wing top skin and the aux tank. It took me awhile but it was straight forward. The only thing that I changed is the plans had me trimming some 8mm long pull rivets down to 5.2mm long. I felt this was a pain for 100 plus rivets and decided to use solid rivets. The reason to trim the rivets was to avoid interference with the tails of the rivets and the flap skins. I did trim 1 rivet and pull it in place to measure the length of the tail. I forget what the measurement was but I then set a solid rivet and the tail was even shorter than the pull rivet so I am confident that I am good to go. Luckily I had a squeezer so I didnt have to buy any extra tools and the entire aft edge is done with solid rivets and the squeezer.

  Sep 25, 2022     Left wing and fuel tanks       Category: Wings

I have been working to catch the left wing up to the right wing to include securing the wiring and the protective sleeves. The biggest thing I need now is to 100% decide what kind of avionics I want so I can purchase the pitot probe and install it. I think I am going to go with Garmin. My kit came with an unheated probe, apparently by mistake, but I am going with a heated/ regulated probe. I decided regulated because it will use less power after it gets to temperature compared to the unregulated. Looking at some power consumption it looks like I will be very close to the 80% capacity of the generator installed on the rotax 915IS engine.
After working on the wing I started on the left side fuel tanks. Before I got started I did find that Sling has released an updated build manual and some of the rivet directions have changed and they have added some lock washers on the AN fuel fittings. I have requested those washers and am getting everything else done on the tanks that I can, which is most of the tanks.

  Sep 11, 2022     A little bit on wings, wiring, and fuel seals       Category: Wings

This past week was a little bit of many different things. I worked on the right wing wiring. I wrapped braided sleeve around the landing, taxi, position, and strobe lights. I also installed conduit running along the back top channel to put coax wire in. I am not sure if I will install a VOR/ILS antenna but at least this gives me the option to do it later if I want. I also didnt like the fuel tank seals for the fuel lever senders that came with the kit. I also had to spend some time with a good bit of goo gone to get the sticky stuff left behind when the factory packaged the spars up for transport. They are cork and I can picture the cork breaking down and floating around the tank. I instead bought a 1' X 1' sheet of viton rubber and made my own seals. Hopefully it works, but if not I can still use the cork seals. Lastly I started working on the left wing. I installed all the ribs except for rib 5 on the main spar then I attached the rear spar. I did not install rib 5 because on my flap torque tube I found a rivet that was not installed correctly and I think needs to be replaced. I will reach out to technical to be sure. The rivet is steel so it may be a pain to replace. Lastly, I found a C channel that was suppose to be riveted onto the main spar at the factory but isnt there. I will also reach out to technical and see if they will send me the pars to do it myself.

  Apr 03, 2022     Right Wing bottom skins       Category: Wings

I received the back ordered piece I was waiting on to continue with the right wing. I installed the piece and prepped to put the bottom skins on. Prep included alodining the countersunk holes in the main spar. I didnt pull any rivets for the skins yet but everything is ready to go for the next work session.

  Mar 13, 2022     Left Wing Ribs and fuel tank prep       Category: Wings

I finished assembling the left wing ribs from last week and also starting prepping the parts for the fuel tanks. I opted for the long rang model so I have four fuel tanks to make.I decided to alodine the fuel tanks for corrosion protection, the shipping for that stuff hurts.

  Feb 21, 2022     Ribs attached to spar       Category: Wings

With the prep work done on the right wing ribs they attached to the wing spar pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I am waiting on a flap hinge that attaches to one of the ribs so I am on hold for that. If it was not for that one hinge I could start riveting on the bottom wing skin. So close but so far.
On a good note some back ordered parts came in so I can continue work on the empennage and get that finished up.

  Feb 07, 2022     More rib work       Category: Wings

I finished deburring all the edges and holes of all the ribs. I also primed all the right hand ribs and started assembling the ribs that need parts added.

  Jan 30, 2022     Wing rib prep       Category: Wings

I am on hold for parts for the rest of the tail section. As a result I have started to prep the ribs for the wings. Pictured are just the ribs that need to have parts added to them first. I will debur, prime then assemble.