|
The top skins have been riveted on!
It took 3 hours, and came out great. We
backriveted everything.
|
 |
| |
 |
|
This is one of the flap brackets. There are a
LOT of rivets in a very small space.
I've also finished riveting the flap and aileron
fairings between the top skin and the back of the aft spar.
|
 |
|
My attention has now turned back to the
ailerons.
I built a 7' long work surface out of doubled up 3/4" MDF board, with
a couple of straight 2x4s screwed underneath to keep it flat. I
bought several 25 lb bags of lead shot to help weigh things down.
This photo shows the trailing edge drilled into the board and clecoed to
keep it straight and flat. |
 |
|
Overall, the ailerons have been quite a challenge so
far. There's a lot going on in a fairly small space, and the leading
edge is difficult to bend around and cleco to the spar without everything
twisting and pulling. |
 |
|
I've been traveling so construction over the last
week has slowed somewhat. It has also been in the mid 90's every
day, and it is HOT inside the garage so morning work sessions are
preferable.
I now have both ailerons assembled and riveted except
for the trailing edges. It is going to be a challenge to keep them
straight while riveting.
|
|
An aileron skin WILL stay flat when you cleco it to
an angle iron, put 75 lbs of lead shot on top, and add two clothespins
between each cleco. This is what it looks like while the proseal
dries. It will hold the trailing edge together while it is being riveted.
|
 |
|
I finally riveted the trailing edges and they came
out just fine. |
|
|
Time to build the wing cradle to hold the wings when
I take them off
of the wing stand.
It is substantially smaller than in the
plans. The end pieces are only 2' x 18" cut from a 2x4
sheet of 3/4 MDF. It is 8' long. Foam pipe insulation is used
for the contact points. |
 |
|
The left wing is off the stand and in the
cradle... time to start the right wing and the flaps! |
 |
|
During construction of the left wing, I did as much work as possible on the right wing parts so that the right wing would go together quickly. Within an hour or two, I had completely assembled the wing skeleton and attached the skins. Then I match drilled about 1000 holes. |
|
Already time to start the tank. This photo
shows 3 of the ribs riveted in place.
For the rest of the tank assembly pictures, click
here.
This tank went together MUCH faster than the
first. Experience helps.
|
 |
|
I've deviated from the assembly order in the plans
for the right wing. Instead of attaching the wing top skin before
attaching the flap and aileron brackets, I've installed them BEFORE
riveting any other parts of the wing. This made it MUCH easier to
drill and rivet these pieces.
|
 |
|
This is what it looks like just before riveting the
ribs to the rear spar.
The ribs were riveted to the main and rear spar, and
the leading edge skin assembly was riveted in place. |
 |
|
I've decided to start the flaps, since they are a
good project that I can work alone on while waiting for help with the wing
skins.
This is the inboard end of the left flap assembly.
The hinge point is low so the flaps move back and down, instead of just
pivoting down at the leading edge. |
 |
|
The directions say to hang the spar clecos off the
edge of the building board, and drill holes through three of the rib holes
into the wood. Then the holes are enlarged to 5/8". This
enables the bottom skin to be clecoed in place, and placed flat, bottom
side down, on the board while the top skin is clecoed in place and the
trailing edge is drilled. |
 |
|
The entire flap is clecoed together, a board and 25lb
shot bags are used to hold everything flat, and the trailing edge is
drilled through the pre-drilled holes in the top skin through the
wedge and bottom skin. |
 |
|
This is a closeup of the end of the flap.
Then everything is taken apart to be deburred,
dimpled, countersunk, and primed.
I countersunk the skin and spar together, so the
dimple from the leading edge skin rests inside. This way, there is
no danger of the countersunk hole in the spar going too deep and creating
a hole that is too big for the rivet. I've used this technique on
the ailerons and flaps. |
|
