This
is looking up at the spar in the most outboard bay where the tank meets the
leading edge.
I mounted the left tank to the spar tonight. It doesn't look much different than it did a month ago but this time it won't be taken back off (I hope!) The wire that I had been waiting on arrived today and I attached it to the fuel sending gauge. Here's a few pictures after the tank was mounted.
This
is looking up at the spar in the most outboard bay where the tank meets the
leading edge.
This
is the most inboard "Z" bracket. The bolts and platenuts are
reversed on this bracket versus all the others.
I
was really pleased with the fit between the tank and leading edge. I believe
this is the bottom.
And this is a close up of the top joint.
I had been needing some help to rivet the top skins on the wings so Linda and Katie swapped out bucking for me today. I decided that the easiest way to do this was to stick a bunch of rivets in the holes and tape them in before riveting. This really speeds up the process instead of driving one rivet, getting another one out and placed in the hole, then riveting. We started on the middle rivet of each skin then working one rib inboard, then one rib outboard. The skin looks good to me.
The
almost finished product. The rear spar isn't riveted at this point.
We
flipped the wing over to rivet the rear spar instead of crawling around on our
knees. It would have been nice to have just put the wing in the stand but
I just don't have the room to have both the stand and the post jig in the
working area.
The
rear spar riveted.
I
went ahead and installed the aileron hinge brackets. Here is the outboard
bracket.
And
of course the inboard hinge bracket. It's interesting that the plans (or
at least my interpretation of the plans) call for a 426 type rivet in one of
these holes. I went ahead and countersunk the bracket and did this even
though I could not understand why or find it referenced on any other web site.
The flap brace riveted in place.
The
last thing for the night was the aileron gap seal. I riveted this in place
on the spar and finished by riveting to the top skin.
This was a long day but it was a very productive day. I was glad to get the help getting the top skins riveted in place so I could go on to other things. I'm not sure what the next step is for me. I had planned to move the left wing to the stand and move the right wing back to the jig but I would like to finish up the pitot installation and I don't have enough room for the stand in my work area. Think I'll order the stuff to finish up the pitot and work on the ailerons or flaps until I can finish the pitot.
I dimpled the top inside skin tonight. I think I'll try to get the rest of the skins dimpled before starting the ailerons and flaps. Spring is here and between the warm weather and work it's getting harder to get the time to work on the plane.
I finished deburring and dimpling the right wing skins. This is the first opportunity that I have had to work on the plane in almost a week. The next 3 weekends look pretty booked as well but I hope to finish the wings up before the fuselage arrives the end of June.
Today I installed the landing light in the right wing. I also installed the most inboard rib and the W-423 tank support. ( I had screwed this up the first time.) No picture as they are the same as the left wing. This is high school prom weekend so I was stopping and starting to help out and also to admire my dressed up, beautiful daughter.
It's also interesting to look at your progress sometimes. Today was a weird example. I've worked all day on the leading edge and it looks exactly like it did when I started except it has an extra rib and a hole with a light in it. Clecoed to the spar. But hopefully the next work session will permanently attach the leading edge to the spar.
April 29, 2002 2 hours
I started attaching the leading edge to the right wing tonight. Most of the work is done, just a few remaining rivets to be squeezed along the spar.
Tonight I finished up the last few rivets on the right leading edge. I sat the tank in place and drilled the holes in the W-423 tank attach brace and dimpled these and added the platenuts where the tank skin attaches.
I reinstalled the tank on the spar after getting the W-423 ready. All the bolts through the main spar and "Z" brackets are in place and about every other screw is installed. I'll finish up tomorrow night by torqueing the bolts and installing the remainder of the screws. Then it'll be time to install the top skin. It's all coming together now!
Completed the install of the right tank by torqueing the bolts and installing the remainder of the screws. I also added the last inboard rib to the main spar and the rear spar. I've mentioned this earlier but this was a good thing. (Not putting the last rib in until right before installing the skin.)
Next I clecoed the top skins to the wing. I then put rivets in all the holes that did not have a cleco in them and taped them to keep them from bouncing out. Linda came and helped by bucking the rivets while I drove them. We riveted the top skin on in about an hour and a half. I did not back rivet either of the wings. I used the swivel flush set and the riveting was the easy part and if I do say so myself, it looks pretty good.
Look MOM, no clecos!!!!
The right wing is ready to come out of the jig and into the wing stand. I
do have the bottom row of rivets where the skin attaches to the rear spar left
to install but this is much easier with the wing turned upside down.
I took the wing out of the jig and took the two posts down. I moved the wing stand back into the work area (out from around the pool table) and put both wings into the stand. I also riveted the bottom row of rivets on the right wing.
Here are some shots of the tubing that Van's sells to use as conduit installed in the wings. I ran two runs down each wing. Easier to do now than wish you had later.
