I’ve started the flaps. These are entertaining pieces with match plates, ribs, and some fairly unique skin alignment that incorporates a “rear spar” into the bottom skin. The flaps are supposedly the easiest control surface of the plan. Easiest still doesn’t mean easy, as nothing about this is easy, per se. However, I am finding […]
Finishing the ailerons was fairly uneventful. Getting the weldments attached correctly was a bit of a chore, and space was limited. I did wind up modifying (grinding away) an open-ended wrench in order to tighten some locknuts. Riveting the top and bottom spar strips required weighing the aileron down flat on the workbench. I used […]
The aileron construction is a little fiddly. You have to attach ribs to the pipe, which I’ve found alignment to be a pain. Drilling and countersinking the pipe leading edge is also a bit of a pain. If these holes aren’t plumb(?) the rivets will pull crooked and ruin the finish of the leading edge. […]
The flap brace and aileron fairing were added. The flap brace is only attached to the spar, as the other side will be used to rivet the flap hinge and the bottom skin.
And now onto the the ailerons. These are the first control surfaces of the wings. Notable features are a galvi-pipe for a counterbalance, and surprising little else…
Flap brace and aileron fairing are trial fit.
Both wings are in the stands. I know the posts are a bit… sparse on the details. Most the details can be seen in the videos, but here’s what it took to get here: Skins were riveted on. Top ones only. They had to be prepped, which includes dimpling and scarfing some of the overlapped […]
A milestone worth noting: First wing is in the cradle. The top skin is riveted on, tank mounted, and leading edge complete.
The left tank has some significant leaks–and not just from the testing equipment, though I’m still battling those leaks too. The outboard edge at the baffle is showing bubbles when soapy water is applied. Not sure how this happened. I thought it would be a cleaner construction the second time around. Perhaps my sense of […]
The left tank is complete, and the testing issues with the right tank resolved. The right tank tested just fine once I got the filler cap sealed (requires two layers of packaging tape applied very diligently and cleanly) and the balloon sealed on (might recommend folks really take their time with this one, sealing that […]