Assembly continues

Fluted the outboard seat and baggage ribs to mach the curve of the bottom skin. Riveted nut plates to the seat ribs.

Bolted and riveted the seat ribs to the bulkhead assembly.

Riveted the seatbelt lugs and routing angles to the baggage ribs.

Riveted the aft bulkhead to the seat rib assembly. Drilled and riveted the doubler to the bulkhead. Fabricated and riveted together the idler bearing assembly and riveted to the bulkhead.

Clecoed the bottom skins together and match drilled some holes. Cut the landing gear leg openings in the forward skins. Machine countersunk the doublers and dimpled the skin stiffeners. Drilled the 9/16″ hole in the skin with a step drill. This hole will be used to mount the transponder antenna.

Today’s Time (hours):	5.0
Fuselage Time (hours):	31.0
Total Time (hours):	485.5

Completed Right Wingtip

Laid out the cut the left and right wing tips. I made over-ran on of the cuts by an inch or so on the left wing. So I did a little patch and fill with some fiberglass and micro and set it aside to cure. Then continued work on the right wingtip.

Cut and installed the nav light lens.

Installed the nav/strobe light. Used the template from the plans to drill the wingtip. Terminated the wires with Molex .062 pins. Unfortunately Vans provided a 4-pin molex housing instead of the 5-pin one that matches the wiring harness in the wing. <sigh> Now I get to pay $10 in shipping for two $1 moles housings. Mounted the bracket and installed the light. Tested it out with a 9-volt. That sucker is bright!

Fit the wingtip to the wing and set it in place with a ratchet strap. Match drilled the holes from the wing skins to the wingtip. Final drilled and dimpled the holes in the wing for #6 screws. Final drilled the screw holes in the wing tip and then used a nut plate, a screw, and a cleco as a drill jig to drill the nut plate attach holes. Machine countersunk the screw and rivet holes and riveted the nut plates in place.

Fit the wing tip rib to the wingtip. Laid out and match drilled rivet holes. Riveted the rib in place.

Bam! Right wingtip done.

Today’s Time (hours):	8.0
Wing Time (hours):	293.0
Total Time (hours):	445.0

Fitted the aileron trim and inboard bottom skins

I finished inventorying and stowing parts from the fuselage kit and avionics.

Crimped the pins onto the aileron trim wires, added a heat shrink tube, and inserted them into the molex connector.

I centered the set the aileron trim using a 9-volt battery to drive the servo. I set the assembly in place on the wing and set the aileron to the neutral position. Then I marked the point where the aileron trim arm rested over the push tube. I remove the push tube and located the tabs 6 inches either side of the center mark. I match drilled and blind riveted them to the push tube. I attached the springs to the tabs.

I clecoed the inboard bottom skins in place on the wings. Ready to rivet.

Today’s Time (hours):	4.0
Wing Time (hours):	264.0
Total Time (hours):	416.0

Primed all the remaining wing parts

Drilled holes for and installed angle of attack sensor tubing. Also ran wires for pitot heat.

Drilled the rivet holes for all the aileron push tube ends and prepared all the parts for priming.

Primed all the remaining wing parts.

Installed the aileron and flap gap fairings.

Assembled the ADAHRS mounting bracket.

Today’s Time (hours):	7.0
Wing Time (hours):	249.0
Total Time (hours):	401.0

Started work on the bottom skins

After the mess of the fuel tanks, I took the time to clean up the shop, replace the paper on the bench tops, and vacuum the floor.

Fabricated the flap gap doublers. Dimpled the flap and aileron gap fairings. Peeled and scuffed the forward facing side of the fairings.

Clecoed the ADAHRS mount together and match drilled to the j-channel stiffener. Disassembled, dimpled, and prepped all the parts. Countersunk and fluted the retainers.

Clecoed the inboard bottom skins to the wing assemblies. Match drilled the nut plate holes to the inboard ribs. Final drilled and deburred all the #19 holes in all the bottom skins.

Today’s Time (hours):	4.0
Wing Time (hours):	233.0
Total Time (hours):	385.0

Completed assembling left tank

Same drill as the right tank yesterday…

Both tanks are now fully assembled. I’ll give them a few days and then pressure test them to find and seal any leaks. Then I can attach them to the wings and move on to the bottom wing skins and aileron actuation.

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Wing Time (hours):	229.0
Total Time (hours):	381.0

Finished assembling right tank.

Added a bead of tank sealant for the baffle. Clecoed the baffle in place. Riveted the baffle to the ribs and then riveted the z-brackets in place. Then riveted the baffle to the skin.

Installed the fuel drain, the fuel sender, AN fittings, and the fuel cap.

Machine countersunk the holes in the tank attach bracket for #8 screws.

The right tank is now complete and once the sealant has cured, I can pressure test it. Hoping to get the left tank to the same state tomorrow.

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Wing Time (hours):	226.0
Total Time (hours):	378.0

Back to work on the tanks

Got back from Toronto yesterday and my replacement tank skins had arrived. I cut the splice strips from the skins with the snips and filed/sanded the edges smooth. I clecoed the baffles into the skins and machine countersunk all the associated rivet holes.

I’ll get the dimpling done tomorrow and start assembly on Sunday.

In other news… Van’s charged my credit card for the balance due on the fuselage kit. Hopefully that means the kit is being crated and will ship in the next week or so. Now the pressure is on to finish the wings!

Today’s Time (hours):	1.0
Wing Time (hours):	190.0
Total Time (hours):	342.0

Ailerons are done!

Riveted bottom skin to the right spar and riveted the top and bottom main ribs together.

Prepped the trailing edge extrusions and applied VHB tape to both sides. Clecoed in place and removed the backing. After the tape set up, I lightly set rivets with the squeezer then back riveted double flush.

Ailerons are complete. This completes all of the control surfaces on the airplane.

My replacement fuel tank skins should be here Thursday. Hoping to get the tanks assembled next weekend.

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Wing Time (hours):	189.0
Total Time (hours):	341.0

Finished riveting the ribs and stiffeners

Finished back riveting the stiffeners and ribs to the skins. Which kinda turned into a fiasco when I realized that the holes that match up to the spars on the forward edges of the top skins are not symmetrical span-wise. Once you’ve dimpled the top skins, there is a left and a right skin. Wish I had known this before riveting the left ribs to the right skins and vise versa. So I drilled out the 32 rivets holding the ribs to the skins and re-riveted correctly. Lost about an hour and a half but no damage done.

Once I got past all that, I assembled the ailerons and they’re now ready to have their trailing edges final drilled.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.5
Wing Time (hours):	179.5
Total Time (hours):	391.5