As I was cleaning and organizing the hangar today, I also set about priming the aileron gap fairings, flap braces, and aileron hinge brackets for both wings. With my hangar mate’s airplane still in the other hangar this was the perfect opportunity to prime without having to take the parts off the airport. Not much to tell. I used the same technique as always… scuff the surface lightly with a scotchbrite pad, clean with acetone, and prime.

This is a good picture of both the priming and the new shop setup. 

This is a good picture of

First day back in the shop for awhile. I’ve been doing a fair amount of travel for work.  Two weeks in Las Vegas, and a couple trips to Pittsburgh have prevented any work on the plane. Additionally, my MBA classes have started back up in the evening. It is very frustrating not being able to find more time to work on the project. In other news, I will be moving hangars!  A hangar with an all concrete floor opened up in one of the privately owned hangar buildings.  Its essentially the same size and faces West.  The best part… its cheaper too!  I plan to be moved in by December 1st.

Today I set about completing the flap and aileron gap fairings / brace for the right wing.  Additionally, I added conduit to the right wing, and removed both tanks.  There really isn’t too much to say.

Just as before I had two rivets that I had installed prematurely.  I had to drill them out the reverse way of normal, starting with the shop head.  To do this, I use a center punch to make the center, and then I use that and a countersink deburring tool to get a nice even centered divot started. Then I simply drilled straight through.  Both rivets came out fairly well without any enlargement. 

Next I cut the flap brace to fit the rear spar reinforcement angles. 

I forgot to take pictures of the process I used to remove the fuel tank.  If you’ve ever installed laminate floor… you know the process.  I actually used an old piece of laminate floor I had in the shop to abut the trailing edge of the tank and then with Jack holding the tank, I used my dead blow hammer to gently nudge the tanks off. 

After completing the ailerons, it was time to get back to work on the wings.  Specifically, I need to install the flap braces, aileron gap fairings, and the aileron hinge points.  First step was to figure everything out.  I like to lay everything out and sometimes even put it in place as best I can so I can be sure I fully understand how everything goes together.  Here are the flap braces and aileron gap fairings. 

I padded two saw horses with bubble wrap and blankets and then placed the right wing bottom side up. I’m going to prep the components for both wings so i can do one priming session. Unfortunately this will mean switching the wings out. 

I immediately noticed an error.  I had installed two rivets that shouldn’t be installed yet.  It was awhile ago, so I’m not sure how that happened.  I usually tape over the holes that need to remain open, and I did leave the center rivet open.  Odd. Anyways, these were a bit of  pain to drill out. Because these were long rivets and somewhat awkwardly placed, I could not use my nifty rivet removal tool.  Instead I used a center punch and countersink to get a hole started in the center of the rivet head.  I then hand spun the drill to get it started.

The first one, shown here, came out perfectly.  The second one, while adequate, was much more difficult. 

Next, I needed to trim the flap brace to match the spar reinforcement plate.  Van’s uses their standard notching system to indicate where to cut just like the aileron and elevator stiffeners. 

Here is the flap brace ready to be cut. 

Next I clecoed the flap brace in place.  Before I began match drilling this, I moved on to the aileron fairing and hinge points. 

Everything clecoed in place for my own internal satisfaction. 

My last task for the day was to prep all of the aileron hinge points. I match drilled, deburred and scotchbrited all the parts.  Thick aluminum pieces from Van’s frequently need to be hit heavily with the scotchbrite wheel, and these were not different.  Deburring them to my satisfaction took awhile.