Wings – Structure

Ailerons 16 (6.0 hrs)

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Today I set about drilling the remainder of the aileron push rods. First I measured the circumference of the tube using a post-it note. I then divided that number by 6 to get the appropriate spacing and made marks for each rivet hole location. (IGNORE the math, as measured incorrectly on the first pass, and forgot to take a picture of the correct post-it note. The principle is the same though.)

Then I used another bit of post it note to hold the rod ends in place for the first drill before using a cleco. I decided to prime after drilling everything instead of before.

I set up a makeshift jig to ensure the rod was centered. I should have done this for the shorter rods too. 

I had to slightly adjust the position of the jig base so that there was room for the clecos.

Next I setup for priming by scuffing the surfaces with scotch bright and then cleaning with acetone. I used the rudder hinge pin to push the acetone cheese cloth through the pushrods. I then taped the ends and poured AKZO into each pipe and shook. I repeated this process a couple times and then primed the outsides with the HVLP gun.

Ailerons 15 (1.5 hrs)

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Tonight I reamed the bell crank bushings. I ordered a 0.2490 reaming bit off of Amazon. The bolts are slightly undersized. There is no need to go the full 0.25 inches. Further if you ream with a regular bit you could scar the inside of the bushing. Remember the bell crank rotates about the bushing. The bushing does not rotate around the bolt. Since this will connect to the control stick, I’d like to keep tolerances as tight as possible so that the controls have minimal slop over the life of the aircraft.

To ream the bushing, I drilled a hole in a 2/4 with the drill press the same size as the bushing outer diameter. I then put the bushing in the hole, and reamed the center, using the 2×4 as a jig.

Next I drilled the short aileron push rods. Be careful these can be a bit tricky. 

Landing Lights 2 (3.5 hrs)

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I finished the landing light install for the right wing today. Rather, I’ve completed as much as can be completed prior to purchase of the actual lights.

First I bought a belt sander at Lowes along with several other goodies. I clamped the belt sander to my work bench, creating a bench sander! I used the belt sander to clean up the edges of the plexiglass lens. (null)

After the plexi was cleaned up I set about drilling the plexi. This requires the creation of a strap handle to pull the lens tight to the skin. (null)

Here you can see the lens strap handle with the lens held in place with clocoes after drilling.(null)

 

Additionally, I final drilled and countersunk the plexi. Finally I riveted the nut plates to the backing strips. The instructions call for the strips to be countersunk, but the material is too thin for that to be the truly correct solution. I chose to dimple the strips and the nut plates. It was really cold in the garage, but I heated everything as best I could. No cracks in the plexi, but there are two spots on one hole that look like they could be the very start of the faintest cracks. I may drill that hole out to be bigger when it gets warmer.  Everything took longer than I would expect as it takes a fair amount of trail and error to get the strap to line up and work properly, and I didn’t want to make a mistake in the drilling.