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Ribs Galore...
One of the first tasks is to clean up all the ribs. It's a job that you don't really appreciate until your done. Plan on a better part of 2 days to finish.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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More Ribs.....
Yep...... they keep stacking up.....
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Rear Spar
Completed rear spar, fairly straight forward construction. I sure enjoyed my pneumatic squeezer, I wish I had purchased it at the beginning of the project.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Rear Spar Detail
Rear spar showing the spar fork, don't forget to review your drawing and omit the proper rivets during construction
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Rear Spar OB
Another view of the rear spar, this time showing the outboard end.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Wing jig
Finally completed my move to Lacombe, now its time to place the box structure into the jig. I used teleposts and aluminum angle for my jig.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Wing Plum
This is using the KISS principle to the fullest, simple and effective way to plum the wing.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Plumming
Another view this time showing the rear spar. If the wing is level and the string in the middle of the holes, the alignment between the main and rear spar is perfect.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Wing Jig
Everyone has there own ideas, this was my approach to getting the sag out of the box structure. Easy to adjust and best of all, I can use it for something else after. $19.00 at Princess Auto.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Tie Down
The wing tie down assembly is pretty straight forward once you study the plans and understand the orientation
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Right Box Structure
Another view of the box structure in the jig
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Upper Skin
Drilling the top skins to the left wing panel. Ensure you start drilling in the middle of the panel and work out diagonally to reduce the potential of oilcanning.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Bottom Skin
Bottom skins drilled to the left wing.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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OB Leading Edge
Test fitting the OB leading edge skin on the right wing. I used 1/4" threaded rod to align the nose ribs and lock then in place.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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OB Leading Edge
Strapping the OB leading edge works really well, I taped the leading edge of the nose ribs with masking tape to help the skin move around the leading edge. A couple of 2x4's pieces were used for the bottom where the strapping wraps around the wing.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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OB Leading Edge
Near completion on the drilling, everything going quite well.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Right OB Leading Edge
OB leading edge skin riveted to the nose ribs but not the spar yet. One thing I would do different, I would edge clean both OB leading edge skins and the bottom wing skins prior to strapping the leading edge skins. My joints were tight until I edge cleaned, now I have a very slight gap.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Left OB Leading Edge
Top View of the left wing OB leading edge, next job is to install my duckworks lights and get the OB leading edge assembly inspected prior to riveting to the main spar.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Compressors
New vs Old.... time for an upgrade, moving to town meant reducing noise. And the oil lubricated cast iron is quiet. Would I ever own another oiless compressor...... hmmmm.. I don't think so.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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LE Light Installation
The peliminary cut has been done, the variable speed Dremel and cutting disk worked perfectly. Just ensure you cut inside the lines to leave room for edge cleaning.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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First Hole Cut
Here is the finished hole cut, I cannot stress how good the dremel worked here. The key is to take your time and not try to maintian too much pressure on the cuttiing wheel.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Double Check
The bracket holes have been drilled, and of course I felt it necessary to double check my hole cutout size again.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Finished Edges
Here is a shot of the finished edge cleaning, the small files really come in handy here.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Another Angle
A closer view of the cut out.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Mounting Hardware
Here is the mounting bracket, lens and attachment brackets. The worst part of the hole job was trimming the plexi-glass, but all did turn out well.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Light Installed
Here is the halogen light installed on the mounting bracket, the whole design is quite simplistic.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Finished Product
The finished job, one lens did not fit as good as I had hoped but I think its the foam I installed for a barrier that is not allowing a tight fit. I will worry about it later.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Heated Pitot Tube
Here is my Pitot tube and mounting hardware, I am following Kevin Horton on this one. I don't think I'll be flying IFR but but have included pitot heat to the arrangement. I like the idea of a fixed pitot tube instead of the radius bent tubing than Van's supplies. The mounting kit is from Warren Gretz, the kit is very well done.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Fuel Tank Construction
The "Z" channels on the main spar, not much to worry about here other than ensuring your holes are in the middle of the channel.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Ribs Drilled to Baffle
Drilling the tank ribs to rear baffle, take into account the edge locations of the "Z" channels location before drilling the ribs to the baffle. I took something for granted and missed the edge clearance when I drilled the baffle to the "Z" channels. A quick call to Vans ensured it was alright to drill a second set of holes on the effected "Z" channels to meet edge clearance.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Tank Skin Drilled to Skeleton
The drilling of the tank skin is pretty much the same as the leading edge skin, just be careful on the inboard section when drilling the skin to the baffle. I took off the assembly to final drill these holes so as to not accidently drill into the spar.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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#1 Helper
I had to order a second set of cleco pliers as my son has taken an active interest and assists when whenever possible. I had to file the tank skin edges on both tanks when fitting them to the wing to get a satisfactory seam line between the tank skin and the OB leading edge. A vixen file made quick work of it.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Inboard Tank Rib
Inboard fule tank rib, the sender mounting plate and reinforcement plate, the nose reinforcement plate. The fly cutter I purchased at Century sales did a nice job cutting the holes for end ribs. I used a large unibit for the holes in the inner ribs.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Completed Tank Rib
Completed inboard end ribs complete with senders and ful pick-up lines. Just needs to be prosealed and riveted.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Fuel Sender
Close up of the Stewart Warner fuel sender, remember to use Van's directions when bending the wires. Stewart Warner also sends instructions which I discarded to avoid confusion.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Fuel Pickup
A close up of the fuel pick up assembly, I fabricated some .025 aluminum to make an anti rotation device to eliminate the change of rotating the fuel pick-up during fuel line tighting. Van now recomends this on his website.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Preparing for Proseal
After all the stiffeners are cut and cleaned I scored the surface of both the skin and stiffeners to aid in Proseal adhesion. I also used Eudora MEK for a degreasing agent, I thought laquer thinner was bad for fumes..... wait till you try this stuff. Remember to use your respirator.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Proseal..... yuck
Dreaded Proseal, I mixed mine 10 - 1 by volume. I never saw anything so sticky in my life, ensure you purchase a lot of latex gloves as you will use quite a few of them. I thought duck tape held the world together, but now I believe Proseal does.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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First Crack
My first try at Proseal, my job was limited since I had to work nightshift in a couple hours. I still can't believe how sticky this stuff is....
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Another View
Another view, I tried to blend the Proseal into a fillet arount the stiffeners and then covered the shot heads of the rivets.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Tank Nozzle
A view of the tank filler nozzle, notice the vent line clip on the forward side of the nozzle.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Another View
Still another view, ensure you clean adequately inside the nozzle or you might have problems getting you cap to fit. MEK cleans up the areas nicely where you don't want any Proseal.
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Photograph taken on: 11/9/00
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Fuel Vent
Proper attachment of the fuel vent is important, ensure the end is not against the outboard rib.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Inboard Vent Line
Now that I have got my feet wet with Proseal I think I would do a better job next time. I definately would not use as much as I did on these fuel tanks.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Almost Done
Proseal usage nearing completion, just need to install the rear baffle.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Rear Baffle Installation
Real baffle installation went well, don't use too much proseal or your fitting tolerances could change when you put the tank back on the wing. Just a thin layer is required. I also found that my pop rivet gun did not fit very well when pulling the pop rivets on the baffle to the Z channels and ribs. I would like one similar to what George had in his video.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Sender End Plates
Sealing everything up, and guess what.... no more proseal for a long while.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Fit Check
My left tank fit perfectly along the seam line with the OB leading edge, but my right tank had about 1/32" difference.
I ended up using an edge seamer to remedy this fitting problem.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Spar Countersunked
I was nervous when countersinking the main spar, the cutter I had wasn't the single hole design and I was worried about chattering. I ended up using an electric drill and countersunk at a low RPM with excellent results.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Aileron Parts
Not much for parts on the aileron, the only main difference in assembly between the aileron and other control surfaces is the use of a water pipe for a counterweight.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Backrivetted
Nothing new here, backrivetting sure gives an excellent rivet finish.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Ready for the Bend
Primed and ready for the trainling edge bend.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Spar and Counter Weight
Careful attention must be used when determining orientation of the aileron spars, the flanges are at different angles but there is a punch hole on the bottom flange in the center that can be used as a reference.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Counter weight Closeup
Closeup of the coiunter weight rivetted to the nose rib.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Main Skin Fitted
Main skin fitted and drilled to end ribs.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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End rib
A little goof up here by me, the reinforcment plate should have gone on the other aileron spar as the holes don't quite match, but since AN3 bolts are use for the attachment bracket the hole will need to be enlarged anyway so no damage done.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Nose Rib Fitted
Nose rib fitted, dimple the nose skin and machine countersink the main. The countersink will also cut into the spar a tad.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Top Rivetted
Aileron top row rivetted and awaiting inspection before closing.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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Flap Time
The flap construction is very straight forward, here is the spar and bottom skin.
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Photograph taken on: 2/21/01
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