Category: Wings

Moving the wings to storage

Brian 0 Comment Wings

Finally got everything lined up to move the wings from the garage to our storage locker. Been stressing over this move for a while, getting friends lined up to help, renting the truck, making sure I had enough space for the wings, and how to keep everything safe during transport. Maybe I tend to over analyze a bit.

Anyway, I already had a storage locker that I am renting that had enough room to store my wings as I expected I would need to get them out of my garage eventually. With a UHAUL rented and friends headed over the help out, I was ready to execute. Plan was to move the wings to saw horses from the cradle, move the cradle to the truck, then lift the wings into the truck and onto the cradle. With two helpers, this was easily done. In hind-sight the only thing I would have done differently is wear heavier gloves as the ribs did a number on my hands (edges were not sharp, but gave me a bruise).

We strapped the wings into the cradles and the strapped the whole thing to the side of the UHAUL truck. I drove slowly and cautiously to the storage locker, hoping nothing would shift or get damaged (STRESS!!!). All was good and we arrived with no issues. Even had someone come over and ask what model airplane I was building while I was unloading.

  • Relief that the wings are moved
  • Strapped in the UHAUL
  • Space to move around!

With the wings moved to storage, that’s one less thing for me to worry about. I have space to move around and work on the fuselage.

FWD Fuse Ribs, BHDS, and Bottom Skins – Part 3

Brian 0 Comment Bottom Wing Skins, Fwd Fuselage

Continuing on with Section 28, I had an EPIC priming day and got all of the outstanding items painted (including the last of my wing skins!)

With everything primed, I begin to do the final assembly on all the ribs and bulkheads for the forward fuselage. First step is dimpling all of the parts that will have flush head rivets, then installing rivets in all of the sub-components.

I then pull out my trusty DRDT-2 and begin to dimple the bottom wing skins (after I remove the plastic and deburr). Didn’t catch the larger skin being dimpled, but it’s in the background of my timelapse). I’m basically out of room to move in the garage so I’m about to have a moving day to get the wings into storage.

I then complete the dimpling of all of the other components (making sure I take the time to understand what does and does not get dimpled). Then it’s on to prepping the bottom skin so I can back rivet the ribs on. This was very easy and looks great once done. Even got a little assistance from my oldest while I was working on this part.

I decided to order some firewall sealant from skygeek vs using proseal to seal between the skin and the firewall. It looks very much like proseal in the tube, but has a very different consistency when applied to the surfaces. Almost has a foam type of quality to it? Anyway, with the sealant applied, I quickly squeeze those rivets then start to rivet the tunnel to the bottom skins.

My attempts to back-rivet these parts did not work as planned and I ended up drilling these rivets out I’ll need to call in some favors to help set these rivets before I join the fuse and hopefully move it to the cradle.

Fuel Tank – Part 7

Brian 0 Comment Fuel Tanks

So slightly out of order, but figured I would provide a quick update on my fuel tanks. I found myself with some spare time to work on the airplane due to my wife and daughters taking a trip to visit my mother in law. This is great except for one minor detail, I basically ran out of things I can work on by myself and need a second set of hands. Local buddies were are also unavailable so time to get creative.

Decided to bring the fuel tanks back from our storage locker and finally pressure test them. Going in I already knew I would need to cut a hole in my right tank to replace a rivet that somehow wasn’t fully set?!? Before I drilled it out I wanted to verify there were no other areas that needed attention (leaks).

With the fuel lines (supply and return) capped, and a balloon on the vent line, I used the fuel drain line to blow into the tank and slightly inflate it. (Just a few breaths to put a little pressure in the tank, not enough to inflate the balloon). Then its on to spraying soapy water all over the tank. On the first try, I got a leak around the fuel cap and the threads of the fuel supply and return. Tightened the caps on the fuel lines, and tightened the screw on the fuel cap. Re-spray and no leaks. Ok, so a tank in good shape. Now for the difficult part (emotionally that is).

  • Tape role makes a good template
  • Rough cut the opening with a Dremel
  • File all the rough edges.
  • Line up the cover and match drill all the holes.
  • Don’t forget to remove the primer where proseal needs to go.
  • All Done!

With the hole cut in the tank and the edges deburred, I was able to get into the tank to remove the proseal from behind the “bad” rivet and drill it out. Note: removing the proseal from inside the tank SUCKS! Make sure all rivets are properly set to avoid this torture!

Once the area when the rivet needed to be installed was cleaned, and all the dust and debris was removed from inside the tank, I was barely able to install a replacement rivet. Honestly I almost gave up and was looking for an appropriate flush blind rivet, but in the end I was successfull in installing the new rivet (pending leak test).

With the rivet installed, I added a bunch of proseal to the area to prevent any leaks in this area, followed by installing the access hole cover. No way this patch will leak due to the large overlapping surface and overkill number of blind rivets. Now I’m just waiting for the proseal to cure before I attempt a pressure test. The other tank was perfect, so I already mounted it to the left wing with just a few bolts / screws. I’ll get more photos of the tanks mounted in a future update.

Next week, I’ll be in Chesapeake VA attending the RV Fiberglass class to practice making the windshield layup so don’t expect any real updates for a few weeks.

Flaps – Part 3

Brian 0 Comment Flaps

With my experience on the left flap, I am able to jump into getting the right flap done in short(ish) order. I am trying to keep my experience on the left flap forefront in my mind, but even still I’m bound to miss something.

The hardest part for me has been motivation. Looking at the collection of parts and all the sanding, deburring, drilling, and riveting has kept me from working on on the project a bit. It was from sheer force of will that I would go into the garage to just make progress. Some days it was just to file down the edge on a few ribs, other times it was just to disassemble part in prep for priming or some other task. Either way, just keep making small steps and things continue to move forward!

With that all said, I basically follow the same steps as the left flap. Nose ribs and sub-components were already created, but I start to assemble the flap skeleton. Lots of match drilling, then start fitting on the skins. Match drill all the skins. Then it’s deburring and prep for primer.

With all the components primed, you slowly start to assemble. Dimple the necessary parts and rivet the sub-components. Then assembly onto the spar. I actually missed putting the edge break onto the skins prior to dimpling so I ended up having to manually do it with the duckbill pliers. Not as pretty as with the edge break tool, but turned out fine.

Rivet the top skin to the ribs, and the bottom skin to the spar. Remember not to install the blind rivets until you have the trailing edge in place. I also fabricated a TE cleco surface out of a Home Depot piece of angle aluminum. 8″ long and 2-1/2″ wide, drilled with the same hole spacing as the TE wedge. This gives me a nice flat surface to cleco the TE and skins to when I use proseal since my workbenches are not 100% flat.

With the pro-seal set, I then install the blind rivets on the bottom skin, then double-flush rivet the trailing edge. After cleaning up a few spots of proseal, both flaps were completed and mounted temporarily on the wings. I’ll need to remove them and the ailerons to get the bottom skins installed but that looks like it will be in another year or so (just before or after I move the project to the airport.). Only thing left is to pressure test and possibly repair any leaks in the fuel tanks then it’s full steam ahead on the fuselage.

Fuel Tank – Part 6

Brian 0 Comment Fuel Tanks

Well, it is time to finally seal up the fuel tanks. To begin this process, I first leak tested the tanks with tap water just to make sure there were no obvious leaks. Easy enough to do, put the tanks in the cradle, and fill with as much water as you can before it spills over one of the sides. Then put some paper towels down under the tank to help show if there was a leak.

I found a small leak on both tanks, but both instances were from the blue AN hardware that just needed to be tightened. No leaks from rivets or seams so started to feel confident that I could seal up the tank.

Next, I got everything ready to seal the tanks. I primed the back of the baffle as well as the tank attach Zees. With everything collected, I set aside a few hours to get it all assembled For the first tank, I mixed a batch of proseal from my pint container as I ran out of the pre-measured tubes (ordered more for the second tank). Then into the SEMCO dispenser and applied a good bead to all the tank baffles and the skin edges. I made sure to put a larger glob in the corners of the inner and outer baffles as there is a decent gap there. I also spread the sealant out to ensure full and even coverage.

Next, I dropped the baffle into place and clecoed every hole along the skins and outer ribs. Following the directions, I then rivet the outer rivets on all of the ribs, followed by installing the attach Zees and blind riveting them into place (dipping the ends of each blind rivet into proseal). Then it’s on to riveting the skins to the baffle with the exception of the non-countersunk holes. Let the proseal set up about 24 hours, then countersink and rivet those last few locations.

All went wonderful for both tanks, until I was just about done, when I saw the following:

Much cursing and and anger followed, but honestly it is what it is. I’m guessing this rivet wasn’t fully set for one reason or another but I failed to notice it. Maybe it got caught on the cradle and pulled the rivet head? Who know, but this does mean I’ll have to install an access panel on this tank. Already reached out to Vans and think I know what I need to order. Just waiting for the proseal to fully set (30 days) then I’ll do a pressure test on both tanks to make sure there are no other areas that need repair before I order the access panel kits. If this is the only thing that needs to be fixed, I’ll be thrilled!.

Currently the tanks are sitting in storage. I have all the holes plugged and tank cap on. With the temp changes, I’m expecting some pressure build-up in the tanks and last time I opened the fuel cap, I did hear the pressure equalize. This makes me fairly confident that I have a good seal at the moment. Fingers crossed. For now I’ll keep the tanks off the wings until I’m done pressure testing and repairing the bad rivet.