Ailerons complete, on to the flaps

Wow, I can't believe it has been a week since my last post.  I was a bit busy with work last week though, but no excuse.  ;-)  This weekend I was able to finish up the second Aileron, and did a lot of work on the wiring and rigging in the wing.  Just some random pictures here.  I might send my wiring pics around to some other homebuilders to get a feel for how I am doing.

Here are some pics Bekah took as we did the final riveting on the left aileron.

Here you see the Autopilot roll servo and bell crank complete.  Things to look at here are the torque seal, the primed spacer tubes, the 7 wire connection is basically D-sub pins and sockets surrounded individually by shrink tubing then the entire bundle in a larger heat shrink tube.  Also where I exited the conduit, I used a zip tie and RTV silicon to prevent chafing.  The wire naturally pulls itself away from the servo bell crank parts, but I also used a sticky zip tie holder that is used by homebuilders in general to tie off electric wiring.  If you ask me this will last 20 years in a high vibration environment.  Oh, and also note the cable RG-58 for the wingtip antena.  I routed it around the aileron servo and used bushings through the rib web.  Van's said this was OK.  I also did some work on the pitot tube electrical, and will get some pictures up of that shortly. 

I also got a healthy start on the flaps; Fitting the skeletons together and drilling out the hinge.  You can see the clamps I used to keep the hinge inline while I drilled.

Right Aileron Complete

I was so happy to be able to work on the plane most of Saturday.  It was great to get a long stretch of time to mess around in the shop and work on lots of odds and ends, but most importantly finally finished the right alieron.   I laid it upside down on a flat surface (very carefully) and weighed it down to make sure its flat, before working the end rib rivets, then onto the pop rivets across the bottom spar.  Turned out fairly nice, and didn't scratch it a bit.

After the aileron was complete, I test fit it on the wing.   Makes the wing look really thick in the stand but definitely cool.  Most people flip the wings into the cradle before mounting the aileron.  I was able to get under the wing pretty easily so just went for it.

Also, this weekend I fished a few wires up the conduit, started working on the right wing antenna coax.

My big order from Stein is coming in the next day or two, so I will be able to start some serious wiring on the wings.

Ailerons and Autopilot Servo

Bekah and I powered through the right aileron top skin.  Turned out pretty good.  Harder than I thought bucking from under the bent skin.  Not sure how to do it anybetter, so will just power through again on the left aileron probably next week.

I also was able to figure out initial mounting of the autopilot servo in the right wing.  Not complete, torqued, wired or saftey tied, but looks good just the same.

Random Wing Work - Pitot/Bell Crank/Gap Fairings/Aileron Hinges etc...

I am getting a bit out of order on the wings, but its not really a problem.  Just keeps things exciting.  This weekend I made tons of progress on lots of things except the ailerons.   Hopefully I can get to them this week, but now the wings are structurally complete except for the bottom skins.   All top skins complete, aileron hinges installed, gap fairings and flap braces all installed.

Since I had all the materials ready I started installing the Bell Crank and Heated Pitot.  The Pitot had to be drilled to the mast which took quite a bit longer than I thought it would.   I had to drill in assembly, then tap the pitot, then open up the holes in the mast.   I ended up countersinking the #6 screws and it turned out pretty good.  Also, the Dynon heater controller is not installed, but clecoed to the outside of the rib on the tip end of the bell crank area.  I plan on installing nutplates to the outside of the control unit, so I don't have to worry about any nutplates on the ribs.  Then I will just bolt the controller from the access area near the bell crank.  Should work well, you will see.  Also, you can see I installed the conduit, which is "LOUD" and also takes a while..  But got it done.

Pushrods and Bell Crank

I was able to finish the pushrods with primer and final pop rivets.   Also, I pre-assembled the Bell Crank.   I had to ream out the brass bushing per the directions so that the bolt would slide through.  Some guys jig the bushing and use a drill press, I just used a hand drill and squeezed the busing in a vise with cardboard around it so not to scuff it.  Worked OK for me.

Aileron Pushrods

While I have an aileron in the fixture ready to rivet the top skin, and the left wing ready to finish riveting I found myself at a stopping point.  My riveting partner has been super busy at work the last few days and hasn't had the time to jump in.  Not to worry though because there are lots of other things to work on like the push rods.   Hopefully this weekend we can put an hour or so into riveting the wing top skin..

Until then, I am very happy how my pushrods are going.  I cleaned and primed the inside last night, let them dry for 24 hours, then moved to the tough part..   I think lots of builders have troubles with the powder coated steel ones, but mine went together just fine.  I was able to use the squeezer with regular yoke and slim sets to squeeze the size 11 rivets.  I have seen sites where builders mess up the coating or mess up the rivet and have to start over.  Luckily mine turned out pretty well.  I also rigged up a quick make shift tube centering jig for my drill press.  I had some extra angle laying around and just drilled it into a 2x4...  From the results it worked pretty good.

I also went to work on the long tube pushrods at least getting them started.  These guys don't use long rivets, but rather pop rivets and have six of them on each end.  I used the jig, drilled 3 holes all the way through the tube, creating the six holes necessary.  A little template on graph paper gave me the starting points.  Not perfect, but definitely good enough to fool most anyone.  ;-)  (just jokes..  It turned out really good..)  I haven't primed these inside or out so will focus on that tomorrow.

Ailerons

Ok, just like the wings, I got going a bit further on one aileron than the other and just kept going.  I will catch up quickly, but now I have one that is almost ready for final riveting.  I will get more pics of the interim steps on the next aileron, but the below pics show the jig I am using to rivet the top skin onto the spar.  On the ailerons, you are supposed to rivet the top skin in the best way possible, then turn it upside down on a flat table with weights on it so that when the bottom skin pop-rivets go in, the aileron is straight.

Check out the wing ribs reflecting in the skin on the second picture.   I need to figure out that flash a bit more on the camera.

Ailerons continued

Today I was able to start working on the Aileron Spar.  Fabricating the doubler plates and drilling them out.  In the pics, note the sun shining in the shop.  Living in Seattle is crazy, this is the first time in about 4 months that the sun has actually shown through the open garage door and into the shop.  Crazy place in the winter..

Back Riveting the Ailerons

Now I am really moving on the Ailerons.  Tonight I back riveted all the skin stiffeners in place on the primed skins.  You can see I used grey primer on the stiffeners and white primer on the skin.  Looks kind of cool.

Last night I got the right top wing skin all in place and ready to rivet with the post-its and clecos..  Just like the left one last week.  Hopefully this weekend I can get going on that one with Rebekah.

Priming Skins and attaching Aileron Attach brackets

I had a big day of priming yesterday.  I got both flap skins primed as well as both left wing top skins.  I also was able to prep and prime the flap braces.   No pics, but you will see them all soon enough.

I also started riveting on the Aileron Attach Brackets to the right wing and noticed something.   When fitting the flap brace after the top skin is on, you end up having to shoot the rivets when they could have easily been squeezed if the skins weren't on.  So on the left wing I:

Mounted the Flap Brace prior to riveting the top skin.

This allows for squeezing and doesn't interfere with anything since it is logically the next step after riveting the skin anyway.   Note that I am not going to mount the attach brackets or aileron gap faring until after the skin is riveted.

Aileron skin prep/ Attach Brackets

Today I made lots of progress but not much to show for it.  All 32 Aileron skin stiffeners are all drilled, deburred and dimpled for both ailerons.  Also the skins are drilled deburred and dimpled and prepped for priming. 

I also got the left wing top main skins ready for priming as well.  Next time the weather is nice I have tons of priming to do.  Hopefully this week things look good in seattle.

Since I was done with skins until priming, I figured I would start attaching the aileron brackets to the right wing.

Lots of things today, including Starting the Ailerons..

First off the right tank passed pressure testing with flying colors.  Here are some photos of the set up.  For those using the upgrade fuel caps, a balloon with the lip cut off over the cap is the only way to go.  Fully seals the cap for testing.

Here is my pressure testing set up..  I just tested this one on the wing, worked well.

Also, I was able to get a jump start on the Aileron Stiffeners tonight, all 32 of them..  wow, lots of deburring, but stuff I have seen before and in the scheme of things, really simple at this point.  I should be able to finish these by tomorrow or so.  All stiffeners cut, 5 deburred, only 27 to go. 

Last but not least, Bekah was able to donate about 1/2 hour to riveting the top skin on the right wing.  No pics yet as it is still a work in progress, but it is going well.  ;-)