Other upper wing covered, so tomorrow it's put final tension, rivets and tapes on her, then start painting Friday!
Other upper wing covered, so tomorrow it's put final tension, rivets and tapes on her, then start painting Friday!
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Work goes apace..
Momma Lizard is here to watch over my work:
She's raising a pretty big family - I spotted three other lizards in the course of the day, and a couple weeks ago my son caught one no bigger than a quarter.
So the upper part of the wing was painted yesterday, and it dawned on me that I need my wavy transition from color to ecru to match from wing to wing - it wouldn't do to have one start a half an inch off of the other.
The solution was to pull the other wing out and stick them together. Naturally I had to see what they'd look like from the top:
Before flipping it over and lining up the tape at the leading edge for the other:
She's all edged up and ready for the roundel tomorrow...
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Roundel is on the other wing, finished on Friday.
I had to lay the wings next to each other to figure out how to match them, as I didn't exactly make notes on where it was centered on the other one. Heck, I didn't measure it at all, but just put it where I thought it looked good!
That looks about right to me...
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Catching up a bit, last week I put on the leading edge to the fourth and last wing. She's taped and prepped for covering on Monday!
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
I'll spare y'all the pics of covering the other lower wing...it's just a repeat.
But...
Wings are done!
Top o' the wing...
That's the one just finished on the left, I pulled the other one out to ensure they were uniform with each other.
I still have to cut them for the landing wires, and on the upper wings do the same and make sure the interplane struts and forward cabanes fit the holes I cut in the leading edge for them, as well as make that center section.
But it sure feels like I've reached a milestone. On to the fuselage!
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Frank,
Those wings look absolutely great, you done a great job on this project and have stuck too it not too mention taking the time to post post all the pictures and share your work progress and methods.
Ken
Thanks for your kind words. There's fewer pictures on process because A) most of it is repetition, and B) I haven't screwed anything up (so far as I know). One of the most interesting and educational things about the build is figuring out how to do something and figuring out how to un-do something that went wrong.
That's really the purpose for this thread - to show common rookie mistakes* and how to avoid them or get out of them. Plus it'll make it very easy to produce a (better) builder's log. The one I have been scribbling in is toast, with water damage, dirt, grease, paint smears, and generally unuseable. So I'm just going to cut and paste from this.
* And I make a lot of them. If it wasn't for my EAA chapter friends and the web, I'd be wrecked. It is kind of neat to start out as the dummy in the room who doesn't know what a compression strut is (I called them spar pipes, which I still think is a good name for them) to someone who gives presentations on build techniques in our chapter.
Of course what I really learned is just how much I don't know, and what I really need to learn how to do.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
A little bump to show how I'm being educated as I recreationally experiment!
So here's some pictures!
First, wings got put up with a small frowny face, as I failed to put towels down on the sawhorses and will need to touch up the paint in a place or two on the wings.
But it's no longer a complete OSHA nightmare!
The turtle deck supports I had made out of scrap plywood did not fare well out in the weather, since I didn't varnish them. That's okay, they were made as test pieces to begin with!
What I really wanted was something light, robust, corrosion resistant, and thick enough for the tubing to have some purchase when resting on them.
Hmmmm, I thought as I looked at the aircraft supply section of Walmart, that fits the bill pretty good:
So the quarter inch thick nylon cutting board got measured using the crappy wooden ones as templates, drilled and cut.
They're held in place with rubber lined adel clips and standard (non aviation) bolts with locking nuts. They just have to keep the stringers from sagging when I cover, and are gooder enough for that (they ain't moving around), I reckon.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
So now for some lighthearted comedy.
There have been a lot of things that made me scratch my head in the build - the seat, hanging the gas tank, and those stupid aileron leading edges.
Then there are things that just weren't fun. Getting the rigging right was maddening, finishing tapes were a nightmare, and now....safety wire.
Turnbuckles on control wires should be made to where they can't undo themselves using a specific sort of wrap according to my friend The Internet called the double cross wrap zig-zag (or something like that).
The idea is to take two wires, put them through the hole in the center, bend them to where one tail of each goes to the other end where they loop over and wrap....stop me if you've heard this one before.
Okay, so things were looking up when I immediately stabbed myself with the wire out of the spool thingie and drew blood. Hurts like a paper cut, so I figure it's gonna be okay with the red stuff offered to the airplane gods right off the bat.
First try:
Put the wires through, cross them twice, up through the loop, one down the barrel, the other five wraps. Then take the one that was under that one and wrap five times the other way. Cut everything and tuck them down.
Sweet.
Pull tension on one of the wires for the other side to snug it down.
Come away with a full wire. Dang and other bad words...I have just used the same wire on one end. Pull it off and try again.
Second try:
More blood, and it just isn't snug no matter how much I pull on it. Worse, the turnbuckle can move quite a bit, defeating the whole purpose of the exercise.
Man, that's total crap. But what am I doing using the thickest safety wire in my collection?
Grab the thinner stuff. Oh, now I get it.
It's not really sexy, but the turnbuckle is secured. Do the same on the other side.
One more thing to cross off the list.
The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
Why aren't you using the turnbuckle clips instead of safety wire? Much less frustration.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
