A few months back, I accidentally punched a hole in the aileron nose skin. I had glued a patch over the hole, but it needed a skim coat of epoxy and micro filler to smooth it out. I did that, and used the left over mix to fill in the gaps between the two plywood wing walk skins, and a little gap along the edge where the wing walk skin meets the root rib. Next step is to make the final torque tube bearings, I think, and wait for a hardware order from Aircraft Spruce to finish attaching the last of the brackets – then this wing is ready for storage and eventual covering.
Fixing transit damage
As we were moving the wing, I managed to snag the root rib on the corner of the workbench at Stu’s shop while we were getting it positioned to load into my pickup. This popped a couple of glue joints loose, both of which pulled the wood apart rather than just the epoxy breaking, so that’s as it should be.
I also found an inch long crack in the leading edge plywood in the second rib bay, forward of the wing walk. I don’t know for certain if that happened during the move or at some time prior, when we were moving it off the bench. Doesn’t matter. Unfortunately it’s right on a curved part, and I was afraid I’d do more damage if I got too aggressive trying to pop the edges back together. I laid a layer of heavy fiberglass cloth on the inside of the leading edge. Once that was in place I buttered the outside with epoxy and micro balloons to make a filler, and taped plastic over it to keep it from sagging or dripping. I can sand it to the correct contour. I may add a second layer of glass underneath, I haven’t decided yet. What I did NOT do was remember that I had another place that needed a layer of micro (doh!) where I could have used the left-over I had. I didn’t realize this until the epoxy was well past the workable stage. Geez, I probably wasted two cents’ worth of material because of that!
It’s good to have the wing here; this all took less than half an hour but will take at least 8-12 hours to mostly cure. I can go back out this afternoon or evening and get more done.
Also, yesterday I picked up a Dust Deputy cyclonic dust separator for the shop. It was brand new in the box, and I got it for about 1/3 price. A welcome addition to the workshop for sure.
A wing comes home!
Picked up the lower right wing from Stu’s place today and got it on the bench. Finally!
Minor epiphany
For a while I’ve been pondering how to set up the new wings on my bench. He’s got a pair of 10′ long steel rails, made from square tubing with slotted brackets to bolt them to his bench. He had put those together to support a router sled for flattening slabs of wood. Early on I figured out that we could attach them to the bench to properly orient the wing ribs for attaching the trailing edge and spars. The trailing edge stock needs to be glued on so that the taper exactly matches the angle of the aft end of the wing ribs, and the easiest way to do that is to have a flat surface that aligns the bottom of the TE stock witht he bottom cap of the ribs.
The plans call for attaching a 2×4 on edge to the edge of the work table with a shim under one side. This tilts the top edge of the 2×4 to the correct angle, which I measured at bout 14 degrees, to establish the right pitch to align the trailing edge and ribs. I was concerned about finding a perfectly straight, flat 10′ long 2×4, as well as shimming it consistently. All in all, I was nervous about how to set up the new wings on this bench.
A few days ago, I grabbed one of the ribs I have here along with a short cut-off piece of trailing edge stock. I started exploring different ways I could jig up a wing on the bench, and came to a surprising (and happy) discovery. With the TE stock flat on the front edge of the bench and the rib inserted into the notch, a standard 2×4 on the opposite side of the bench will perfectly support the rib right under the main spar location. So, I could clamp the trailing edge down on some release tape or waxed paper (to keep the epoxy from sticking to the bench), support the other end with a 2×4 – or multiple shorter pieces of 2×4 – and assemble the wing that way. Sweet! I’ll test that configuration when I bring the lower left wing home, which is built but not varnished yet. I’ll need to apply the varnish before taking it to the hangar for storage, and I can check to make sure my jigging idea will work as well as I think it will.
Getting closer to resuming work
Between other projects and bitter cold weather, I haven’t gotten anything done on the plane for a while. With one project essentially finished and the workbench finally cleared of it, I took the opportunity to fit the entire bench top. It looks like I’ll need to shorten the supports on the left end to get the left side extension level… I’ll need the chop saw for that.
