Picked up some AeroLED's

Managed to pick up some AeroLED’s Navigation/Anti-collision Strobe/Position lights. Pulsar NS and the Suntail. I hooked them up to a 12V battery to test them out and they work perfect. Wow are they bright.
  

Installed wing inspection plates, wings finished - 3 hours

Last step was to complete the wing inspection plates. I had filed all the edges on the inspection plates down to clean the shear marks off, and then chamfered the edges to ensure a good fit with the radius corners of the skin. I ran each through the 3M wheel to finish the edges. I final drilled each screw hole on the drill press. Most important, I polished each hole with the dremel and fine grit sandpaper (lesson learned from the wing tank screw hole to ensure no cracks in the thick material when dimpling). The wings are now ready for storage.

Finished installing the flaps - 3 hours

I had trimmed the outboard wing hinge, and all that was left to do was to deal with the hinge pins.

There are two options to install the hinge pins; 1 - keep the hinge its entire length and place a hole in the aileron hinge bracket, or 2 - Cut the hinge in two and access from the middle. Knowing how difficult it can be to install hinge pins....and it's not always fun. I opted for option #2. However I decided to deviate slightly from the plans following a poplar method of installing a nutplate and small hing piece to hold the pins. I figured out where the best location for the hinge pin to be secured was, and I then removed the required hinge loops.

Bending the hinge pins is really about trial and error. Since I had lots of extra hinge pins from buying extra hinge...I just played with a few different test pieces till I got it right. Next I checked the clearances inside between the flap and brace with the hinge closed. I now have a good idea where to locate the hinge hold piece.


After drilling, countersinking and primer touchup I installed the nutplate. Next, I installed the hinge pin hold pieces with a #6 screw.

Beginning to install the flaps - 5 hours (Actually countless hours)

One of the steps that I did not do was to mark and pre-drill the flap hinge earlier in the build process. I reasoned that if I waited till I had the ailerons and flaps completed that it would make for a better alignment. (Keep in mind that in Canada, we have to leave every piece open for inspection prior to closing). In hindsight, this proved to make the process very much more difficult to get the hinge aligned.

Build Tip for Canadians -The best time to drill the hinge for the flap/wing is to mount the completed and closed aileron to the wing with just the underside of the wing skin clecoed on. Make sure that you haven't dimpled the holes yet on the wing skin that attach the skin to the flap brace. Mounting the flap hinge should be much more easy and precise.

Build Tip - When setting the hinge on the flap, I had placed it according to the 1/4" dimension as noted on the plans. When installing the flap to the wing, there was not much hinge left to mount to the wing. I was just slightly better than the minimum edge distance indicated on the plans, but it could have been better. In retrospect, this 1/4" dimension I used when installing the hing on the flap should be modified so it places the holes closer to the outside edge of the hinge. If I ever build another plane. The dimension I would use is 7/32.


I had temporarily set the flap in place and used a 1/4" thick wood shim and placed it between the flap and aileron. This allowed me to mark the location and ensure the left/right placement of the hinge was correct. After reading the different blogs, I made certain that the flap and hinge was all the way outboard so it didn't interfere at the fuselage (the hinge has some left to right play in it, I made sure the maximum gap was 1/4"..and it's minimum gap was less.).

Once I established the first hole, clecoed it and checked alignment, I began to work my way inboard. Checking, re-clamping, drilling a hole, re-check. repeat process down the line.


I found that using the fan spacer helped immensely.



Admittedly this process actually took me a couple of weeks and I went through a number of hinges. I was not happy with some of my alignments and choose to try again, and again. I wanted it perfect, and frankly hinges were cheap to order from Aircraft Spruce... So why not get it perfect. And in the end I did.

Installing the ailerons - 9 hours

I purposely left the aileron bushing mounts long. The idea is that I want to “machine” them to the proper size and if you cut too much....you have to start over. So, I began to install the ailerons and then I measured the actual required length and compared that with the plans. The plans vs the actual were nearly bang on, slight adjustment were needed and only by a few thousandths.  
So I went to work with the drill press and fine sandpaper (400 grit, 600 grit and then 800 grit). 


Once I was happy with the fit. I started to install the ailerons. It's not the easiest process to get them installed as the small washers have to be installed in fairly tight locations. I found an easy way to install multiple washers was to wrap them in electrical tape and then using a popsicle stick to slip them into position, allowing the bolt to be slid in. 




I had given some though how to position and secure the aileron for alignment and storage. I decided to use aluminum flatbar as I felt this the best and most secure (as well as precise) method. I marked all the necessary holes to align as per the plans and drilled the holes on the press.
 
I installed them on the wing to check fit and to confirm the location of the ailerons. This would allow me to place the holding "pin" in the exact proper location.



I made holding "pins" using really long, small diameter bolts. These will sit inside the aileron on the trailing edge and help secure the aileron.


Once installed, it help the ailerons in perfect alignment and also allowed for me to install and adjust the aileron control rods. 
 
 
 

Cutting Aileron mount bushings - 1.5 hours

I need to cut the bushings for the Aileron mounts. I cut the pieces needed to a rough size on the bandsaw. Now to start the long tedious process of getting the tubing down to the correct size. The best way I know to do this is take the bushing down to size by chucking the bushing in the drill press and use rough grit sandpaper under the drill press. As I get closer to size, I use finer grade sandpaper. 
 

Installed the wing fuel tanks - 2 hours

Finally the day has come. I've waited a long time to finally get these tanks installed. I kept the wings in the wing stand for installation and it proved to work very well. Installation of the tanks is not exactly that easy. I slipped the tanks up onto the wings and once I was satisfied with the fit and everything was clear, I then used the jacks to help support tanks. I then began to install all of the bolts on the z-brackets. I installed all bolts initially and then began to tighten everything up little by little to ensure straightness. Once I had the bolts installed, I then installed the screws. and more screws and more screws. After that I torqued the z-brackets. Overall I am extremely happy with the fit...Very nice!

Priming the fuel tank back baffle - 1 hour

One of the last items on my to-do list before I install the wing tanks is to give the back baffle area some primer. My thinking is that this is an area where water, etc can ingress between the skin and spar so any primer will help mitigate corrosion.

Started wiring the fuel tanks - 2.5 hours

Well Great news! The leak test for the tanks held for 2-days. I'm declaring them leak free!!! What a frustrating process. Such little things make for a huge problem if not checked.

Now all I needed to do was to finish and secure the wiring on the tanks before I installed them on the wings. A couple of weeks ago I had my buddy Mike who is an AME stop by and show me how to crimp terminals for when I installed the ground wire. He was able to show me how I should install the lock washer/ring terminal on the fuel sender.

Now that I was ready to complete the wiring for the positive terminal, I was able to confirm that I have the assembly/installation correct. Once I had the positive wire installed. I then taped the wiring to the back baffle in intervals. I had discussed how to secure the wiring with Mike so that it doesn't rub/chafe once installed on the wing. He had suggested using a small dab of proseal. Taping the wiring down keeps it exactly where I wanted it to be. I used a service loop on the wiring around the sender to help ensure that wiring is not pulled off the terminals in the event the wiring is pulled too much in the future.

I mixed up some proseal and dabbed some on the wiring.

More leak testing the tanks - 4 hours

Well I came home from work to a bit of a surprise, the tanks had lost air, but not equal for both....So it’s not the barometric pressure that has fallen. I have a leak in the tank(s). After a small bit of swearing and the five stages of grief - I then put soapy water into a spray bottle and sprayed the entire tanks down top to bottom to see where the leaks may be. I couldn’t find any spot that was leaking. I was absolutely baffled. Maybe my solution is wrong? I sprayed and sprayed again, nothing. So I went upstairs and read more blogs after blogs. I had read in other blogs some folks experience leaks through the fuel caps. So I gave the tanks a good cleaning and used duct tape over the fuel caps to eliminate them from the equation. 
 
I pumped up the tanks and left them sit....About 2 hour later, I checked them....I still have a leak. Small but it’s there. Oh dear lord. The duct tape is slightly bubbled up around the fuel cap....yup those were a leak on the last round. But it doesn’t explain why the tanks are leaking now. I used the soapy water solution everywhere again. I stopped for supper and when I came back, I noticed bubbles around the fuel supply plug! They didn’t show up right away but it took time for the bubbles to build!
 
This must be it. I was so relieved as I thought for sure I had a leak in the tank. This makes sense for a potential leak point as I was so careful not to install the blank AN fitting too tight. I didn’t want to risk breaking the seal around the fitting for that AN fitting that I torque’d it to minimum spec. Also considering that there is no soft copper tubing between the mating surfaces of the fittings the risk of leak is increased. I took the plugs off and applied a small amount of tite seal on the threads and torqued the fittings on to mid level spec range. I double checked all fittings and re-pressurized the tanks. Fingers Crossed. Its 1:30am...way past time for bed!! Grrrr, I'm not going to sleep at all!