Monday, November 13, 2017

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.