Re-drilled new flap ribs - 5 hours

I had rush shipped new flap ribs so that I could carry on with a big build this long weekend.So one of the big jobs was to re-assemble the flaps and begin the process of match drilling the parts. Learning from past experience. It takes a lot of care not to enlarge a hole that has already been match drilled. So it was a lengthy process, but in the end it worked out well.

I also deburred and dimpled all of the new rib holes (with the proper dies this time) and it turned out perfect.

Even more fitting and match drilling aileron brackets - 4 hours

One of the last items that I need to do is complete the rivets in the far outboard end of the wing (top skin). My compact wing stand did not allow me to reach these rivets in the stand, so I need to do them off the stand but before I begin to attach the aileron hinge bracket. So I made short work of the right wing.

 

Now that the right wing was ready, I started to match drill the aileron brackets to the wing. I really wanted to avoid getting aluminum shavings into the wings, so I used some scrap cardboard to direct shavings away.


 
 I also fitted the aileron stiffener S.B.
 

Another item on the to-do list was to address a bucking bar mark on the wing spar. A small mark was made accidentally when the bucking bar slipped while riveting, the mark was small and did not have an  edge, but the anodizing was scratched. So in the interests of maintaining corrosion protection, I removed the rivet, buffed the spot out with scotchbrite and primed it. Was it necessary....no, but I feel good that I did something with it.

More fitting the aileron brackets - 2 hours

So one of the things I noticed straight away when fitting the brackets to the wing is that the pieces actually made contact with the top skin rivets at the rear spar. It just didn't sit right with me that they made contact. I felt that there should be just a little bit of clearance between them. Also I noticed that the angle supports need to be slightly rounded to follow the inside radius of the rear spar so that they sit flush.

First step I rounded the support angle top edge to the inside radius of the rear spar. Then I refit the assembly. The clearance from the skin rivet is still there. So I very carefully used the scotchbrite wheel and removed about 1/32" of material where contact was being made. I did not want to remove too much and compromise strength or introduce stress points.
 

 
In the end the fit was perfect

Fitting the aileron brackets - 2 hours

Not a huge day, but I managed to fit up the aileron hinge brackets. It was fairly easy to figure out the correct parts, but it took a bit of head scratching to figure out where exactly the flush rivet heads go. Of course I was warned out some confusion when reading some of the gotchas on the forums. I think I psych'd myself out a bit with the forums. But in the end, if you read the plans and CAREFULLY read the small plans addendum that van's gives you on the hinge, then it all falls into place.



Once I had everything marked out, I cleaned off all the shear marks. I also cut up the aileron hinge stiffener and cleaned up the edges. Since I had the bandsaw out, I cut up the aileron stiffeners and cut up the rough shape.

Began assembly of flaps - 2 hours

 Since the most inboard flap ribs where all primed, it was time to start riveting the assembly together.I started with setting the nutplate onto the rib. Then, came setting the doubler on the rib. All in all it went pretty smoothly and I was pleased with the results.



So I wanted to get going on the flap assembly and prime the rest of the parts. One item that needs to be done is to prep and dimple the parts before priming. (With the self-etching primer, dimpling after priming has a tenancy to flake the primer off). I dove in and started dimpling, but I noticed after I was done that I had the male tank dimple die in the squeezer with the regular female die. So i changed out the male die and re-dimpled thinking it was no big deal.

Well low and behold.... I have cracks in my dimples for flap ribs #2 thru #6 both sides. Crappy! Time to order new parts.

Finished work on the wing cart - 10 hours

Big long day on the wing cart. Now I will admit that i am way overboard on the cart. It is overbuilt. but considering that I have to move the wings out of the garage and put them on transport to storage. A strong solid wing cart is WAY better than a flimsy wing cart.

I began the day by dissembling the wing stand.


I then started to cut down the various pieces to the suggested dimensions on the VAN's drawings. Next I started to assemble the leading edge support structure and installed the castors.

Took me some head scratching to figure out how high to mount the inboard spar holder to get a nice level wing. But after some thought and measuring I figured it out and cut the plywood. I then fit it to the cart frame.

I test fitted the wings at this point to ensure that all was correct and I then removed the outboard support brackets that were installed to fit the wing stand.

Next I wanted to stiffen the support structure, so I fastened gussets to the frame.

Now...To fill in the leading edge support. I had bought some 1/4" plywood and scored the backside to allow me to curve the wood.



The depth of the cuts where quite deep.

But this allowed me to follow the leading edge curve quite nicely. I used lots of glue and brad nailed the skin to the contour.

Next. I wanted to secure the inboard spar to prevent the wing from sliding off the support. Now some build logs use bolts wrapped in duct tape and just stick in the spar holes as a method of securing the wing. This is just fine, however I wanted to do a little better, so I bought some 3/8" dowels and after using a cardboard template, I transferred the holes into the wing stand and installed the dowels.

Now....Mental note here. 3/8" dowels leaves no room for error as it is a tight fit for the wing spar. So after a test fit...I decided to lose 1 of the 2 dowels.... much more forgiving fit. I then painted the structure....of course no NEED to do this, but for it's clean and nice, so why not. I then used contact cement (3M #77 adhesive spray) and installed the foam padding.


 
And presto chango....I am done. Wow this cart is nice to move around.  Lots of work put in today....but worth it.

Starting work on building the wing cart - 1.5 hours

Now that the wing skins are nearly riveted and complete. (I just have the most outboard rib to complete). Its time to start getting them off the stand and into the cart. One of the things that I planned on doing with my wing stand is that it would easily convert into my cart by just cutting a few things off and moving them.

I took a piece of cardboard to take a template for the leading edge shape.



I then used that template (plus 1/2" positive offset) to layout the pattern on the end support structure. The outline is easily cut out using a jig saw.

Of course...I had to pick up these nice big locking castors when I saw them at home depot.