Started wing skin riveting on right wing - 5 hours

Before I can start wing riveting, I needed to get that missed countersink taken care of. After the advice I had received this is what I came up with. Fortunately my right angle drill kit comes with a super compact countersink bit.

So with my daughters help, I turned the tank pressure down on the drill and carefully countersunk the hole. Excellent! it worked.



By the time I was done Eugene had come over to help me with the wings skins. So now it was down to business. We mixed up and applied about 30 grams of proseal to the wing walk doubler. He used popsicle sticks to spread it on quite thin. This is done to help improve strength and to prevent corrosion in that area. 


Next we cleco'd the skin/doubler to the wing and got ready to rivet. Eugene had brought a good selection of his trusty bucking bars which made short work of the skins. I worked the gun, while Eugene was on the bucking bar. After about 4 hours of work we had one entire wing skin done and riveted. We made excellent progress today!!!!

Finishing the Leading edge attachment - 5 hours

Now for the dreaded part, installing the cherry rivets deeper into the leading edge. I had it in my mind that I was to install them from the leading edge side to the spar side, which requires you to get your hands through the leading edge rib holes.


 Its obvious that some rivets can be pulled much easier from the other direction, so that is what I did. Of course I also confirmed that I am not the only other person doing this by checking other builders websites.

But of course, some of these locations are extremely tight to the wing rib. Well a sacrificial hand riveter to the sanding station will solve this issue.





After using some gorilla tape on the makeshift riveter (so I won't scratch the primer) I then completed all of the cherry rivet installation. Worked like a charm. Next step was to use the pneumatic squeezer on the leading edge skin/spar rivets. This went extremely well and I was quite pleased when I hit quite a road block. Seems I missed a countersink on the spar for a leading edge skin dimple. Its the last hole in the line.
 


I was taken back a bit...How did I miss this. I thought I checked them all. I wasn't sure what I was going to do as everything was nearly riveted up. I thought that I was going to have to squeeze the dimple flat and countersink the skin, but this didn't sit right with me. So I posted the options on the Van's Airforce forums to see if anyone else had advice. Sure enough....it was as clear as day, just put the countersink bit on the tight space right angle drill. All I needed to do was drill out a few rivets, enough to get the drill in there.


That's enough for one day.

Installing the right leading edge - 2.5 hours

I began to prepare the right wing for the attachment of the leading edge. I need to make sure that the wing is level, no twist before I make anything permanent. My first step was to place the jacks under the assembly and eyeball level/sag as best I could. Then I installed the plumb bobs on each end of the wing. Next I pulled out my bubble level and placed it on the spar. I then made the adjustments with the threaded rod on the wing stand till the wing was where I wanted to be. Measurement of the plumb-bobs confirmed there was virtually no twist (I was about 1/64" out, but that is darn close to perfect). Next I cleco'd the wing skins on the assembly. This takes out any sag in the spar, and ensures the wing is square side-to-side. I then re-checked all measurements and confirmed all was good. I then clamped the rear spar to the stand and removed the 1/64" twist and rechecked measurements.

Perfect!

I then clecoed on the leading edge assembly.

I then used MSP 42/43/44 cherry rivets to attach the leading edge ribs to the spar. Van's has indicated to me via email that LP4 rivets are acceptable too when the correct grip length is accounted for, but I choose to go with the more structural cherry rivets. I managed to get the first 10 rivets installed.

Completed preperation of the flap assembly - 3.5 hours

My shipment from Vans had arrived with a replacement flap spar, and replacement angle. I wasn't sure which piece I was going to remake/replace as I could do either, so I ordered both. Once I started down to business, I decided to give redoing the rear spar a try rather than cut a new angle bracket....again. First I removed the old spar and cleco'd in the new spar and match drilled the skins..again.

Everything looked good, so I fit up the attach brackets I had and match drilled the holes to the new rear spar. This time, it was perfect.  

Now, the next tricky operation is to back drill into the angle bracket using the holes in the spar/rib as a guide. Carefully I started a pilot hole by hand, and then completed the holes using a drill press to ensure a straight hole. 

 Next was a part that I was unsure about. I had to match drill the ribs that have already been match drilled to #30. I was really careful not to make an oblong hole as this scenario makes it possible.

Next I had countersunk the rear spar where the hinge was to be riveted eventually.

 All that was left to complete the preparation for assembly was to drill the nutplate assembly. I used a 1/4" drill bit to allow for the future bolt.

 I sacrificed a K1000-4 nutplate and ran a tap through it. Using an AN4 bolt and washers, I installed a nut plate onto the rib. I aligned it and drilled the first #40 hole in the drill press and installed a cleco. Then I drilled the other hole.



 All finished...well sort of.

I still need to counterskink for the rivets, of course the rib is too thin for a standard rivet so I will use an opps river there, however the thicker material on the other side of the hole will allow a standard flush rivet.

Installing flush rivets on the wing spar - 1.5 hours

One of the items that is not outlined on the plans or manual is the need to install flush rivets in the wing spar that attaches the rib right where the tank skin is installed. it's fairly obvious when looking at it that a AN470 rivet will not work, and when looking at other builder's sites it becomes very clear what needs to be done to prevent interference with the tank skin.

I took the wing off the stand, placed it on my table and went to work with AN426 rivets.

Priming the wing skins - 2 hours

Now that I've done all I can do with the flaps for now, I felt motivated to move back onto the wing structure. I needed to prime the wing skins. I gave the skins a quick wipe with MEK and began to scuff the surfaces with maroon scotch brite. Then I sprayed Alumabrite 215 acid etch on the surfaces needing priming.  I wiped the surfaces clean, and rescuffed with a clean scotch brite pad, and re wiped with MEK. Fortunately it was a really nice day so I could prime outside.

Most important is that I didn't want to prime the mating surface between the wing walk doubler and the wing skin as I intend to apply a thin layer of proseal to the surface. So I cleco'd those to pieces together before I primed to ensure that those surfaces did not get primed.

Building the Flap Cradle - 2 hours

Still wanting to further the flaps, but stalled in progress do to the miss drilled hole in the spar. I jumped on building the cradle for the flaps. I drove over to home depot and picked up some 3/4" plywood. I used the aileron rib to scribe the required angle on the wood, then I clamped two pieces together aligning the edges. 

I made the first initial cuts with a circular saw, and completed the cut in the "V" with a jigsaw.

I then used a couple of 2x3's to form the structure. I decided that the "V" was a little deep so I cut the top of the holder down.



All done. I just need to install some padding on the mating surfaces.