I finished riveting the bottom skins on the left wing.

I pulled off the tank off the right wing, rolled the edges, put it back on, bolted the z-brackets and torqued, cleco'd the skins on and managed to rivet the inboard skin on. Will finish the outboard skin tomorrow.

(Time: 7 hours)

I emailed Trio Avionics for some pictures on the servo installation in the wing. Here they are.

Trio RV-7 Servo.jpg
Trio RV-7 Servo 2.jpg
Trio RV-7 Servo 3.jpg

I finished riveting on the flap and aileron gap fairings this evening.

I cleco'd the bottom skins on both wings and they are ready to stow away for the time being. I've decided to leave the bottom skins off for now until I have the auto-pilot servo and the pitot to mount.

Things left to do on wings:

-- Replace tank attach bolts with new ones.
-- Install pitot
-- Install autopilot servo
-- Rivet on bottom skins
-- Attach/rig ailerons and flaps
-- Install wing tips
-- Install lights/wires



Picture of bellcrank - Notice how the head of the bolt is on the top skin side (bottom in picture) and the nut is visible. This allows you to check the nut easily from the inspection panel without using a mirror. The other way is probably just fine but would require a mirror to inspect.

(Time: 2 hours)

Ok.. yes.. I'm concerned about my broken bolt. My plan is to go back and replace all the bolts that I have torqued with new ones.. this is the best course of action.. and bolts are cheap.

Why did it break? I over-torqued it. I admit it. I do have a torque wrench but I didn't believe it. 20-25 inch lbs of torque IS NOT A LOT! I thought my torque wrench was a bit out, so I gave it a little extra turn. I've learned my lesson.

BUILDERS: Don't take torquing your bolts lightly! My research indicates that builders really need two torque wrenches. A small one and a larger one. Make sure you also know how to use it.

So.. on to the bolt removal. I stopped by a tool store and picked up an ez-out. I took the head of the bolt that had a little bit of the shaft left. I flattened the end of the shaft and put it in the drill press and drilled a hole down the center. I put that back in the hole and used it as a guide to pilot drill the hole in the broken off part. Then I threaded in the ez-out and the bolt came right out!! Whew!

With fresh bolts and a new torque wrench, I installed the brackets and bellcrank. I also spent some time riveting the flap gap fairing on the right wing. I think I can finish up the fairings on both wings this week.

Bolt head drilled to use as guide.
Picture of hole in bolt shaft after drilling.
Backing out the bolt
Sucess!!

(Time: 2 hours)

I had a bad night in the shop. I was having trouble with my right wing bellcrank, the brass bushing wouldn't fit. At first I thought it was the bellcrank itself but figured out that it wasn't, so I had to turn down the bushing until it fit nicely. With that done, I started mounting the brackets/bellcrank. I had it all mounted and then I realized why the plans have the bolt holding it a certain way. I had the bracket that was closer to the top skin already on, and I just slide the rest of the assembly in place. I put the washer/nut on the bolt.. but that puts the nut on the side you can't see through the access cover. The plans show it the other way.. I figured they wanted it this way so you could easily inspect it to make sure the nut was still on. So I pulled it all apart and reversed it. I was torqueing the last bolt when it snapped off! I cussed for 10 mins. and worked on the other wing bellcrank, switching the bolt orientation. The only thing I can think of is that the bolt had been previously torqued and it stressed it or I had a weak bolt.

So I either have to pull the tank all the way off again to remove the tie-down bracket so I can replace the nutplate, or I need to figure out a way to remove the bolt.

I did continue to work on the left wing and completed one side of the rivets for the aileron/gap fairings. I sure miss the pneumatic squeezer and longeron yoke! I'll be bucking the rest that attach to the rear spar.

(Time: 2 hours)

Earlier in the week I received an email from Scott who lives up north of KC. He just ordered his RV-9 preview plans and wanted to see a project in progress. He came down around noon. Shortly after he arrived, Ray called and came on down as well. We yacked for an hour and then Scott and I riveted the j-stringer on the right wing. He drove a dozen or so rivets and then we switched so he could buck. (Although back-riveting isn't really bucking is it?) Ray followed along behind us and put in rivets where cleco's were. We couldn't have spent more than 15 min doing it. You could get a lot down with 3 guys in the shop!!

Since Scott was coming down, earlier in the morning I bought a couple of organizers to get all the fuselage parts organized and out of the bags. To date, I've only put rivets in trays and worked out of the bags for the rest. The fuse kit has so many more bags of parts, it was time to get serious. Took a good 3 hours or so to get everything out of the bag and into trays. Had to make another trip to get another organizer, I ran out of room in the first. My mom and her husband came to help do yardwork, so after the guys left, I helped them.

(Time: 15 min.)

Had our first home owners meeting, so I spent about 30 min running the conduit in the right wing before we had to leave for the meeting.

(Time: 30 min)

I drilled out some skin rivets that needed replaced and a row of rivets on the rear spar that were severely over-set. I put the j-stringers in place and have rivets in, taped and ready to go.

I fussed with the fit of the fuel tank on the spar a bit. Also put in some rivets on the main spar where the leading edge ribs would normally go but only where there was a spar doubler. I drilled the tie-down hole as well.

I'll get Sandi out to help me set the remaining rivets and then it's on to the bellcrank and gap fairings.


I haven't had a photo in awhile.. so here's a shot of the right wing. Shop is a mess.



(Time: 1.5 hours)

Sandi helped me finish off the rest of the top skin rivets this morning. There are several that need to be drilled out and reset but for the most part the top skin is on!

(Time: 2 hours)

I inserted and taped all the holes in the top skin that didn't have cleco's in them. I recruited Jenny to come out and help me set them all. I used the new Avery back rivet set and Jenny held the bucking bar. The new Avery set is very nice.. and much better than that old thing they had. It takes a bit of practice to get it positioned right to drive a good rivet.

Make sure your clamps are good and tight before you start riveting. I noticed after we were done that nearly all the clamps had come loose from riveting. Oh well.. can't do anything about it now.

Pulled all the cleco's out, peeled of the rivet tape and put in the rest of the rivets, then called it a night.

(Time: 4.5 hours)

I cleco'd the top skins on the right wing and hung it back in the stand. I deburred the tank screw holes.. I need to dimple them and then I'll mount the tank on the wing.

I plan to rivet the skins on this weekend.

FYI, as I previously mentioned, I cleco'd the skins on while the wing skeleton as laying on the table. I ran fishing line down the holes to make sure the spar was straight, cleco'd along the main and rear spars for both skins, then went back and cleco'd the ribs. After hanging it back in the wing stand and leveling it on each end, there was no twist and no sag. I think this is a good way to go. Using the jack in the middle to make the spar level didn't work to well for me. Or maybe I'm just to picky. The jack seemed to raise the middle of the spar but the places between the jack and the wing stand seemed to sag a bit. Just my thoughts...

(Time: 1 hour)

I bucked the last few rivets for the tank nutplates on the spar that I couldn't squeeze. Then I started to put the top skins on for the final time.

So I'm cleco'ng the inboard top skin on the wing... damn.. what's that... I forgot to dimple a short row of holes. How in the hec did I miss doing those! Off the skin came to dimple those holes. I cleco'd it back on and called it a night. I need to do something with the scarf joint where the inboard/outboard skins overlap.

(Time: 1 hour)

I finished countersinking the main spar for the tank dimples. I pulled the wing skeleton off the stand and have it on the table so I can buck a few of the nut plate rivets I couldn't squeeze. Then I can get the skin on and back in the stand.

FWIW, prior to moving, I cleco'd the top skin on while the wing was on a table and then put it in the stand. I think this is a good way of doing it, as you can get the spar straight while on the table, cleco the skin on, which then holds it straight when you put it back on the stand.

(Time: 1 hour)

With the impending move, I haven't had time to work on the plane. I spent a little time tonight countersinking the tank attach holes.

Some thoughts on this. On the left wing, I countersunk before attaching the nutplates and just used a block of aluminum on the back side to keep the CS from chattering. It was some work having to reposition the block for every hole.

This time I put the nutplates on first (as the plans suggest) and countersinking, the theory being the nutplate will act as a guide for the pilot on the CS. I'm not sure I like this method. The CS chatters like there is not tomorrow until just the very end. It doesn't leave a very nice hole when it's done. It is quite a bit faster than the other method.

TIP: Haven't had one in awhile.. but if you choose to rivet the nutplates on first here's what you should do. Set the CS to about 3/4 of a turn too turn shallow. Run the CS. Do this for a batch of holes. Then set the CS to the proper depth and go back and countersink the holes again. This method leaves a nicer hole.. smoother.

(Time: 1 hour)

I pulled the tank off the spar and riveted on the tank attach nutplates. A few of the rivets I can't reach with the squeezer, so I'll have to buck those.

(Time: 2 hours)

I primed the j-stringers. (This is really a test for a website monitor tool)

(Time: 10 min)

Tonight I primed the rivet lines on the right wing skins.

I also riveted the 6 pieces of angle the ribs where the flap brackets attach. Pretty easy to do. Then I cleco'd the bottom skins on and put the wing in the stand.

I need to finish the tank baffle next.

(Time: 2 hours)

To use the term coined by Gary Newsted I believe, tonight was nothing but brackets to reinforce the flap attach brackets. There are 6 angles that need aligned and holes drilled in both flanges.

Outside bracket
Inside bracket

(Time: 2 hours)

I pulled the skins off the wing skeleton and pulled the skeleton off the stand and put the skeleton on the table. I need to put rivets in a few ribs I didn't do earlier and work on the brackets.

(Time: 30 min)

I finished making the 3 extra z-brackets tonight. I rearranged the shop a little so I could get the wing stand out and put the right wing in the stand. I also fluted a couple of tank ribs and cleco'd the stock baffles onto the ribs to check for any gross misalignment.

I also made up the aileron alignment tool. I hadn't done this yet and it needs to be done before you rivet the skins on.

(Time: 3 hours)

I riveted the flap attach brackets to the ribs and riveted the ribs to the spar. I primed the rear spar and finished riveting most of it to the ribs. I ran over to Bill's in the evening to get his longeron yoke so I could squeeze some of the rear spar rivets. I riveted the inboard aileron attach unit.

(Time: 2 hours)

I put some rivets in the rib tabs to spar, riveted on the two 1000-8 rivets on the inboard end. Sandi help me buck a couple of more ribs. I drilled the middle flap bracket to the rib and started priming them.

(Time: 1 hours)

I pulled out the right wing spars and ribs, dusted them off and cleaned them up. I noticed all the ribs weren't fluted straight, so I checked/corrected them as I cleco'd them to the spar. I'm not sure if I just did a poor job the first time around or if they lost some shape.

Sandi helped me rivet most of the ribs to the spar. I want to rivet on the flap brackets before riveting the ribs to the spar for easier access. I don't see a reason to wait until later to rivet them on.

(Time: 2 hours)

I finished the pitot tube mount prep. It's ready to rivet when the bottom skins go on.

The instructions Warren provides you assume that you haven't put the top skin on. With the top skin on, it's hard to drill the mounting plate to the wing skin. I supposed you could use a right angle drill and do it blind but here is how I did it with great results.

Instructions for installing Gretz Aero pitot mount when top skin is already riveted on.

1) First create the angle that attaches to the rib. Warren says to use a piece of .032. I used a sturdier piece of .065 angle. Drill and cleco it to the rib. Make sure you use the backing plate as a spacer so it sits flush with the rib flange.

Angle cleco'd to skin. (I took this picture later on in the process. The 4 holes in the angle you see won't get drilled until step 5.)

2) Next set the backing plate in place under the spar flange and on top of the angle. If you use a piece of AA like I did, make sure you offset it enough so that the washer plate won't sit on the angle. Match drill the holes through the spar flange into the backing plate.

Backing plate positioned. (Again, I took this picture later on in the process.)

3) Take the plate off, mark the locations of the holes to drill around the perimeter and cleco/clamp it to the bottom of the wing skin using the 3 spar flange holes. Make sure the holes are lined up perfect.

Plate cleco'd/clamped to skin.

4) Drill the holes around the perimeter, cleco'ng a few as you go. Then drill the four screw holes with #19 bit. Remove and deburr.

5) Cleco the wings skin onto the wing skeleton. Now you can match drill the four holes that go into the support angle. Also, use a marker to mark the hole that needs to be cut out for the mount to poke through the skin.

Skin in place for drilling holes into angle.

6) Remove skin. Deburr, dimple/countersink as necessary. Cut out the hole for the mount to fit through.

Starting to cut hole for mount.

I used the unibit for the first two holes, then used my router to rough cut the general shape, file to get the hole the right size and then sanded the edges smooth.

7) Rivet the nutplates to the backing plate and test fit the install.

Mounted view from inside.
Close up from outside.

(Starting on the fuel tank.)

(Time: 1.5 hours)

I'm back to working on the wings. Want to get them finished before we move in May.

I finished drilling the middle flap bracket and associated components. Cleaned, primed and riveted them on with Sandi's help.

I cleco'd on the aileron and flap gap fairings, drilled, deburred and dimpled them. Need to get them primed.

I started working on mounting the Gretz Aero pitot mount. I'm going to document it in detail as I'm deviating from the installation instructions Warren provides. I'm also not sure if I can rivet it on yet or if I need to wait until I rivet the bottom skins on. (I'm pretty sure I need to wait.)

(Time: 2 hours)

I pulled the left flap off the table tonight and riveted the trailing edge. I'm very happy with the way it came out... very straight. I sure wish I had done my rudder this way.

I spent some time rearranging the shop and cleaning up a little.

I finished the evening by riveting the ends on the aileron push tubes.

Ends of aileron push tubes

TIP: I saw this somewhere online.. to get the spacing correct for the 6 rivets on the tube, wrap a piece of tape around the end and trim it so it is just long enough for the ends to touch. Peel it off, lay it on the table, measure the length and divide by 6. That is your rivet spacing. (Mine was 21/32") Put the tape back on the tube and drill. I drilled my holes 5/16" in from the end of the tube.

(Time: 2.5 hours)

I pulled the left aileron off the table and riveted the trailing edge and a few skin rivets that needed it. I also mounted the brackets on to both ailerons.

I prosealed the left flap wedge and cleco'd it to the table. I'll pull it off next weekend and rivet it and then the flaps/ailerons will be DONE.

I need to get back to working on the wings... next step will be the install the Gretz Aero pitot mount in the left wing. Then I need to start on the right fuel tank.

(Time: 3 hours)

Warmed up enough that I got the whole garage to work in again... so I rearranged things to give myself room.

I prosealed the left aileron trailing edge to the table. I'll pull it off later this week and finish it up.... then the left flap is next.

(Time: 1 hours)

I pulled the right flap off the table tonight.. thought that 2 weeks should be enough for the proseal to setup, even if the garage is only 40 degrees. (Was actually relieved that I was able to get the cleco's out and it wasn't permantly attached to the table!)

I cleaned up the holes and riveted the trailing edge and put in the last few rivets.

(Time: 1.5 hours)

The midwest got hit with a layer of ice this past weekend and the temperature is in the single digits, so I moved everything over to one side of the garage so we could get the car in. The garage is too cold to work in anyway... so it may be a couple of days before I can get back to working.

Started by finishing up the right aileron. Put in a few rivets that I hadn't set yet. Drilled some 3/16" holes for the brackets. I need a longer bit to reach one of the holes.

Next I prosealed up the right flap and cleco'd it to the table. Should be ready on Wednesday for riveting. As an FYI, prosealing the long wedge by yourself can be interesting. I flipped the flap topside down on the table and put blocks in the skins to hold them open. I prosealed the top side of the wedge on the table, laid it in the skin, clamped it in a few places, smeared proseal on the other side and cleco'd it to the table.

I then started attaching the middle flap bracket to the rib. I need a right angle drill to reach some of the holes. I also worked on the two brackets that go with it.

and then... I riveted the ends on the aileron push tubes. It calls for -12 rivets but I think they are too long and impossible to set without folding over. I used -12's but cut them a bit shorter. They still were a pain to set. I would recommend having these welded! I've heard you have to open up the hole in the rear spar to allow the rivets to clear.

A spent a bit of time in the evening futzing with the aileron bell crank. I just need some advice on what kind of grease I should use for the bushing and I'll finish putting it in.

It seems that most builders leave the bottom wings skins off until the very end of the project. I'm thinking I'd like to go ahead and close the wing up now while I have it out. I am going to put a TruTrak autopilot in and the servo goes in the left wing.... so I have a reason _not_ to put on the skin but you can get the servo in through the access hole if you need to. Decisions decisions!

(Time: 5 hours)

I riveted on a few more brackets to the rear spar. I only have the middle flap bracket to do next.

Next I took the aileron off the table and riveted the trailing edge. It came out pretty good but a few places have too much proseal. Overall, pretty happy with it. I need to get the other aileron or flap curing on the table.

Builder Tip: Use -3.5 rivets instead of the called for -3's. The little extra material fills the dimple better. Should have done this on the rudder too.

(Time: 2 hours)

Started the evening by finishing the last bit of countersinking on the wedges. I was going to start on the fuel tank skin but it has way to may scratches on it, so I'm going to roll it up and take it back.

Looking for something else to do, I primed the insides of the push rods.

Then I riveted the aileron brackets to the rear spar.

(Time: 3 hours)

I bought a new drill press tonight, put it together and continued countersinking the wedges. I have about 1/2 a flap wedge to do and I'll be done. I found a pretty good method of countersinking the opposite side. The first side is easy to countersink without chatter, but the other side you have to support the pilot. Basically I took a short piece of wedge, taped it to my level, drill a #40 hole in it. Then I lay the wedge I want to countersink on it, opposing the angles so it sits flat. The I set on the drill press and drill away.

Short piece with pilot hole.
Wedge clamped in place.
Drilling...


I also prosealed up one of the aileron wedges and cleco'd it to the table. Takes about 3 days to setup enough where I can rivet it. I'm limited on space right now, so I can only do one at a time.

Aileron cleco'd to table while proseal cures.

(Time: 2.5 hours)

I finished riveting the bottom skin on the left flap. Drilled out the trailing edge on this flap as well as one of the ailerons which I hadn't done yet. Deburred and dimpled the trailing edges. I started countersinking the wedges. I got about half way done and then my drill press died. Something is wrong with the motor. I hope I have the receipt so I can take it back.

(Time: 5 hours)

I visited Ray's project today... didn't feel like jumping into my own project... so go visit someone elses!! It actually did the trick. I came back from his place all charged up and got a lot done.

I drilled the trailing edge of the right flap and then dimpled the skins. Then I started on the left flap by riveting on the top and nose skins and getting about half of the bottom skins done. Riveting the bottom skins to the spar is murder on the hand holding the bucking bar.

I think i have found a good way of riveting the nose/top skin onto the spar. Van's says to put it in the cradle and rivet it that way and we all know how that went for me. Here's what I did on the left spar today.

1) Cleco the nose skins, top skin and spar together. Cleco the skin to the ribs using the holes that match the ones in your table.
2) Flip the skin over, top side down. Weight the whole flap down.
3) Use your 1" flush set and the square bucking bar. I polished one face and then taped a popsicle stick so it keeps the bucking bar sitting flat.
4) Insert rivet in hole from bottom with one hand.. grab the end with the other hand and hold on.
5) Put rivet gun on rivet to hold it hole.
6) Move bucking bar in place.
7) RIVET.

This works pretty good. You may have to take the spring off the flush set to get it to sit close enough.

I also back riveted the ribs to the top skin using my c-set and the back-rivet plate. This also turned out well.

Setup for riveting the top skin
Using the c-set on the ribs.

(Time: 5 hours)

I finished riveting the bottom skin to the spar and put some of the blind rivets into the ribs. I waited until everything was riveted together before drilling the trailing edge wedge. I like this approach better as I think things don't go back together the same way as when they were match drilled and the wedge being the last thing to go in, I've waited to the end. I have it in place and will drlil it out this weekend. I'm trying to think of a better way of drilling it.

(Time: 2 hours)

I cleco'd the bottom skin to the spar and started riveting. Kinda tough... my arm is skinny and it's tight inside. I'm using the head of my rivet squeezer as a bucking bar. The real bucking bars are too big to handle inside.

Space to work with...
Arm crammed inside...

(Time: 1 hours)

Sandi came out and helped me buck a couple of rivets to hold everything in place. Then I put the flap back in the cradle and riveted the rest of the skin/spar rivets and also riveted the top skin to the ribs. Pulled it out of the cradle and laid it on the flap table. I need to get some bags of sand to put inside the skin to hold it down.

I think the buckled skin problem was of my own doing. I've acquired a DISEASE. I'm naming it the "Builder thinks he's smarter than the kit manufacturer" disease.

The instruction say to cleco the nose skin, top skin and spar and rivet it. I thought that maybe I should cleco the bottom side as well just to hold everything in place. The was the wrong thing to do as when I put it in the cradle it put the twist/buckle in it. Oh well... live and learn I guess.

(Time: 2.5 hours)

Looking for little things to do, I started making the aileron push rods. I cut the smaller diamter pieces to length and drilled holes in 3 ends. I somehow misplaced one end piece of one rod. Looked all over for it. If it doesn't turn up, I'll order a replacement. I also cut the larger/longer tubes to length and then called it a night.

End of one rod after drilling

(Time: 1.5 hours)

Finished the skeleton by riveting the root rib and associated components on. I had to drill out 6 of the 11 rivets for being stupid.

(Time: 1 hours)

Tonight was one of those nights that I should (and did) stay out of the shop. Just wasn't feeling quite right. I managed to rivet together the left flap ribs to the spar without severely damaging anything. Decided to quit while I was ahead as I could tell I was on the road to disaester if I forged on.

(Time: 1 hours)

I finished drilling out all of the rivets last night. I'm going to rivet it differently than what the instructions call for. I've cleco'd the top skin and nose skins on to the spar/ribs, laid it topside down on the table I have and weighted it down to hold it all flat. I'll then back rivet the nose skin/top skin/spar using a C-shaped rivet set I have and one of the bucking bars. I did a couple of test rivets with Sandi list night and it should work OK. I'll post a picture of it later.

(Time: 1 hours)

I decided to drill out the row of rivets attaching the nose skins to the spar. The buckle in the skin was just more than I thought I could remove when riveting the bottom skin. I'll be building one or two additional holders to keep everything level while I rivet it the 2nd time around.

BTW, it's cold here in KS. High today was 22F. The garage is hard to keep the garage warm with just space heaters. Holding a cold metal drill isn't fun.

Buckled skin

(Time: .5 hours)

Finished riveting the top skins. After riveting, I discovered a problem. The trailing edge of the skin was pretty wavy. I laid it down on the table and really couldn't get it to lay flat that way either. What happened is that I put the cradles on either end of the flap and it caused the spar to sag in the middle which in turn caused the skin to buckle.

TIP: Make sure you take the above problem into account when riveting. Maybe put the cradles towards the center instead of on the ends.

If I bend the spar I'm able to take out the buckle. I'm debating whether to drill out all the rivets or try and just rivet the bottom skin on while holding the buckle out.

(Time: 1 hours)

I cleco'd the nose skins on and started riveting them. This is just like the ailerons for the most part. The flaps use ribs instead of stiffeners, so the bottom skin will get blind riveted on.

Cleco'd an in the cradle
Bottom side view

(Time: 2 hours)

This morning I riveted the nose rib assemblies to the spar as well as the 905 main ribs. Pretty straight forward but a few of the rivets required some thought to set.

In the afternoon, I countersunk the left flap spar/skin. (While waiting for the cordless drill battery to recharge, I dug out some fuel tank parts. Logged here)

(Time: 4 hours)

Jenny cleco'd the nose rib assemblies and I riveted them together. They take -8 rivets which take some considerable umphh to set. You will need to turn up your air compressor to get them to set.

CAUTION: After starting the 2nd assembly I noticed that the rib wasn't sitting flush with the bracket. Close inspection revealed some troubles. The rib that had the shop heads did not sit flush with the bracket when riveting, leaving a rather large gap. (PICTURE) I had to drill out rivets on two of the assemblies and rivet again.

SOLUTION: Make sure you use cleco's in every hole except the one your riveting. This helps hold the assembly together. I also alternated the side I put the shop head on.

Using C-Frame to rivet
Another shot...

(Time: 2 hours)

I finished countersinking the right flap skin/spar, Jenny deburred and cleaned the nose ribs. I primed all the ribs and brackets. Reassembled the left spar for countersinking. It is amazing somtimes how much 'prep' work goes into things before you actually assemble them.

(Time: 2 hours)

Finished deburring the right flap parts. Jenny (exchange student) was bored so I put her to work. She got a lot accomplished actually. She dimpled all the ribs and skins and scuffed some parts for priming. I did some deburring of the nose skins, dimpled some of the ribs with the vice grip dimpler. Reassembled the right flap so I could countersink the skin/spar.

(Time: 4 hours)

Spent the evening drilling out the right flap, disassembled it all and started deburring.

(Time: 3 hours)

Finished making the 906B angle for the right flap. Matched drilled the inboard components and drilled bottom skin. Cleco'd all together for final match drilling.

TIP: If your building you should know this already... but remember that the plans show the left side components, so when making the right side versions, everything is backwards. Keep this in mind when making the 906B. It has some angles. It helped to hold the part onto the spar first and lightly mark the direction of the cuts first.

(Time: 3 hours)

Finished match drilling the left flap. Disassembled and deburred all the parts. Continued to work on the right flap. Drilled new holes in the work surface. (You can reuse two rows of holes.)

Nose skins cleco'd on.

(Time: 4 hours)

I assembled the left flap and drilled the spar/rib and skin/rib holes. Cleco'd on the nose skins.

I deburred and assembled the nose rib assemblies for the right flap, made the shim, started making the angle.

Left flap cleco'd for drilling.

(Time: 3.5 hours)

I cleco'd the nose rib assemblies to the spar and match drilled. I made the FL-906C spacer and drilled it in place with the spar and then match-drilled the FL-906A with the spar. You are supposed to drill these all together but I got ahead of myself and drilled the spacer and then realized I need to drill the 906B. I think this might actually work out better in some ways.

Caution: Check the clearance of the 906B with the web of the nose rib. When I went to cleco it all back together, the 906B was too long and wouldn't sit flat on the flange of the nose rib. I ground off some of the edge and also put a bit of an angle on it. (See picture.)

Interference area.
End of spar with all cleco'd on.

Next I cleco'd the spar assembly to the bottom skin and drilled the holes into the flap table.

(Time: 2 hours)

I started playing with the flaps tonight. I fussed with the flap skins, marking them so I don't get confused. I assembled the hinge/rib assemblies. I also made one of the FL-906A brackets. Quite a few little angles on this doodad... pay attention to the plans.

Hinge/Nose Rib assemblies
FL-906A

(Time: 2 hours)

It's turned pretty cold here in KC and I've pretty much took over the entire garage when I started building the wings. The deal was that Sandi would have her half of the garage in the winter to park her car. This weekend I rearranged the garage and consolidated everything back on my half of the garage so she could get her car in.

Didn't do any real work on the plane this weekend. I read the instructions for the flaps and reviewed the plans a bit. The ailerons are pretty much done. I need to drill the trailing edge of the right aileron and then just need to rivet them. Then I will tackle the flaps. Once the flaps are done, I'll turn my attention back to finishing the left wing details, like aileron and flap attach brackets. I hope to get quite a bit accomplished over the holiday. I'd like to get the flaps and left wing completed as much as possible so I can start on the right wing. I need to build the right wing fuel tank and then assemble the wing.

The fuselage kit is probably ready and waiting at Van's. I need to send them the remaining $600 and get it on it's way but Christmas put a dent in our checkbook along with the purchase of the engine. I'm a little behind schedule on where I wanted to be... but hey.. that's the way it goes. I guess realistically it will be late January before the wings are done and I can start on the fuselage.

I riveted all but the trailing edge of the right aileron tonight. I'll match drill the AEX wedge tomorrow. Then I'll start on the flaps.

The check valve in my air compressor is acting up and my drill press chuck is out of round, so I placed an order with Craftsman online for replacement parts.

(Time: 2 hours)

I finished drilling the last few holes in the trailing edge of the left aileron and deburred them all. I was going to drill the wedge but my drill press has a wobble in it. I diagnosed the problem as an out of round chuck. I need to order a replacement from Crafstman.

So I reassembled the right aileron and started the riveting process.

(Time: 2 hours)

While cooking dinner, I finished riveting the skin-spar rivets. (Mr. Mom tonight) Then started riveting the trailing edge rivets. Our new exchange student Jenny was bored and is totally into aviation came out to help. I put her to work deburring the edges of the flap spars.

Riveting the spar-skin rivets
Cradle used to hold aileron
Setup for trailing edge drilling
Jenny deburring flap spars

(Time: 1.5 x 2 people = 3 hours)

Tonight I started riveting the skin-to-spar rivets on the left aileron. Started with the top side first. I used the edge roller on the top side of the nose skin to help it sit flush but I didn't quite get it rolled enough. The nose skin doesn't quite mate with the top skin. It's miniscule.. but there. Since I usually borrow Ray's edge roller, I didn't have it handy, so I just finished the top row and started in on the bottom side. So my tip for the night is to really put an bent edge on the nose skin, top side. (Bottom side doesn't need any.)

Bottom side rivets
Top side rivets
Small amount of puckering.. fuzzy picture.

(Time: 1.5 hours)

I spent some time tonight assembling the left aileron for riveting. I had quite a bit of trouble getting everything to line up correctly. I could get everything cleco'd together except the last row of rivets attaching the nose skin to the spar. Things just weren't lining up well.

The solution required some work but here is what I did. I cleco'd the bottom skin to the spar and ribs making sure all the holes lined up. I put 3 rivets in the skin-to-rib to hold them in place. Then I drilled 3 new holes in the skin-to-spar (between the existing holes) and countersunk them. I put flush blind rivets in those three holes. This basically holds the skin in place without cleco's and allows the nose skin to fit over them when the time comes. I flipped the aileron over and did the same thing on the other side. Then I cleco'd the nose skin to the bottom side first, then flipped it back over (top side up). I cleco'd the skin to the counterbalance tube. Finally I cleco'd the top row of holes. (Had to push hard to get the skin to line up.) This basically left me with an assembled aileron that I could flip around as necessary and have it sit flat on the table. Sounds convoluted.. but it really isn't.

I put the blind rivets in the counterbalance tube and squeezed the rivets on the ends of the nose skin that are accessible. Then I constructed a cradle to hold the aileron vertical for bucking the spar rivets. Tomorrow I should be able to buck the spar rivets.

How distorted it is when no weight is on it.
Keeper rivets in place to hold skin to spar.
Assembled on the table.

(Time: 3 hours)

Today I riveted the aileron skeletons together. Pretty straight forward.. however...

TIP: Not only should you read the plans but FOLLOW them.

The instructions call for riveting the counterbalance pipe to the nose ribs and then rivet the assembly to the spar. I thought it would be easier to rivet the ribs to the spar first and then rivet the tube on. Yea.. it's easier all right but then you can't get two of the pop-rivets pulled that attach the nose ribs to the tube. I wasn't about to drill out all the rib-spar rivets, so one elevator will not have those two rivets. (Dan C. forgot them all-together, so I'm one up on him. :-) )

Tight spot where I can't pull the rivet
Assembled aileron skeletons

The wintery view out of the shop. I think there is 4-5" of snow.

(Time: 2.5 hours)

Finished countersinking the right aileron spar and started on the left. Ran the battery down in my cordless drill so I deburred the flap ribs on the 3M wheel while charging the battery. Finished one side of the left aileron and my arm gave out. :-) Did some countersinking on the reinforcement plates. Right aileron parts are prepped and ready for cleaning/priming.

(Time: 3 hours)

Kinda dinked in the shop tonight. I started countersinking the right aileron skin/spar. Completed about 75% of it.

(Time: 1 hours)

I was able to fix my boo-boo from last night. I used the mushroom set and the back rivet plate to flatten out the bends in the skin and ribs. Shouldn't notice anything once painted.

Then I moved on drilling the other aileron, disassembled everything and started the deburring and dimpling process on both ailerons. I'm going to take a tip from Clay R and countersink the spar with the skin and will dimple the nose skin.

(Time: 4 hours)

I constructed a flat table out of some countertop. I tried to find some straight 2x6's at Home Depot... picked the best I could find.

Started drilling one of the ailerons.. had a minor/major mishap... I used a 2x6 to hold it flat and put a heavy piece of angle iron on top of that, then a couple bags of 40lb Quickcrete. While drilling, the angle 'rolled' over, folding two cleco's on either end over with it. Really buggered up the skins. Haven't decided whether to order a new skin or not. Want to see if I can clean them up first.

(Time: 2 hours)

Tonight I cleco'd the ailerons in preparation for drilling. Be aware, the instructions leave some things out. They say to cleco the skin to the ribs and then the nose skin to the skin/spar, etc... It doesn't say anything about assembling ALL of the pieces, so I had to do a little back tracking. Things went together easily... should have known better. I also forgot the little reinforcement plates between the nose ribs and spar. Finally got them all together and ready

I pulled out the countertop that I intended to use as a flat surface... only it turned out to be not so flat. Guess I'll have to make one up. Be sure and check whatever surface your going to use for flatness. It may look flat....

Cleco'd aileron
End of aileron.. things are tight.

(Time: 2 hours)

I riveted on the aileron stiffeners tonight. Also deburred the edges of the aileron skins with a file, taking all the tool marks out.

There are several places during the construction that are very difficult to dimple due to tight spaces. I ran into this tonight with the aileron ribs. They are very narrow and cannot be dimpled with traditional methods. I got a little creative tonight in order to dimple the most aft hole.

First, I pulled out a piece of iron and drilled a #40 hole near the edge and then countersunk it. Next I put the rib over the hole and used the male dimple die and hit it with a hammer a couple times to get the dimple started. THEN, I used the male pop rivet dimple die and hit it with the flush set on the rivet gun. Followed that up with a few turns with the deburring tool to make the holes just a tad deeper.

Tight spot
Dimple setup

On a side note, I picked up a VSI and DG at the EAA chapter meeting. Bargain on the year so far. :-)

Start of my panel

(Time: 2.5 hours)

Continued to work on the ailerons today by match drilling them to the skins, deburring, dimpling, cleaning, alodining and priming. Also dimpled and primed the skins.

(Time: 6 hours)

Yea.. went stright from wings to ailerons... well I didn't get any help today to rivet my wing skins, so I started playing with the ailerons.

This was actually a welcome change in production. I assembled the spars and did all the match drilling. Then I tackled the counterbalance tube. This isn't hard but you have to pay attention. Also, make sure you use a very sharp (new) drill bit when drilling the tubes, they are steel. I also found it better to drill just enough to get a small dimple and then take the tube off and drill it seperatly. Otherwise you risk enlarging the hole in the aluminum nose rib. The next thing you'll notice is that you can't reach the second hole to drill it. I cleco'd the tube to the ribs and then removed it all as a unit so I could drill the second hole.

Setup for drilling the tube.
Unit removed so you can access the second hole
Family is starting to buy me airpla