(9-10 step 1):
Overkill time again! Prior to closing up the elevators I
mixed up a bit of primer and brushed it on all the rivets that'll be
covered up by the leading edges. The idea is that since there are
openings in the leading edges, water can get in, whether it be while
washing the plane, flying through a bit of rain, whatever. And,
its easy enough to do now, so why not! If it wasn't green before,
it is now :-)
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(9-15 step 4): The
elevators are a bit longer than the rudder… didn't realize it at
the time we bought the pipe to roll the rudder leading edge or else we
would've gotten it a foot longer. So, I wound up getting a 6'
long pipe, 3/4" in diameter this time. We went one section of the
elevator at a time like on the rudder and one of us would roll the pipe
while the other was keeping pressure down on the opposite end.
The rolls went quicker this way, and since the pipe was such a small
diameter, it only took one quick roll, and the bend was done. The
3/4" is a bit too small of a diameter however... I wouldn't recommend
it... I had to "massage" each bend by hand to get it to fit. So,
not our prettiest rolled leading edges, but it'll work. Anyway,
the right one is all rolled and clecoed together. Now on to the
left.
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(17-2 step 1):
Angela got back to work on the wing outboard leading edges.
She focused on getting the right one to the point of the left…
more straightening of the flanges, and then fluting.
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Here's
a simple little idea we came up with to help with straightening the
flanges… I say straighten, when I'm actually talking about
making sure the flange of the rib is 90 degrees to the web. So,
we cut out a small piece of plywood, and then cut an internal 90 degree
angle to use as a gauge. You simply hold one of the edges flush
against the web, and slide the gauge across the web until it touches
the flange. If the flange is flush with the other edge you're
good to go... if not, adjust accordingly. Here this one needs a
bit of adjustment...
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There, that's a bit better!
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There, all the ribs are straightened, and fluted, ready for preassembly.
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(17-2 step 5):
The inboard-most rib on the wing leading edges gets a "splice
strip" sandwiched between it and the skin. This splice strip
serves as the outboard mount for the fuel tanks. It will have a
bunch of nutplates on it that will receive screws from the fuel
tanks. The fuel tank skins (pictured below) are a bit thicker
material, and the splice strips are made from this thicker
material. So, we needed to separate the splice strip from the
fuel tank skins.
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(17-3 step 2):
Here Angela is attempting to cleco the inboard most rib and the
splice strip to the left outboard leading edge skin. These proved
to be quite difficult to get eveything lined up. She eventually
resorted to trying the right side to see if it was just as difficult...
it was. We looked them over to see what the issues were, and it
appears that you need to be a bit more precise with your fluting,
deburring, and flange bends on these. Sounds like a good thing to
work on tomorrow ;-)
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(9-15 steps 5 & 6): Staying
up a little past my bed time, I decided I wanted these elevators
done! So, we needed to get the left one up to speed… I'd
set up, Angela would come over and help me roll, I'd massage it to fit,
and then we'd repeat until all the sections were done. I then
used the same technique I did for the rudder to final drill all the
holes, only unclecoing one hole at a time. A reamer really works
well here since you can't really debut your holes too well, and a
reamer leaves far less bur to remove than a drill bit. After they
were all final drilled, out came the pop riveter, and that's it... the
elvators are DONE!
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