Sunday, December 24, 2017

The End is Near

The end is near, both of 2017 and this wing build.

The ailerons are finished, and I am quite happy with the results. One aileron trailing edge is dead straight, the second took a little work to get out a very minor ripple; I think the ripple was caused by not riveting the trailing edge together as soon as the pro-seal was dry and letting the trailing edge sit unclamped for a few days. No worries should be fine.

I think the secret to building ailerons with no twist is the leading edge straightness. I spent a little extra time making sure the bottom skin was absolutely flat from the stainless steel leading edge weight to the spar. Since drilling the leading edge is very difficult due to the super hard stainless steel, I ended up having some extra "lightening" holes in the stainless steel bar. During final assembly, I made sure the leading edge ribs sat flat on my super flat surface plate (kitchen granite counter top). Once the leading edge is riveted to the spar, the aileron becomes enormously stiff. I am glad I took the extra time to make this part perfect.
For the trailing edge drilling, I make a simple metal guide; should have done this long ago.





I am currently working on the flaps and planning out the internal stuff the needs to go in before the bottom skins are on. I am thinking I will fully install the heated AoA pitot tube, and the autopilot servo for the future G3x panel. I am planning the magnetometer for the right wing tip and the VOR antenna for the left. So my present plan is to not pull any wires for those until the tips go on in a year or two. The wings already have conduit for the wiring, so pulling the wires should be easy.
As for the lights, I saw some new Baja Design that seem choice, but with the pace of technology, still not sure if I will install now.