Wings

The wings come from the factory with most of the skins already riveted on. The main bottom skin comes riveted along the main spar and the rest of the holes for the ribs are drilled and dimpled and ready to be riveted. Flap control rods, bellcranks, fuel tanks, other skin/cover, inspection rings and covers, flap and aileron hinges and some other misc parts are all included but are not finished.

: See Eric’s site for installation details.

: Inspection rings and covers. All the holes have been marked and drilled.

: The tank installed with 3 of 4 fuel lines shown, they will be trimmed/bent later.

: You have to install 98 nutplates for the tank cover as it adds to the structural strength of wing.

: This shows detail of how the straps are pulled tight after tanks are in.

: Straps installed. I used .032 mylar with a sticky back as anti-chaffing material on the stiffeners and on the inside of the straps.

: Tank straps fabricated and painted

: Hole cut in top of wing for fuel filler neck.

: Tank and cover. Tank comes complete, you add fuel lines and drain. Cover holes need prepping.

: Parts layed out, strips on right are for the tank straps

: Some longer parts still packed in wing

: Wing parts packed in tank bay

: Wings unpacked and in cradle

We are putting a two axis autopilot from Trio in the plane. I decided the best place for the roll servo was just forward of the aileron bellcrank in the wing, this way I could make a direct connection to the bellcrank and there is just enough room to put the servo in thru the large inspection hole. However, you cannot get your hand in to reach the back of the servo so I welded on a sleeve at the back of the mounting plate to capture the rear tang of the servo. The mounting plate has two tangs on one side that get riveted to either side of the rib (to miss the lightening hole flange) and the other side gets welded to the bellcrank support crossbar. So to install the servo you slide it in on top of the plate (when wing is on plane) and capture the tang and then simply bolt the front of the servo to the plate and connect the actuating arm.

: Tab for servo.

The gallery below shows the following:

Cable guards for the pulleys being made up. I saw the pieces of wood holding the wing skins up on another site and thought that was a good idea. Just a finishing nail in each end that goes into a rivet hole, easier and quicker than tape as you have to take them in and out a few times.

I put up with a slight weight penalty by using pec tubing for the wire conduit, it is quite slippery and the wire slides so nice thru it. I secured it with a bracket and adel clamp on outboard rib.

I don’t feel that the 1/2 hole for the aileron cable is big enough,( especially if you put a grommet in it after). As the cable moves in and out it also travels for and aft and rubs on the holes. I put larger holes in with 3/4 grommets. Because the holes run at a continuous angle down to the root, in one rib the hole comes close to the cut out so I put a doubler in.

The holes come undersize in the hinges for the bearing. I only had an expandable reamer to get to the 9/16 dim. You see it in a drill but that was just to go the last couple of thou, you do it by hand up to that point. The rest of the pics are setting up wings for the aileron and flap installation, I have all the tools for squeezing rivets so I use whats handiest for the area. It’s quite finicky getting the hinge plates in the right position on the ailerons and flaps as there is not much room to clamp but just take your time and double check things and it goes well. For the aileron balance tubes Mark had mentioned they needed more weight so I added the shorter length of lead filled tube to the end bay of the aileron as well as the long piece, this way it’s easy to drill some out after if needed instead of trying to add weight. Again, you can go to Eric’s site to see detailed instructions on most of the above.