Category Archives: Wings

Time: 2 Hours

I spent the morning taking care of office work at the office and then headed about 40 miles west to a company called Engman-Taylor, an authorized Sioux rivet gun repair shop, to have my 3X gun looked at. When I got home I this afternoon I decided to get at least a little time in the Hangar. One thing I wanted to get accomplished was to get the twist out if the left wing and secure the rear spar to hold that position. First up was to manufacture the hard points for the rear spar to wing stand.

With to connection points I had a point in which to clamp the rear spar holding the correct form. I used the plum bobs that I hung from the main spar and measured the distance from the skin at the rear spar. I was off by 1/16″ so I tweaked them a bit and made the distance equal at the inboard and outboard. I then rechecked the level on the main spar.

A little adjustment on the threaded rod and all was perfect inboard and outboard. I then rechecked the plumb bobs and all stayed the same.

Tomorrow I will repeat the process on the right wing. After that I will reinstall the bottom skins and match drill all the holes.

Time: 4 Hours

Next up was to start the wing skins. First up was to create the wing doublers. Where the wings have the extra ribs on the inboard ends for the extra weight of the walking area there is double skins. These doublers have to be cut out of sheets that Van’s sends. I just took the required measurements from the plans, 9 3/8″ x 26″. Once you have these cut you tape them to the underside of the respective wing skin. Even with the inboard edge and 9/16″ from forward edge if the skin.

Once you have them set and in place you flip them over and use the skins to drill through the doublers. I rolled up the carpet on my workbench and started drilling using the wood and a backing and a place to clecko the skins down.

Before I could put the skins on the structure I needed to remove the sag on the spars. I ran some fishing line from a rivet hole on the inboard end to a rivet hole on the outboard end and made it tight. This showed how much sag there was and would allow me to raise the rear spar to make that line even on the length of the spar.

After the sag removal was done I put the skins and their doublers on the wing structures.

Tomorrow I will work on getting the twist out and making the required arms to attach the rear spars to my wing stands.

Time: 4 Hours

Today I tackled the right wing with the same game plan as the left wing yesterday. The process went pretty fast and I had very few questions during the process. I’m happy that I listened to all the advise to build both wings at the same time. This allows you to apply the learning curve from one wing right to the second wing saving a lot if time. I definitely agree based on this weekend. One thing I did before starting on the right wing was to visit Lowes and get the supplies for the center wing supports. With the wing in the stands and no skins on them the spars sag in the middle due to the long span between the wing stands. So Van’s has you support the middle of the rear spar with anything you want to use. I decided to use two pieces of 1″x 4″ oak that I had laying around along with some threaded rod. I cut the wood to 5″ long and made four pieces. I also bought some steel pipe that had the I.D. that was perfect for the 3/8″ threaded rod. The threaded rod got drilled into one wood block and the pipe in the other. A few nuts and washers to secure them and I had the two ends needed. I then put two nuts and a washer on the threaded rod and spun them almost to the wood. Slide the rod into the pipe and now I could adjust the length by moving the nut. This allows for a micro adjustment up it down.

The rest of the day was just like yesterday with only one rivet needing drilling out. I installed the right wing stands in the Hangar floor and moved the wing into position.

When I decided to build both wings at the same time I took about 3 days figuring out where to install the stands. I had several requirements with two main ones being: room to work on the wings and parking for my truck. I took many measurements and made some mock ups to test and came up with the current set up. I have lots of room on both sides and in between them. I also have JUST enough room for my Toyota truck.

Another good weekend in the Hangar. My back has been bothering me so I decided to call it a day and watch a little football on the couch. This week has a pretty light flight schedule so I will get plenty of work done.

Time: 5 Hours

Today started out with me spending several hours trying to get my Sioux 4X rivet gun working. I would only hammer in a super “lite” mode is all I can describe it as. Nothing I did would get it to hammer with any force that would be needed to rivet. So I took it apart and cleaned all the parts. Everything looked ok and nothing looked broken. So I oiled the parts and reinstalled them. Unfortunately nothing worked and it still wouldn’t work. So I had to use my 3X gun for the 470 rivets. Once I had admitted defeat on the gun I got working on the left wing. I grabbed all the ribs from my office and laid them out in the order I wanted to install them. All the ribs have plenty of room to rivet between them except the three inboard ones. They are much closer to give support for the wing walk area. This reduced space would be tough to get the rivet gun in between if you started from the inboard. So based on other builders I started with the third most inboard rib first then the second followed by the first.

Once I finished riveting those three ribs to the main spar I just went down the line riveting the ribs to the main spar. I also read the the best plan was to rivet the ribs to the main spar first as this allows you to gently bend the ribs to allow for the rivet gun. This isn’t necessary on the rear spar since you could use the squeezer.

I only had to drill out two rivets in the main spar. Next up was to set up the rear spar, you have to read the plans carefully as there are several, actually 11, of the rivets on the ribs that don’t get riveted at this time. They will get done with several other parts associated with the flaps and ailerons. I put a piece if painters tape on 11 cleckos so that I would rivet them.

There are also several different size rivet call outs for the rear spar. I just set of my pneumatic squeezer and went to town. There are also 4 flush rivets on the end where the aileron brace sits on top.

The rear spar was pretty easy and went fairly fast.

In order for me to start the right wing I need to move the left wing to the wing stand. So I grabbed the left wing side and bolted them down to the floor where I had set them up this summer.

These stands are really strong and don’t move at all. Hopefully they make a straight and true wing! I them carried the wing skeleton over and installed it on the stands.

The outboard end has the angle bracket I made and I just aligned and drilled them to secure the skeleton to the stand.

The inboard end will get two “C” clamps and small wood pieces to secure that end. I have to make a run to Home Depot tomorrow for those as well as some threaded rod. That rod will be used to raise the sag in the middle of the wing and make it level from inboard to outboard. All in all a good day in the Hangar despite the gun problems.

Time: 4 Hours

I got home from my trip this morning and had to run several errands. When I got home I set up the Hangar for more priming. Today I just had to start and finish the left wing ribs. Not much to show but I did snap a photo of their final resting spot, not enough room in the Hangar to let all of them cure so the office it is!