Time: 6 Hours
Today started out the fabrication of the fuel tank vent lines. These lines will allow air to replace the fuel in the tanks as fuel is being used. These lines come as a coil so I started out by straightening the pieces so that I could measure the correct length.
With a length of tubing cut I grabbed the flaring tool that I borrowed from work to make one end flared so that it will connect to the elbow fitting at the inboard rib. This tool makes this job pretty easy and makes really nice flares.
With the flaring done I grabbed the ferrels and nuts and slid them on the tubing up to the flare. I then grabbed my my tubing bender and made a couple of bends around 15° to make the offset from the second rib to the inboard rib, both came out really nice.
I then started preparing several items so that when I mixed up some ProSeal I could get a bunch of tasks done. First up was to mask off the edge of the outboard skin so that I wouldn’t get sealer where the skin matches up with the splice between the tank and the outboard leading edge.
I then mixed up some ProSeal and loaded a 2.5oz disposable Semco cartridge. I also mixed up some to use a popsicle stick with. My plans were to seal and rivet the reinforcement plate to the outboard ribs. Then I would seal and rivet the anti-hangup guides to the access plates. Next I would torque and seal the fuel vent line elbow to the inboard rib as well as the BNC connector. Then I would seal the outboard fuel capacitor ring terminal/wire to make a sealed connection and protect the wire.
With those tasks done I grabbed the outboard ribs and buttered the flange with ProSeal then clecko’d them to the skin. These rivets were easy to set with my pneumatic squeezer. With all those rivets set I grabbed the Semco gun and laid a good bead on the inside of the rib to make a nice size filet with a large popsicle stick. I then put a good covering of ProSeal on the outside of the flange, flange rivets and the rivet heads of the reinforcement plates. A little messy but I don’t want any leaks here.
It was another good day in Hangar! I really like these days when things are just going really smooth and I get a lot of tasks done. I will let these parts cure for a few days before installing them to try to keep the mess down. I’m getting real close to the big finale of closing up the tanks and getting to do the all important leak test.
