3RD QTR 2013           •   •   • 
DATE HRS TTD ACTION IMAGES
07/03/13 2.0 1267.3 Rearranged Don's shop and figured out where to set up the sawhorses for the wing. Started to level sawhorses using temporary shims of various thickness stacked as needed. First I leveled them side to side then lengthwise. 130703_112114_SettingSawHorses.jpg
07/04/13 2.8 1270.1 Once I got each saw horse level along the length and width of its top surface, I then set them all to the same height using the laser level and more shims as needed equally under all four legs. Once I got the sawhorses totally level and co-planar, I then measured the thickness of each shim stack and replaced them with single shims cut precisely out of 2x2 pine. I also made grease pencil marks on the floor to locate each sawhorse leg, in case I need to relocate them in the future. 130704_103108_ShimsCutThickness.jpg 130704_103208_VariousShims.jpg 130704_103226_CuttingShims.jpg
130704_103503_LaserLevel.jpg 130704_103522_SettingSawhorsesToSameHeight.jpg 130704_112503_MarksOnFloor.jpg
07/07/13 1.3 1271.4 Fit left front cabane fitting to bottom of that spar splice. 130707_104939_FitttingLeftFrontCabaneFitting.jpg 130707_105002_DetailOfWoodRemoved.jpg
07/08/13 1.0 1272.4 Fit right front cabane fitting to bottom of that spar splice. Flipped the wing upright so that the top of the wing is up and I can start putting the top spar and splice caps on.
07/09/13 3.6 1276.0 Set up the table saw and trimmed the -41 and -43 spar caps to fit. Glued and clamped them on the right wing. Trimmed the -46 splice caps to fit afterwards. 130709_083539_SpliceCapsTrimmed.jpg 130709_091428SparCapsGlued.jpg
130709_091435_RightSparCapsGlued.jpg 130709_091439_RightSparCapsGlued.jpg
07/10/13 1.3 1277.3 Glued and clamped the left wing -41 and -43 caps. 130710_113737_TopSparCapsGluedLeftSide.jpg
07/11/13 2.6 1279.9 Did some final trimming on the -46 splace caps so they fit exactly into the associated compression ribs. I then used small nails to set their location so I could get them glued into the right spot without the compression rib there. Also used masking tape to keep glue out of the area where the compression rib goes. Glued the forward splice caps on, using staples to hold them in proper position while adding clamps.After that I removed the small nails and smoothed out the glue fillets where the nails used to be. 130711_094512_SmallNailsLocateSpliceCap.jpg 130711_104608_FwdSpliceCapsGlued.jpg
130711_104614_LwftFwdSpliceCapGlued.jpg 130711_104627_CompRibGlueAreaKeptClean.jpg
07/13/13 1.4 1280.9 Glued up the aft splice caps and removed the nails and masking tape after clamping. 130713_123550_AftRightSpliceCapGlued.jpg 130713_123557_AftLeftSpliceCapGlued.jpg
08/28/13 2.7 1283.6 Finished tightening the nuts and bolts on the cabane and flying wire plates. Assembled a trammel bar for squaring up the center section. I ran mechanics wire and turnbuckles between the cabane fittings and then used light tension to get the wing square. 130828_085629_TrammelPointsCabaneFitting.jpg 130828_085706_CenterSectionSquared.jpg
08/30/13 1.5 1285.1 Cut sections of 2x4 and screwed them to the bottom of the saw horses, then added 1x2 cross braces between them to keep them rigid with each other.I then clamped the spars in position and verified the center section was still square. 130830_113117_BracingAddedToSawHorses.jpg 130830_120644_SparsClampedToSawhorses.jpg
09/03/13 1.8 1286.9 Verified the center section was still square, then I mixed up some T-88 and glued in the -6 center section butt ribs. I used masking tape with slight pull to keep the ribs right up against the top and bottom spar doubler plates. 130903_095705_CenterButtRibsGlued.jpg 130903_095717_TapeHoldsRibsWhileGlueCures.jpg
130903_095758_JointsWipedCleanBeforeGlueCures.jpg 130903_095827_CenterRibsGlued.jpg
09/09/13 1.8 1288.7 Dug around and found the sheet of 1/8" ply shim material. I then measured and cut 4 strips for each spar, equal to the thickness of each spar. These strips will fir them spars up 1/8" so when the tank skin and leading edge is glued to it, they will be at equal height with the top of the ribs there. I then started by gluing 2 of them to each spar edge, clamping and weighting them down to assure a wave free surface. 130909_102531_EigthInchShimStock.jpg 130909_111539ReadyToGlueStrips.jpg
130909_112337StaplingStrips.jpg 130909_115151_FrontSparStripsClampsWeights.jpg
09/10/13 1.0 1289.7 Glued the rest of the strips on the front and aft spars. 130910_095031_SparStripsCompleted.jpg 130910_095039_SparStripsDone.jpg
09/12/13 1.9 1291.6 Cut a couple -49 rails out of the cnc cut plank. I used a tip compression rib to check the accuracy of the cut rail as it follows the curve of the rib. I then measured offsets from the two spars and transferred them while holding the rail in position on the rib. This allowed me to cut the right length of rail off each end. I then glued and clamped one rail one, using a scrap of 1/8th thick ply. 130912_084352_RailBlanks.jpg 130912_084751_TipRibUsedToCheckFit.jpg 130912_084706_MeasuringOffsetFromSpar.jpg
130912_084933_TransferOffetToRail.jpg 130912_093741_RailGluedClamped.jpg 130912_094110_RailWithTankSkinSample.jpg
09/14/13 1.0 1292.6 Glued and clamped the other -49 rail to the other side center tank butt rib. Came home and search around and finally found another bundle or wood. Which has the -17 3/8"x3/8" corner block I'll need next. 130914_154408_OtherSideRailGlued.jpg 130914_154441_SettingHeightOfRail.jpg 130914_154450_RailGlued.jpg 130914_163657_WingWoodKitIdent.jpg
09/18/13 1.0 1293.6 Cut five center tank ribs from the CNC routed plank, and deburred them with sandpaper. Measured and marked locations for the ribs on both front and rear spars.Checked distance between the spars at the ends of the tank bay and in the center and found that the spars bow in towards each other in the middle by about .030" so I determined that a splint 33.22" long would put them exactly parallel. 130918_113653_CuttingCenterTankRibsLoose.jpg 130918_121033_MarkingCenterTankRibLocations.jpg 130918_121909_CenterTankRibs.jpg
09/19/13 2.2 1295.8 At home I cut a 1x2 to 33.22" then headed for Don's and stuck it between the spars. It only exerts very light pressure since its only moving the spars 30 thou. I then decided to use the scrap airfoil shape from the rib plank as a cutting jig for trimming the ribs to proper length. I fit the airfoil to one of the compression ribs to determine where to cut it so it would maintain proper profile in the tank bay, then I carefully cut it to fit. Then all I had to do for each rib was fit the airfoil in that position, and cut the rib to match the airfoil, plus or minus a little depending of how tight the airfoil fit there. Once the ribs were cut and fit, I clamped blocks to the spars to keep each rib at perfect height flush with the top of the spar strips. After I glued the ribs in I held them down with weights. 130919_101445_SplintKeepsSparsExactlyParallel.jpg 130919_104431_TrimmingAirfoilToFitBetweenSpars.jpg 130919_104621_FittingRibOntoAirfoil.jpg
130919_113919_RibCut.jpg 130919_122152_BlocksWillHoldRibsAtPerfectHeight.jpg 130919_131435_RibsGluedWithWeights.jpg
09/22/13 1.8 1297.6 Removed all the weights from the ribs, unclamped and removed the blocks. Since the blue tape stayed stuck on the bottom of the ribs I had to unclamp the wing from the sawhorses and flip it over so I could remove the tape with a sharp chisel. Once that was done I flipped it back over and removed the excess glue from the top of the joints. Finally I re-trammed the wing, clamped it to the sawhorses, checked the trammel again. 130922_100550_RemovingExcessGlueFromJoint.jpg 130922_114025_ReadyToFitCenterTankSkin.jpg
09/23/13 5.0 1302.6 Stopped by Home Depot and got a bunch of paint stir sticks. Cut small scraps of 1/8" ply to glue in the corners. Checked the trammel to make sure nobody bumped it while I was gone, then removed the cross wires and turnbuckles and checked the trammel one last time to make sure it stayed square. Measured and laid a tape edge down the middle of the aft spar. Laid out a tape edge protecting the front 1/4" for the leading edges later. Laid out and cut the stir sticks to use to hold the skin down while glue cures. Cut the skin to fit using the table saw and sanded it to final fit. Glued the scraps in the corners, then glued the skin down and stapled the sticks to the ribs, working each rib forward to aft, to ensure a nice tight fit to the ribs and spars. Stapled small sections of sticks to the spars between the ribs. Finally wiped the excess glue from the ribs inside the tank area. 130923_083836_ScrapFitToCorner.jpg 130923_092604_CuttingSkinToFit.jpg 130923_104445_StirSticksCutAndReadyToUse.jpg
130923_121619_ApplyingGlue.jpg 130923_125054_StaplingFromFrontToRear.jpg 130923_132646_ExcessGluedWipedFromRibsInsideWing.jpg
09/24/13 0.6 1303.2 Started removing stir sticks and staples. 130924_131240_RemovingStirSticksAndStaples.jpg 130924_132545_RemovingStirSticksAndStaples.jpg
09/25/13 0.7 1303.9 Finished removing stir sticks and staples. 130925_075733_RemovingStirSticksAndStaples.jpg 130925_084649_CenterTankSkinDone.jpg 130925_084658_CenterTankSkinDone.jpg 130925_084721_NiceFlatWaveFreeSkin.jpg
09/29/13 2.4 1305.0 Next step is to glue the compression ribs in, but I'd like to have the wings set pretty close to the seven degree sweep when I do so. Right now I have no idea how close they are. So, I skipped ahead and found the section in the instructions that pulls a string along the front center spar face out to 130" from center of the wing and then set spar face there to 12.5" back. Like I usually do, I drew it all up in autocad first to verify my understanding of the geometry. I also wanted to check the sweep at a more convenient spot, right at the last compression rib. At that location I need the spar face to be 11.77" aft of the center spar face. So I clamped the blocks to the center spar, pulled the string out to the last compression rib and set the wing sweep until I had the dimension right. I'll then glue the left wing compression ribs in, then repeat the process for the right wing. Click through the pictures and it'll make sense.The formula for this:
(DISTANCE_FROM_CENTER - 28.3035) * 0.122785 = SWEEP_BACK_DISTANCE
130929_144727_StringAndUprightsOnSparFace.jpg 130929_144904_LeftOutboardStringPull.jpg 130929_145226_BoardAt124Three16ths.jpg
130929_150149_WingSweepAnalysis.gif 130929_150539_MeasureFrontSparFaceToString.jpg 130929_152523_CorrectSweepSet.jpg
09/30/13 0.9 1305.9 Cut some strips of stiff paper from a McDonalds coffee cup. Glued the left inboard compression rib in. Used the strips of paper under the staples when I stapled the rib in position on the spar. 130930_093704_L12CompressionRibGlued.jpg 130930_093717_PaperStripsUnderStaples.jpg 130930_093726_GluedCompressionRibL12.jpg
QTR TOTAL 42.3  
 3RD QTR 2013           •   •   •