Before I rivet the wing skins...

[NWade]

Yes, I know I'm not the first guy to post along these lines... But getting the RH wing built has been a long time coming. Before I actually rivet the skins to my RH wing, could someone run down this list and let me know if I'm missing anything?

Here are the items I've done - any help spotting little items (or "tricks" to take care of with the skins still off) would be appreciated:
1) Main & Aft Spar assembled, all bolts tightened (spar mounting blocks only pilot-drilled)
2) Spars & ribs, all surface-prepped, assembled, & riveted together
3) Aileron bellcrank, assembled and riveted to the rib (along with stiffeners, ready to rivet to upper & lower aft wing skins)
4) Aileron pushrods, installed per plans
5) Wing tie-down hole drilled in lower skin (tie-down angle secured to main spar, but no tiedown bolt/nut yet - I'm assuming I can take care of this after riveting, with the inspection hole nearby for the Aileron bellcrank)
6) Snap-bushings installed & pitot-static lines run
7) Snap-bushings installed in all fwd rib tooling holes (nearest spar), with nylaflow tube running through them and 4-conductor shielded wiring inside of that (for LED wingtip lights)
8) Snap-bushings installed in all fwd rib tooling holes (nearest leading edge), with 2 tefzel wires running through the snap-bushings (protected with short bits of heat-shrink where they pass through snap-bushings) - these run to rib #11 for a Duckworks landing light
9) Duckworks landing light almost completely installed (missing final bits of tape to align second lens retaining strip)
10) Aileron and flap hinges complete
11) All holes dimpled (because I'm one of those crazy people going for a fully-flush-riveted aircraft)

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas?

Thanks!

--Noel
Sonex #1339
AeroVee Turbo (planned)
Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/1039641523 ... SonexBuild

[tonyr]

Root ribs done?
Wing walk and that annoying wing gap flange thing that I forget the name of, all drilled and countersunk.. the right way around?
Forward root rib centre flange removed ?

[NWade]

Root ribs done?
Wing walk and that annoying wing gap flange thing that I forget the name of, all drilled and countersunk.. the right way around?
Forward root rib centre flange removed ?

Thanks, Tony!

• Root ribs riveted & bolted.
• This is the RH wing only, so no wing-walk but yes the root doubler is drilled & dimpled (and that section of the skin is marked for no rivets until the wing can be rigged to the fuselage and the gap set properly)
• Fwd root rib lightening holes combined into one

Anything else anyone can think of?

--Noel

[Rynoth]

Have you actually completed your flaps and ailerons yet? I completed mine and test fit them on the substructure before skinning the wings. I was able to pre-rig the pushrod lengths at the aileron bellcranks, and also discovered a small clearance issue on the RH flap pushrod contacting some rivet shop heads (had to file back the rivets a small amount and add a washer.) This work was definitely easier with the wing not skinned.

Some pics/commentary on the bottom half of my blog post here: http://www.rynoth.com/wordpress/waiex/2 ... d-aileron/

It's a lot easier to use a protractor and set the aileron/bellcrank deflections (by adjusting the length of the pushrod) with the wing still open. At least if you're doing it alone.

[Bryan Cotton]

On the rivet sequence- is there any reason why I can't rivet the top aft skin and then the top forward skin before I flip it over?

[Rynoth]

On the rivet sequence- is there any reason why I can't rivet the top aft skin and then the top forward skin before I flip it over?

I don't think so, except that I wouldn't try to rivet the fwd skin onto the fwd ribs (ahead of the spar) without having the fwd skin fully clecoed in place on both sides of the spar. You'd be fighting a lot of springy tension if you rivet the fwd skin before pulling it down and securing it on both sides of the wing.

[Bryan Cotton]

Ryan,
When I clecoed the forward skin just to the top, it pulled down nicely. My thought was to rivet the top before closing the LE because the top rivets would be nicer. Once folded over the skins seem to want to pull away from the ribs due to the large bend radius in the LE. The top is more important for both aesthetics and aerodynamics.

[Sonex1243]

Wing tie-down hole drilled in lower skin (tie-down angle secured to main spar, but no tiedown bolt/nut yet - I'm assuming I can take care of this after riveting, with the inspection hole nearby for the Aileron bellcrank).

I had to upsize the piloted skin hole to allow the tie down bolt to pass through and mount on the angle. I had a wicks hardware kit tie down bolt, 3/8" shank with a wide shoulder, just traced it on the skin and up sized with a uni-bit.

[Rynoth]

Wing tie-down hole drilled in lower skin (tie-down angle secured to main spar, but no tiedown bolt/nut yet - I'm assuming I can take care of this after riveting, with the inspection hole nearby for the Aileron bellcrank).

I had to upsize the piloted skin hole to allow the tie down bolt to pass through and mount on the angle. I had a wicks hardware kit tie down bolt, 3/8" shank with a wide shoulder, just traced it on the skin and up sized with a uni-bit.

Ken, was the same for me. Wasn't a problem to secure the tie down through the inspection hole, and I had to enlarge the skin hole.

[kevinh]

11) All holes dimpled (because I'm one of those crazy people going for a fully-flush-riveted aircraft)

Hi Noel,

One question for you: I too am doing the all flush thing (for similar aesthetic silliness). How are you handling the countersink or dimpling of the control surface hinges? On my RV they had us add a backing strip of aluminum in the hinge material so that that the hinge could be countersunk rather than dimpled (because dimpling could mess up the hinge action). I'm pondering what I want to do on my Waiex (especially because these CS pop rivets have deeper heads).

Kevin