SonexBuilders.net

Good evening everyone,
So tonight my friend came over to teach me how to solid rivet. We started looking at the plans and I realized how close I am to actually assembling the wings. All of my forward ribs and 1/2 of the aft ribs are complete. My question is, what next? More specifically, what needs to be in the wings before I rivet the skin on? Wiring, pitot/static, control rods, bellcrank-this stuff is all starting to go over my head. Do I need to do the bellcrank assembly before attaching the ribs to the spar? Hopefully you guys can give some relief to my scattered brain :oops:

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Thanks Mike, lot of good info. I'll especially take note of that forward root rib mod.

Hey Josh,

I'll second what Mike says. He has some good pointers.

I don't have my plans in front of me, but my basic order of wing building was as follows:

- Build the main spar with bolts and solid rivets
- Build the aft spars (do these first if you'd like)
- Fabricate the gussets on the wing ribs
- Fabricate the aileron tube hinge point (rib #9 I believe)
- Rivet the ribs to the main spar
- Rivet the aft spar to the aft ribs
- Make sure all is squared up and fit and rivet the root ribs
- Run wiring and pitot-static lines in forward ribs as needed.
- Square wings again
- Fit and drill aft skins
- Fit and drill forward skin
- Fit and drill flap/aileron hinges
- Deburr and dimple as needed.
- Rivet aft skins, then forward skin

I'm probably forgetting something, but hopefully this gives you a basic idea of the wing building order.

Good luck and let us know what other questions you have!

Mikes got the steps pretty much nailed down. Here are some pictures to help...I just completed my left wing!

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Josh, the way you asked the question suggests to me that you're not totally familiar with how the drawing tree in the plans works yet. Most of your questions would be answered by looking at the tree and seeing which boxes (plans pages) flow before the wing skins are attached. This includes aileron bell crank, root ribs, pitot-static, etc. Unless you are doing any modifications (adding lights, etc), following the flow of the drawing tree should keep you on the right track.

I did the forward root rib mod, it's not difficult to do. I'm also installing a lift in reserve indicator. These are things that are not in the plans that I will need to do before riveting the skins.

I do want to be sure that you're totally comfortable with the drawing system though, knowing how to follow the logical steps in the drawing tree is fundamental to building things in the correct order.

Thanks for all the info guys, it really helped! The pictures were especially helpful Scott. Ryan, I'm aware of the drawing tree but am still trying to fully understand it and get used to it. You guys are awesome, huge amounts of information for new guys like me.

The drawing tree definitely helps digest the plans easier, and allows you to take things a little bit at a time. For example, find the "wing substructure assembly" box on the tree. Everything below it that ties into that box needs to be completed before you start that box (with occasional exceptions, such as completing the root ribs during the assembly rather than before it.) You will want to complete that substructure assembly before moving on up the tree towards skinning the wings, etc.

As it happens, it appears that you and I are pretty close on wing progress. I finished my main spars a week ago, my rear spar this week, and all my ribs (except root ribs) are gusseted and ready. I just need to finish making the rib spacers and I'll be putting ribs to spars (this weekend hopefully!).

Check out my blog (link in my signature) if you like, it's current and might be helpful.

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