Monthly Construction Log - April 2009

Date  
1 Torqued nose wheel bolts to 45in-lb per Matco manual ( WheelandBrake-Info ). Found tire data online at http://www.stausaonline.com/aircraft-tires/aerotrainer.html, which calls for 50psi in the 5.00 x 5 tires. Read through the mounting instructions ( http://www.stausaonline.com/aircraft-tires/mounting.html ) - after putting it all together, of course. Note that the mounting instructions say to put the arrow on the tube next to the red dot on the tire, so I will need to take the nose wheel apart and do that yet.

Continued deburring and edge polishing of wing rib parts.
2 Continued deburring and edge polishing of wing rib parts.
3 No work.
4 Modified #7 aft ribs and stiffeners for Princeton fuel probes. Started priming spars, ribs, and parts. Ran out of primer - will finish on Monday.

 
5 Riveted gussets and stiffeners to aft ribs that were primed. Finished deburring and edge polishing of remaining aft ribs 1-4, 5, 7. Dismounted nosewheel tire and removed tube. Did not find any "arrow" (or any other marks), so remounted the tire with the valve stem opposite the red dot on the tire. (Assuming the red dot is the heavy side of the tire.) Connected static ports and routed line to bulkhead #1. Still need to clamp the lines between the static ports and the tee.

   
6 Went out to stimulate the local economy by buying some more Veriprime. I was asking the body shop supply guys what they do for partial cans of paint, and they showed me the gizmo below (PPG DEX1911) that fits on the paint can and has a built-in stirrer. It has full seals, and is intended to be left on the can. Way cool - the amazing part is that it was only $11.13! (I pulled the gear of the stirrer shaft and chucked into a drill to stir it.) Finished priming the spars and ribs - it turns out to be a good thing that I decided to make the booth 13' long. Riveted the stiffeners/gussets to the remaining primed ribs.

   

    
7 Installed the wing tie-downs, inner/outer bellcrank mount angles, and stiffeners at outer bellcrank. Needed to add a thick washer to the bolts on the tie-downs - that probably offset half the weight savings I got by drilling the inner bellcrank mount angles :-) . All bolts torqued to 25in-lb per the AMH. Clamped the spars upright on the sawhorses, and clecoed on the first two forward ribs. Comparing my ribs to Glenn's pictures, apparently Rans made a change since the earlier batches of wing kits and shortened the nose of the forward ribs to avoid the problems with the leading edge of the skin - sometimes being a little later in the order pays off.

   
8 No work.
9 Cut out and formed pitot/static line mounting brackets. Transfer drilled nose ribs #1 and #4. Riveted right wing nose ribs #1 and #4, and transfer drilled pitot/static brackets.

 
10 Riveted left wing nose ribs #1 and #4. Transfer drilled and riveted right wing aft ribs #1-4.

 
11 No work.
12 Transfer drilled and riveted left wing aft ribs #1-4. Installed #5 forward/aft ribs. Installed #6 forward rib (left top two rivets out), and transfer drilled rib clips. (I got those padded vise-grip clamps for Christmas - thanks Andy!) Installed #7 forward/aft ribs, and transfer drilled rib clips. Will rivet rib clips after prep/priming. Transfer drilled pitot/static mounting brackets to forward ribs on right side.

   
13 No work.
14 Started straightening ribs #8-#10 and clecoing to wing spars.
15 Straightened and clecoed all remaining wing ribs.

   
16 No work. Looked at how to mount Gretz Aero pitot mast to wing.
17 No work.
18 Transfer drilled ribs #8-#12 on both wings, and removed for priming. Worked out idea for mounting pitot mast - need to fabricate new mounting plate to permit riveting to spar and forward rib.
19 Worked on deburring/polishing/cleaning parts for priming.
20 No work. Collected parts for next couple pages of building.
21 No work.
22 Finished prepping ribs and related parts. Primed everything.
23 Riveted all remaining wing ribs to spars. Started on tank bay assembly. Found that the locating hole in KPWI0435 that is used as the location reference for KPWI0449 is missing. Sent email to Rans tech support to get alternate reference point.

   
24 No work. Talked to Ed/Rans, will use 6.425" from outer locating for for edge dimension.
25 Transfer drilled tank bay area.
26 Assembled rear spar reinforcements and clecoed assembly to wing ribs. Transfer drilled reinforcements to rear spar and rear spar to ribs. Removed all rear spar and tank bay parts for priming.

   

   
27 Prepping parts for priming.
28 Prepping parts for priming.
29 Completed prepping parts for priming. Gathered parts for aileron bellcranks and aileron push-pull tubes.
30 Drilled 3/16" bolt holes in bellcrank plates and transfer drilled aileron push-pull tubes. Prepped all parts for priming.