Tonight I dimpled and primed all of the flap parts. The priming was done at a temperature 37F. I was wondering how the primer would work at that temperature. It was fine. P60G2 primer is nasty, but it works great!
Some of the flap parts dimpled My setup for priming in the dark...it's 37F out tonight! The primer still did great! Left flap parts after being primed Right flap parts after being primed The leading edges of both flaps after being primed
Today I started the day of prepping the flap ribs. All holes need to be drilled to size and the edges deburred. Then I clecoed the flap structure together in preparation for various drilling operations later in the day. Next I fabricated the trailing edges. Then I clecoed the flap assemblies together with the skins in order to perform some drilling operations. After that was complete I disassembled the flap assemblies and countersunk the trailing edges.
Today I started the day off creating cradles for the flaps. Similiar to the ones used to assemble the leading edge and fuel tanks. Then I started working the various prep work for the nose ribs. Mostly final drilling holes and deburring. Then I had to cut one of the flanges off each of the flap ribs.
One of two flap cradles I cut them out of extra material from the crates that the wings came in.
Today I riveted the right bottom skin. Then I installed the nutplates for the inspection panel covers on both wings. I also drilled and dimpled the inspection cover screw holes. Now onto the flaps!
Right bottom skins riveted on All 48 nutplates riveted in for the inspection cover screws Inspection covers with the holes drilled to size and dimpled. I primed them the other day when while spraying the wing skins.
Today I riveted the outboard bottom wing skin on the left wing. Tomorrow I will try to wrap up the right outboard skin.
Left wing fully skinned!
Today I finished riveting the the inboard bottom skins. I also did some bench testing of the heated pitot tube. The guidance from Garmin is to not trim the aluminum tubing coming out. Other vendors recommend trimming to no shorter then 6". However I need to trim the tubing down to about 5" for good clearance from the aileron push tube. The reasoning behind the guidance from the vendors is that if your going to transition from the aluminum tubing to nylon tubing (which I am) you want sufficient tubing length to absorb the heat from the pitot tube.
Today I mounted the right fuel tank to the main assembly.
The White powder coating I ordered arrived today so I got right to powder coating the pitot mast. Next I assembled the components for the magnometer mount and began riveting the bottom inboard skin of the left wing
The pitot mast after being powder coated The mast baking in the oven Assembling the garmin magnometer mount and mounting brackets Mounting bracket assembled Began riveting the bottom inboard skin.
Today I primed the top skins, gap fairing, J-Stiffeners, access covers and magnometer mount parts. Then riveted on the aileron and flap gap fairings on both wings.
Top skins primed Aileron gap fairing riveted in place Flap gap fairing riveted in place
This morning I tested the right fuel tank for leaks again and found another leak that I missed a couple of days ago. So I mixed up another batch of the quick cure tank sealant (AC-240) and made a spot repair. It was near the inboard leading edge. I decided to try to accelerate the curing by placing a space heater next to the sealant. According to the tech sheet you can force cure up to 150 degrees.