| day |
notes |
hours |
| 3 |
Take down curing tent. Break starboard aileron out of jig, peel back edges of peel-ply and trim glass edges with padsaw and file flush to foam. It's tending to curl slightly along its length, so will need to be weighted down onto jig and have straightness and washout checked before next layup. Swap starboard lower jig blocks for upper set. Cut TE support block off, remove peel-ply and sand down foam to match existing profile. Quite a joggle still left between edge of foam and TE glass - filling will be needed on both top & bottom of this surface. Get port aileron and see if it's feasible to set it up for its first layup together with the starboard one for its second. The centre joint faces of the port halves don't seem to be quite accurate as there is a slight gap between them at TE when LE & TE are lined up straight. Will need to mix a bit of flox with the rapid epoxy to fill the gap. Mark up and cut out 2 pieces of UNI 1650mm. Cut out polyethylene shapes for port aileron closeout ribs and epoxy them in place. |
398.9 |
| 5 |
Line up port aileron halves and stick them together with Araldite 2012 thickened with a little flox to fill the gap at the TE. Make joint offset slightly from jig block joint as there is a bad discontinuity there. Use one aluminium angle to keep TE straight and 2 more as weights to keep joint level. Check straightness and alignment of TE & LE. Mark and cut out 2 more 1650mm lengths of UNI with tracer lines as usual. Set up starboard aileron on upper jig block and adjust for correct washout with lead weights holding it down. Needs quite a bit of jacking up at root TE corner. Add shims along length of foam to keep TE & LE straight. Stick down foam & shims to table with hot-melt. |
401.3 |
| 6 |
Decant new tin of hardener into reservoir. Set up port aileron on lower jig blocks and adjust for correct washout. Put squares of masking tape on underside of aileron and stick to jigs with blobs of rapid epoxy. Stick down jigs and shims with hot-melt. Cut 3 strips of peel-ply for remaining aileron surfaces. Apply peel-ply tape to closeout ribs and TE, and to closeout ribs of port aileron underside. Mark lines at 30 degrees to LE on both ailerons. Ian arrives to help with glass-cloth. Mix 4 strokes epoxy with 3 doses micro for slurry and paint onto starboard aileron. Drape first layer UNI. One of the triangular offcuts can be saved; the other picked up some resin. Mix 7 strokes epoxy and wet out, then scissor trim. Mix another 3 strokes and finish wetting out. Drape second layer of UNI. Mix 4 strokes epoxy, wet out, scissor trim. Apply peel-ply tape to wrap around LE and then pre-cut piece on top surface. Mix 3 strokes epoxy and 2.5 doses micro for slurry and paint onto starboard aileron underside. Drape first layer of UNI - much easier as smaller area and no wraparound. Mix 8 strokes epoxy and wet out. Care needed at the TE joggle to avoid bubbles. After scissor trim, drape second layer which wets out quite well without any more resin. Mix 2 strokes epoxy and wet out remaining few patches. Apply pre-cut peel-ply. Erect curing tent and leave to cure. |
407.1 |
| 7 |
Turn off heat in curing tent. |
|
| 18 |
Take down curing tent and lift ailerons off jig blocks. Trim edges with padsaw and sand to size. Put starboard aileron aside. Get out port upper jig blocks and set up roughly to saw off TE support block. Despite using strip of steel as usual under the hacksaw blade, the sawn surface is below the required profile in several places. Mix 1 stroke epoxy and 3 doses q-cell for dry micro and spread on. Quite hard to get level so leave proud for sanding to correct surface. As this does not need to develop any strength, don't bother to erect curing tent. |
410.7 |
| 19 |
Alas - the filler has not gone off properly because of the overnight temperature drop. Mix more micro, not quite so dry this time to make easier spreading, and re-do the job properly, adding more fill where chunks torn out of foam while attempting to file uncured areas. Erect tent and leave to cure. |
412.1 |
| 20 |
Turn off heat, remove curing tent. Spend a long time filing and sanding micro off underside of port aileron, level with foam. Set up in upper jig blocks and check washout. Glue jigs to bench with hot-melt and aileron to jigs with 5-minute epoxy. Mark lines at 30 degress to LE and add peel-ply tapes to root & tip flanges. When Ian arrives, mix 2 strokes epoxy and 2 doses micro for slurry and paint on. Not so much needed as so much is already filled. Drape first layer of UNI. Mix 8 strokes epoxy and wet out. Scissor trim, drape second layer which wets out well without any more resin. Care needed, as before, along TE to ensure no bubbles at joggle. Mix 1 stroke epoxy and wet out remaining few patches. Apply last piece of pre-cut peel-ply. Add another piece of peel-ply tape along the joggle where it's quite wet. It's hard to squeegee that area without pulling the cloth away from the internal corner of the joggle. Erect curing tent and leave to cure. |
415.9 |
| 21 |
Turn off heat in curing tent. |
|
| 30 |
Take down curing tent. After pulling off top layer of peel-ply tape along TE of port aileron bottom layup, some bubbles are visible under peel-ply at joggle, but they are between peel-ply & glass, so no problem. Peel up one corner to check and glass looks just about right in bubble area, neither too glossy-wet nor too dry. Cut off the edges of the layup with padsaw and sand flush to foam. Crack aileron off jig block and block off table and set aside. Cut out wedge of foam with hacksaw blade from LE of starboard aileron under hinge flange. Mark hinge reinforcement positions. Get hinges from box 12 and check flange depth - insufficient! Bandsaw a strip of mahogany into small wedges and wrap sandpaper round them to deepen the vee. Mark hinge locations and concentrate on those areas. Stop when the hinges will go right in with the tops of the knuckles flush to the edge of the flange. Will need to smooth in the LE profile a bit from the UNI layup edge. Remove ends of peel-ply tape at root and tip - I should have stopped them short of the hinge flange area. |
418.7 |
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