| day |
notes |
hours |
| 1 |
Cut 2 full-length strips of 50mm BID. Measure aileron closeout space on wing TE. Will need a piece of wood about 1540mm x 45.5mm. |
507.6 |
| 2 |
Cut 4 strips of 150mm polyethylene for BID wetting-out. |
507.7 |
| 3 |
Mark out 2 polyethylene strips for BID wetting-out. |
507.9 |
| 4 |
Turn on heat as although not cold it's about 60% RH. Start to mix epoxy for BID strips, but despite the caps on the spouts the hardener side spout is slightly blocked and it squirts sideways outside the mixing cup. Spend some time cleaning up the mess and clearing out both spouts. Clean up the caps but leave them out for further treatment. Mix 3 strokes epoxy and 3 doses flox for spar-skin fillets and apply up to rib at about BL54. Mix 3 strokes epoxy which wets out 920mm double-layer BID. Cut and apply to remaining areas around root. Mix 5 strokes epoxy and wet out 1350mm (full-length) double-layer BID, leaving too much spare for a sample. Decant some into another cup and soak the pump spout caps in it. Cut and apply BID, completing all required out to BL54 rib. Peel-ply all layups with green stuff. Set the wooden caps out to cure on a piece of peel-ply. |
511.8 |
| 5 |
Turn off heat. Remove peel-ply and file samples. |
512.0 |
| 7 |
Find a piece of mahogany about 47mm wide for aileron closeout and mark off to 1550 long. |
512.2 |
| 8 |
Cut wood to length for aileron closeout spacer. Find another slightly wider piece to form a flange & stop it slipping right into the closeout. Find 3 instrument handles to attach the flange with. |
512.4 |
| 9 |
Tidy up edges of wooden pump spout caps in lathe. Re-drill to fit spouts (better than before, we hope). Cut piece of wood for flange of aileron closeout spacer into 3 equal parts. |
513.0 |
| 10 |
Collect ASI, stall warner, and other bits from Europa factory. Meet Faye and Rob for first time. Ask Neville about best way to remove mould release from fuselage etc - he says just water should be fine as it's only PVA. |
|
| 14 |
Check inventory of all parts collected from factory; all seems to be in order. |
|
| 15 |
Mark and drill hole in wing spar for stall warner tube. Mark line on wing to LE, using welding wire as instructed in Mod 61A instructions. Not happy with result as it seems to be angled too much inboard. Try a piece of aluminium tube which is longer and more rigid. With that, I can feel both the inner corner and the outboard edge of the rib flange. Positioning tube with its front end just clear of the rib flange corner, then drawing a line parallel to its outboard side, gives a better-looking line. The rib flange seems wider than the 20mm called out in the instructions so am happy my spot is satisfactory, even it it turns out slightly more than 10mm from outboard face of rib. |
514.1 |
| 16 |
Scan and print out wing LE template from Mod 61A instructions. Stick to card and cut out. Offer up to wing and it does not fit! It would fit if placed much nearer the root. Then I notice the template is marked BL52.5 whereas the instructions talk about the BL102 nose rib. Find some longer M6 screws for the instrument handles. Drill flange pieces and main length of wood for aileron closeout spacer, and fit together with handles. |
515.2 |
| 17 |
Call factory and speak to Roger about Mod 61A template. He agrees his copy is wrong too, but finds Mod 61B has the correct one and faxes a copy to me. (First use of the FaxSTF application on the PowerBook and it all went so well and quickly that I thought it had dropped out until I looked in the inbox and there it was!) Print it out and it looks correct scale. Mark an approx fuselage centre line on the spar so I can check on BL values. Mark approx BLs on TE ribs for future reference. |
|
| 18 |
At Europa Club committee meeting Jeremy Davey suggests sighting through the spar hole against a light to locate the LE probe hole. |
|
| 19 |
Use Jeremy's suggestion to locate outboard edge of BL102 rib flange. Quite clear as Redux on flange opaque compared with semi-translucent skin. Use length of heavy plastic damp-proof-course material draped over LE to transfer position for marking. Rib flange edge is further outboard than previous markings would suggest. Solder wire onto smallest bulb available and poke through spar hole, providing some illumination to confirm rib flange dimension. |
515.9 |
| 21 |
Stick the new template from the fax onto card and trim the LE shape out of it. |
|
| 22 |
Position template on LE and mark hole position. Tape template 50mm inboard of hole and drill pilot hole. Enlarge to 10mm. Offer probe through spar hole and eventually find LE hole. Angle of tube looks good against template. Even after a couple of tries, still hard to locate LE hole with tube. Bend rear end of tube down and inboard (instructions call for that to be done after reduxing tube, but I think safer to use tube bender first, out in the open). |
516.5 |
| 24 |
Mix 2.5 strokes epoxy and 3 doses flox and spread it on spar-skin corners out as far as lower side of BL95 rib. Mix 4 strokes epoxy and wet out one full-length 2-ply BID tape, with some left over for sample. Apply to upper and lower spar-skin corners between BL54 and BL75 rib, and part-way along lower joint between BL75 & BL95. Peel-ply everything including the flox out to BL95, using peel-ply in 2 pieces for easy continuation of that layup. After lunch, cut all remaining marked-out full-length BID tapes from roll. Mix 5 strokes epoxy and 5.5 doses flox and do all rest of spar-skin fillets out to tip. Lay out 2 layers of full-length BID on polyethylene and wet out with 4 strokes epoxy as before. Apply in sections, overlapping previous part-finished piece. Repeat with 2 more full-width 2-layer BID strips to complete top & bottom reinforcements to tip of spar. Peel-ply it all. Leave heat on overnight to cure. |
522.1 |
| 25 |
Measure outside of aileron closeout for reinforcements; 50+25+25+30mm. Mark and cut 3 full widths of 130mm wide BID. Cut some green peel-ply to 150mm wide. Mark up 4 polyethylene strips with 130mm tramlines. Get out 60ml syringe for flox; no need for extension as nose of syringe is about perfect for reaching into corner below aileron closeout. Find a plastic container to hold acetone for cleaning it. Mix 4 strokes epoxy and 4 doses flox and find it just about fills syringe. Squeeze in feeding along while watching to avoid air entrapment and then squeegee off, first with mixing stick and then with fingertip. The excess goes back in the syringe for the other section of closeout and there is enough with some to spare for a sample. Mix 9 strokes epoxy which wets out a full-length of 130mm two-ply BID easily. Cut a length from middle for inboard section and apply. Put end pieces on outboard section with tapers overlapping, leaving a short piece to do. Have to take Wilma to doctor appointment so peel-ply everything including flox fillet before leaving. This turns out to be a mistake as when I return not long afterwards the flox is still quite gooey and the peel-ply tends to drag it out rather than peeling off cleanly. I think enough flox left to be OK, though. Cut 200mm double thickness of BID, wet out with 2 strokes epoxy and apply to tip of closeout. Peel-ply again. |
525.9 |
| 26 |
Remove spacer from aileron closeout and find it has set less tight as hoped. Dismantle spacer and cut into 2 pieces with longer one correct to fit between hinge reinforcements. Drill new holes and re-position flanges. Remove peel-ply from last couple of days' layups. Find some flox has squeezed into root end of closeout so grind it off with Perma-Grit rod in Dremel. Measure up for hinge reinforcements; 25+25+30mm. Work out how best to fit these and W18 BID patches into width of roll. Mark & cut 200mm wide and get 3-off 330mm plus 4 off 80mm out of that. Mark and cut 280mm wide and get 3-off 180mm plus 3-off 150mm plus a good bit spare. Cut peel-ply for hinges and W18 patches. Clean up unmasked area of W18 mid with 100 grit ScotchBrite-style wheel. Really easy to clean up to edge of tape. Scuff-sand around W18 mid on skin & rib, and hinge areas of aileron closeout. Fit spacer to aileron closeout between hinge areas. Mark up 80mm tramlines on piece of polyethylene and lay out 2 layers of hinge patches. Mix 2 strokes epoxy and wet out. Apply to TE face of closeout and peel-ply. Fit shorter spacer at tip, angled to clear hinge patch and secure with masking tape. Slide wing aft on table to allow access for W18 from underneath. Mix 2 strokes epoxy with 3 doses flox and butter onto rib face where W18 will be. Slide W18 into position, ensure well covered with flox on inner face, and fit cocktail sticks. Shear them off flush to W18 face with scalpel. Smooth flox fillets around W18 and in lightening holes. Mix 4 strokes epoxy and paint skin and rib face with it. Fold biggest piece of BID in two and apply to skin and rear closeout. Fold up onto rib and adjust to remove wrinkles at corner. Wet out fully with brush. Repeat for next 2 layers. Peel-ply and add a few extra layers with tape in corners where it looks damp. |
530.0 |
| 27 |
Turn off heat. |
|
| 28 |
Remove peel-ply from aileron hinge flange and mid W18 patches. Trim off cocktail sticks flush with back face of rib. Sand aileron hinge flange flush. Assemble W21 / OR6 temporarily and check fit on W18 outer pair. Trial assemble outer bellcrank. AN4-10A too long for rod-end bearings and is threadbound. AN4-7A would be better. |
531.5 |
| 29 |
Check all MW4 assemblies for bolt lengths; looks like AN4-7A preferable to AN4-10A for all except those on CS08; that should probably be AN4-10A instead of AN4-11A. Ask Harry if he's got any AN4-7A in stock - he hasn't. Scuff sand area around BL95-97 ribs. Clean up W18s with ScotchBrite wheel. Mix 3 strokes epoxy with 4 doses flox and apply to rib face recesses. Slide W18s up through slots and butter flox onto inner surfaces of them. Insert cocktail sticks to position. Slide W21 assembly into place and clamp. Shave off cocktail sticks flush with W18 surfaces. Mix 7 strokes epoxy and paint onto lower skin and rib faces. Lay up BID layer by layer and wet out. Peel-ply all over. |
534.2 |
| 30 |
Order AN4-7A from Light Aero. To make up the minimum order charge, add some nicopress sleeves, suitable for stainless wire, as there seems to be some doubt about whether the ones supplied in the kit were correct. Print out the 3mm ply cutting plan. Remove peel-ply from W18 outer but leave W21 in position. Cut off inner ends of cocktail sticks. Measure for ply, looks about 42x95mm. Cut a piece to that size. BID will need to be 155x95mm. |
534.9 |
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