| day |
notes |
hours |
| 1 |
Sand ply to fit between ribs. Cut 6 pieces BID 155x95mm. Draw BID shapes on polyethylene including bend lines. Mix 3 strokes epoxy and wet out all BID layers together on polyethylene. Trim plastic flush with bottom edge and back corners for easy application. Goes on with no trouble. Peel-ply. Clean accumulated brushes and file epoxy samples. |
537.5 |
| 2 |
Phone Neville about how far BID should go along root rib. He says it needs to go just short of the metal inserts which is a surprise as the peel-ply only extends about 100mm fore and aft of spar. AN4-7A bolts arrive from Light Aero, but no Nicopress sleeves yet. Tim brings Redux 420 back with about 1/4 used and we agree £20 for that. Remove peel-ply from 3mm ply brace area between ribs. Unclamp W21 assembly and dismantle. Mark out and cut BID 150mm wide by 270, 295 and 390mm for aft of starboard wing spar and 150mm wide by 430, 455 and 550mm for fwd of spar. Mark up layup on polyethylene including bend line & spar bush holes. Cut out bush clearance holes in BID. Cover both ends of bush with parcel tape circular patches. Mix 6 strokes epoxy and wet out. Not quite wet enough - add 1 more stroke. Apply on plastic sheet and it's not too difficult to position. Peel off plastic and work into corners etc. Peel-ply all over. |
541.2 |
| 3 |
Take panel out of trailer and instruments out of storage box. Draw up instruments in CADintosh and add them to sub-panel outline. Print out and try on panel. Looks pretty tight space left for sub-panel mountings. Remove peel-ply and parcel tape over spar bushes. Clean up resin weeps on bush faces. Mark out and cut piece of Lexan 100x120mm for starboard aileron bellcrank inspection panel. Sand to final shape with rounded corners on belt sander. Drill for mounting screws and drill skin flange for anchor-nut rivets. Make majority of access aperture with holesaw. |
542.8 |
| 5 |
Edit sub-panel drawing to improve some details and print out again to offer up on panel. Sand starboard aileron bellcrank access hole to blend into round-cornered rectangle. Dip anchor nuts and rivets in Duralac and pull up. Clean off excess with white spirit. Grease screws and nuts with Duckhams Keenol & fit inspection panel, still with protective sheet on both sides. Temporarily assemble rod-end bearings to bellcrank. |
543.9 |
| 6 |
Try fitting mounting holes into spaces in sub-panel between instrument casings. Smallest space is just over 5mm diameter - too small for hank bushes or the inserts recommended by Nigel - will probably have to use single-sided anchor nuts. Drill out W16 pivot bolt hole in starboard wing spar and countersink with 20mm flatbit. Cut and file out BID that has overlapped lateral pushrod holes. Trial fit bellcranks and pushrod - much filing needed, particularly at double rib beside bellcrank. File out some holes and re-try - still a bit more work needed. |
545.2 |
| 7 |
File starboard aileron lateral pushrod holes to clear at extremes of movement with bearings fully home on rod-ends. There are 16 threads on each end, and alignment looks roughly right with 5 threads exposed each end. All clearances good at that setting. Drill 3/16" ventilation hole in outboard rib. |
546.9 |
| 8 |
Get out starboard aileron and W52 horn boxes. Sand off all rough BID edges left from work on starboard wing. Tip wing onto LE. Check aileron hinge and mass balance arm positions. Outboard W52 will not fit in lower skin depression and clear balance arm. Mark edge of main instrument panel onto paper. |
548.3 |
| 9 |
Check with Neville what to do about horn box misalignment. He says to cut away top layer of glass as required from bottom skin, then scrape off foam, tapering edges. Cover with a single layer of BID, extending 1" beyond the removed area. He also suggests cutting the top off the horn boxes to give more space for horn upward travel, and attaching them to top skin with BID which will take up less thickness than the horn box + Redux. Also check the amount to cut off aileron mass-balance weights before attaching to horns. Neville says: "referring to manual page 7-10 fig 21, extend the bottom edge of the printed line 'may need slight' to meet the LE of the lead. Draw a line from there to a point about half-way down the upper surface of the lead. Cut off and round corners." Cut away top layer of glass and foam at outboard side of outboard horn area. Clean up and apply 1 layer BID, covered with peel-ply and then polyethylene sheet to allow horn box to sit lightly clamped in position while curing. Cut a piece of 3mm aluminium sheet to 180mm wide for instrument sub-panel. |
549.7 |
| 10 |
Plot main instrument panel shape onto squared paper and transfer co-ordinates into CADintosh file. Remove plastic sheet and peel-ply from horn box recess patch. Mark line on bottom skin and start to cut slot for outboard horn. |
549.9 |
| 12 |
Drill pilot hole in instrument panel to check clearances for fixing sub-panel at inside of bottom edge. Looks as if there will be just enough room. May be able to attach right-angle captive nuts to horizontal area. Cut ali subpanel to 265mm. Mark out and holesaw one instrument hole in it. It comes out reasonably satisfactory. Mark up and trim aileron balance lead weights to lines suggested by Neville. Re-weigh; 2 at 520g, 2 at 525g. Check horn lengths with weights. Cut horn slots, check, re-cut wider. Mark and check aileron hinge positions. Mark screw holes and recess line. File recess and offer up aileron to check. |
553.1 |
| 13 |
Sand aileron tip to allow hinge fitting with aileron hanging at right angles to wing. Trim back peel-ply for better fit along flange. Order another pack of Ampreg 20 with standard hardener from Europa. |
553.4 |
| 14 |
Get pulleys and rope from B&Q; think about where to fit for lifting wing. Try clamping aileron at right angles to wing. Clamp screw interferes with back of aileron, pushing horns against top flange. Try thinner clamps with aileron in line with wing, but bend radius of clamps too big to fit between horn and slot. Toolmakers clamps should be OK with aileron at right angle. Find piece of plastic rod to act as mandrel when re-aligning root bellcrank bolt hole - the hole was drilled parallel to the forward part of the root rib, not normal to the spar as it should have been. Intention is to work it out to correct angle with drill, then fill with flox and set plastic mandrel at correct angle while curing. |
553.7 |
| 15 |
Order toolmakers clamps from Buck & Hickman. |
|
| 16 |
Collect toolmakers clamps. Ampreg 20 arrives. Try out toolmakers clamps; 2.5" size needed to reach hinges. Unpack resin and store in cupboard. |
554.2 |
| 18 |
At Europa Club seminar, Frimley, Garry McKirdy says he can do complete gel-coat materials kit for £800, which compares very favourably with factory paint package at £1700. Seems worth considering, as he also gave hints on how to get easier good results with factory filler, which would be cheaper than the Poly-Fiber system. Observe the way gas struts are fitted on Schofield trailer door, under floor onto rearward-facing arms; maybe I could do the same. |
|
| 19 |
Fit pulleys to garage roof joists and string ropes. Trial lift seems OK, but securing plastic rope on cleat is difficult. Put away into the resin cupboard the Redux that Tim returned. Offer up aileron as suggested by Jeremy at seminar, with horns as far up as possible inside flange. That just about gives room to reach hinges from horn slots with fingers & clamps. |
554.9 |
| 20 |
Offer up & clamp aileron as tried out last night. Rough check of 22 degrees down required shows horn ends sensibly below top skin, but will need to check it more carefully with lead weights in position. |
555.1 |
| 21 |
Nicopress sleeves arrive from Light Aero. Mark Wilksch phones to say he's ready to deliver the engine if I'm ready to accept it. After some discussion of weights, I agree & ask for an invoice so I can order a check. Afterwards e-mail him to ensure price will be ex-works as I intend to collect rather than have it delivered. |
|
| 23 |
Check starboard aileron position and clamp hinges on flange. Drill and cleco hinges. Check lead weight lengths. Lengthen inboard slot. Check horn up travel; looks plenty in hand as about 26 degrees down aileron shown when weight contacts horn box. Check up travel for link rod distance. 75mm tip elevation shows about 23.5 degrees up aileron. Check rod end assembly on aileron drive bolt - just not threadbound with 2 EURO01 washers. Shorten bolt to clear wing rib, deburr & zinc coat. Dismantle aileron hinges & remove swarf. Re-assemble & check length of AN525-10R8 screws against anchor nuts. Looks like a 4mm spacer would hold it out of full engagement. Find suitable aluminium tube and part off 9 4mm-long spacers. |
557.4 |
| 24 |
Cut out radio panel template shape in paper. |
|
| 26 |
Trace radio panel paper template onto squared paper & enter into CADintosh. Fit starboard aileron up on clecos. Drill out to 2 holes nearest horns to 3/16" and fit screws & nuts. Drill out holes farthest from horn and then remaining ones. Remove from wing, position anchor nuts using 4mm spacers on screws and drill rivet holes. Countersink rivet holes. Check up travel & drill aileron LE to let screws enter. |
559.2 |
| 27 |
Print out radio panel & check for fit. Rivet anchor nuts onto starboard aileron hinges. Waste 1 rivet by not spotting anchor nut had slipped of it before I pulled it. Weigh trailer door at top edge - 4 stone 7 lb. Door height is 68.5". Will need to do some sums and ask David Schofield about suitable gas struts. Get out TU2 and check fit of rod ends in it - fine. Put away panel in trailer. Cut away peel-ply near starboard aileron horns. Stick lead weights to foam horns with 5-min epoxy; tape in position while curing. Mark out 12 off strips of UNI 380x50mm; cut out 6 of them. |
561.8 |
| 28 |
Wilksch invoice arrives; order cheque. Get 6.4mm polystyrene tube in hope I can use it as mandrel for re-aligning W16 pivot hole. Too big! Looks like I'll have to turn up a (steel) mandrel and mount it in a thick disc for alignment with the spar face. Tape together flap template sheets. Look for wood backing; nothing really ideal. |
|
| 29 |
Get chipboard for flap template, castors for engine dolly and 5-minute eopxy at B&Q. Find beheaded M10 bolt and steel billet for riveting anvil (for use with rivet set recently acquired from Harry Hopkins). |
|
| 30 |
Cheque arrives; copy invoice & send it with cheque to Wilksch. |
|
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