Project 5 build thread

[alexM]

Bruce,
We don't typically have heat issues here in the PNW either but I'm definitely familiar with blast tubes. Both the BT-13 and T-6 had them pointed at the magnetos. I'll definitely consider it when I choose the location for the RDAC.

[alexM]

Ribs 3-10 are all bonded in place. Rib 10 is curing as I type this so while I could pull my right wing off the fixture as soon as tomorrow evening, I'll probably leave it sitting right there until I get back from Stick & Rudder.

Big milestone which will allow me to rig the lift strut fittings (eek!) which in turn opens the door to fuel tanks, rib 1, butt ribs, doors and my Laker leading edge. I can almost smell covering and systems installation in my future.

I have some extra trailing edge material so after I got rib 10 set tonight I got out a piece and practiced snipping on it. I'm glad I have extra because my first effort wasn't beautiful. I'm currently pondering the best way to make notch those pieces and have them look better.

[Eric Page]

I have some extra trailing edge material so after I got rib 10 set tonight I got out a piece and practiced snipping on it. I'm glad I have extra because my first effort wasn't beautiful. I'm currently pondering the best way to make notch those pieces and have them look better.

I'll happily trade you for mine!

[alexM]

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I made my trip to Nampa/Caldwell/Greenleaf/Homedale,ID where I had a really good time flying with Stick & Rudder - and a visit to the Kitfox factory. I flew 7.8 hours and made 36 landings in all kinds of conditions. What a great little airplane.

I came back and finished bonding in the 3/8" diameter stringers. I did some dry fitting of the false ribs and the fuel tanks but didn't bond anything in place.
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Today I borrowed a trailer and went to my hangar to get my wing rotisseries and bring them home. It seemed odd to decommission my saw horse wing build fixture but it was time. As of tonight my wings are on the rotisseries and waiting for me to do the fillets and false ribs. I'll get the fillets done for sure but I could delay the false ribs until after rigging the wing strut attach fittings if needed.

Hoping to truck my wings to the hangar next weekend and introduce them to my fuselage. Seems like a mile stone.

[alexM]

I jumped right into the spar/rib fillets. It's an acquired skill for sure. I've finished all the rear spar fillets but I wish I had started on the front door because they're definitely going to be easier.

The work I did is "good enough" but not award winning in terms of aesthetics.
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Yesterday my carbon fiber baggage floor arrived. Two pounds lighter than stock. I will finish both floors and carry on.PXL_20210401_204822316.jpg

[alexM]

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I never realized my kindergarten finger printing skills were going to come in handy but here it is. I finished filleting both forward and aft spars to the ribs, and also the drag/anti drag tubes where they pass through ribs 4, 6 and 8.

Then I decided to invest some time into the false ribs. I sanded all of them on both sides with 220 using my random orbit sander. Next I carefully arranged them in a stack and sanded them with 120 to get the periphery to match up (they didn't require much help). Then I used 220 on my rubber "taco" to sand the edges of each one individually.

Several were warped so I came to the forum and did a search. I followed the advice of jtpitkin and just heated them up and worked them with my fingers. I'm going to have to revisit several of them but I decided to start bonding them to the wing. I got four bays on one wing done and stopped while I was ahead.
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[jiott]

To fix warped ribs I just wiped them with a damp cloth on the conCAVE side. It swells that layer of plywood and pushes the rib straight.

[alexM]

Thanks Jim. I saw your comments in some of the threads I found too. I'll try your method on the ones I've already hit with heat but curled back up. I have a few more that have a twist to them, which I've only worked with the heat method so far.

Fortunately it seems I have some extra ribs because of the way they did extended wing tips back in the day, so I think I'm going to have plenty of straight ribs to use.

[alexM]

Completed the bonding of the upper false ribs and then did the layout of the hole in the to of the aft spars.
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Manual called for drilling to 19/64 and reaming to 0.3115". My reamer is 0.3125" which will have to be close enough.
I was pretty sure I couldn't drill straight to 19/64 without the hole walking. The manual suggests that a step drill will get you there.

So today I put my scrap wings to use by drilling several test holes in them. My step drill goes from 9/32 to 5/16 which is more than reamers are typically intended to clean up.
Using the a #30 pilot allowed me to keep the 19/64" centered where I need it. With a dozen holes for practice I came back home and drilled them for real.
Then I picked up a U-Haul trailer and hauled the wings to my hangar.
I spent some time today digging through my remaining parts for the wing strut hardware and other pieces I know I'll need soon.
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Doing some RTFM for the lift strut attach bracket, etc

[alexM]

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This was a milestone today
With the help of my youngest son I dropped the landing gear off and replaced it with some wood blocks and hardware store nuts and bolts. Then we got the spar attach brackets precisely located and clamped in place and we did a dry run of fitting the lower end of the lift strut attached to the fuselage.

My lift strut brackets have always been a really snug fit on the spar tubes. When I did the original layout to create the "no rivet" zone early in the wing build they never did fit tight to the spars. Today I used a piece of appropriately sized PVC pipe and a rubber hammer to give them some love and with just a few encouraging whacks they now fit really well.

I installed the rod ends in the lift struts and about that time my airport neighbor/former airplane partner showed up so I took advantage of having three sets of hands there. In about twenty minutes both wings were on the plane. Lots of work to do before I reach for a drill but it was cool seeing them in place.
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This is a bit out of sequence to the manual because I haven't leveled anything and clamped the fuselage to planet earth. But I can't always get help so I took advantage of it while I could. I can go back by myself and attend to the leveling, and make corrections to the washers, hardware orientation etc which was hastily skipped over during this fit up.

Other trivia
I got my box of carbon fiber arrow shafts to use for stiffening up the aluminum trailing edge pieces. Weighing and measuring the pieces I calculated that each piece cut to length will be 7 grams.

Which is great, but then just like sipping a diet coke and ordering a triple whopper with chili cheese fries and a shake - my 26" Airstreaks showed up.
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