aviator79's build

[jiott]

Like Esser I didn't fill the #3 gap at all (put some extra wood spacer blocks). I wanted to leave that gap open to make the rib stitching easy. I would not use SuperFill (other than for some final smoothing) because it is not strong enough to take the flexing that occurs when the wing twists and flexes in turbulence, etc. Would be afraid it might flake loose.

[David47]

So I positioned the tank outboard as far as I could and didn't fill the gap with anything, like Josh. There is enough room to allow rib stitching. Reason I did this is that I'm putting an access panel directly under the tank fittings for the purpose of inspection and to allow easy access and removal of the tank outlet/strainer fitting, and as a "just in case" scenario should I need to fix a fuel leak.

[aviator79]

Thanks guys. I have just enough gap on the #3 to rib stitch, so I think I'll just leave it open.

New question: Should I have instructions for the Laker Leading Edge? I have the fiberglass pieces, but nothing that indicates what I do with them. It appears I use the short piece of leading edge extrusion, perhaps cut into small lengths, and install per the wing instructions to define the LE contour, and then just trim the fiberglass and yysol it to the ribs, but most of the options come with their own instructions, and I didn't want to start making stuff up if there's a manual somewhere that I'm missing.

[colospace]

I pushed the tank outboard like Eddie mentioned to get as much room as possible for the tank fuel fittings. I still used a thin strip of balsa under the flanges to support the Hysol. When I laid out the rib stitching, I simply drilled holes big enough for the stitching needle to pass thru easily. Worked well for me.

[jrevens]

I drilled holes for the lacing also.

Regarding the Laker leading edge, I called Debra, and she sent a sheet with some pictures and instructions. It’s pretty simple, but it seems like you should get that with the darn things, especially considering what they cost. Yes, you do use little pieces of the original leading edge material to locate and align the LLE. Some short pieces of that material were included with my LLEs.

[aviator79]

In the last week, I varnished and installed the butt ribs to the fuselage.
I fabricated, drilled, and painted the fuel sight gauge plates. I'll install them after the wing is covered and painted. I installed the false ribs between ribs 6 and 7, and trimmed and installed the false ribs under the fuel tank. Installed the #2 rib. I managed to match the underside contour really well from the trailing edge to just short of the leading edge where I couldn't hold enough curvature while the Hysol cured. I installed the trailing edge between the #1 and #3 ribs, and drilled the wingtip mounting strips to be installed after covering.

I'm really enjoying the build. I bought a clock for the garage because space time warps in the vicinity of the Kitfox. 15 minutes "reading the manual" before work. Yeah right...

[David47]

Really like your lower ribs instal under the tank. My effort isn't anywhere as neat. I had to do a lot of trimming to get the false ribs to follow the contour of ribs 1 and 3. Thank god for fabric covering !. Good work.