19-Wings

 

Chapter 19 Wings

doubleclick pics for larger images

I used the Featherlite foams for the wings. I made the wings before I made the CS so that the CS would match the wings more carefully.

And I used a different way to orient for attachment of the wings to CS to fuselage.

19-1

Here are the patterns for the jigs and labeled. Label every little piece like "Monk". It helps, later.

19-2

I took the straight portions of the TE and fitted them together along the line on the floor and microed them together (with finishing nails to hold). The next picture shows the LE and spar cap section. The spar cap section is added to the TE section after placement in the jig setup. You can see the TE with that section added in the third picture. The jigs will not be as straight as the foam cores from Featherlite, so I went this way to take advantage of that. The results were great. The last picture is out of order, but I added it to show that the LE was confirmed for contour, before I started glassing.


19-2B

The thin W-18 piece holds up the outer edge of LWA4. See 19-2 of plans. Get out your 3/4 inch socket with a short extension and make sure that the access is shaped correctly. After I glassed the wing and before I placed the wings onto the CS, I made covers for these openings. O.K., so that is how I did it, but here is a far better way to make the covers. Go to chapter 13 and see the nose panel for access to the heated pitot assembly.
Steps:
1. Make the glassed recession as shown here.
2. Glass over the wing (top and bottom)and place the UNI reinforcements per plans.
3. Make a plastic template that overlaps the forward edge of the wing and LWA4 and make a mark from plastic to glass to show position and tape it down. Draw a kite outline for the shape that is available between UNI layups for the upper and lower panels. Set the plastic patterns aside and micro the area around the panel like the work in chapter 25. Just cut back the quantity to four squirts of epoxy and six scoops of micro and you can do the area around the top and bottom of one wing at a time. Keep the micro thin. You want to barely cover the UNI reinforcement layups and fill in the low spots between.
4. Put the plastic pattern back after the sanding of the micro and mark the panel shape. Taking care to not cut the UNI reinforcement, use your dremel disk and cut out the panel out.
5. Refer to chapter 13 and chapter 25 (25-2) for more on the panel finish.


19-3

The first picture above shows the after spar cap look. In the second picture, there several important points. The plywood with brick is to torque the LE a small amount down for straightness of the TE. Once the spar cap is placed, it adds frigidness to the shape. I the Saran wrap is edged out with the blue masking tape for protection of the foam edge. The dam is in place (grey part). I used the dispenser like for the canard, But I all the pieces and laid them out in first on top order. I marked the spar cap for the start and stop of each layer. Back to the first picture. I marked the direction of the layups and numbered them. The aileron edge is marked, but you have to go to the last picture to see the peel ply under the layups. In the third picture above, the rudder cable conduit has been inserted. The layups and reinforcement layups are all marked. I layed out the glass on the wings and then rolled it back up in reverse direction on the scrap cardboard tubing. I labeled each tubing for which ply. This helps as long as you can follow your direction instructions that are marked and do the layups right after you finish marking. The next to the last picture shows the other layups marked and arranged. The last picture shows the peel ply present for the aileron cutouts. I waited to cut out the ailerons until after the CS was finished. I screwed two 2x4s together and hung the wings up along the walls. The fuselage is under the work table. At the upper left of the picture is the tip of the canard hanging from the ceiling.


19-4

The first picture shows a typical setup for me. The A-13 weight is in place and the flat metal A2 and A5 are shown and the A10 is ready and has been trial fitted. The glass is cut and ready. I have sample pictures from other websites ready to refer to one last time. The interior layup for the wing recess at the ailerons needs to be even and in line, I covered a board with saran wrap and clamped it in. Mark the interior shape on plastic and then wet up the glass on that and cut the plastic in that shape and carry to the recess on the plastic and then peel away the plastic. Be sure to micro in the corners prior to placement. I don't want to insult you with details that you probably know already. I can't remember what I wrote already. In the third picture, I used the same board without the saran wrap and screwed the aileron side of the hinges on top of the board and reinserted it inside the recess. I trimmed the glass edge for the hinge recess, then I drilled the holes for the clickbonds and marked each hinge for that specific location including inboard direction. The clickbonds are held snug with a larger nut as a spacer and then the "MS" nut to hand tighten. The wood wedges are to hold the blue tape up. I marked the edge of the hinge recess with a sharpie so that I could easily trim back the one ply BID that I put over the floxed clickbonds.



19-5

Please don't send me e-mails about the ghost images on the skin. I found some great peel ply material, but you have to place the pattern away from the glassed surface. The above pictures show a way to accurately transfer the hinges to the bench and rivet the aileron side of the hinge to the A2 and A5 pieces. In the first picture you want an object taped onto the aileron for giving a unique shape (creases in the duct tape, ect.). The stone or plaster of Paris must fit against the hinge extensions and then you mark the outline of the plaster onto the tape and aileron. In the next to the last picture, the hinge was unbolted from the wing and the bottom side of mold is shown. The last picture is showing the mold on the outer side of the aileron on the taped on tongue blade. I drilled two holes and placed two small screws to hold the position, then I placed the rivets, last of all I replaced the screws with rivets.

Centerspar to Wing to Fuselage Attachment

I did this section another way. In summary, I blocked up the fuselage level is all directions and then marked the 17.4 waterline on both sides of the fuselage from the firewall to the TE of the canard. I set the CS in place and leveled it up. I drilled holes in the longerons and CS and locked in that position ( I had to tape small spacers under the CS to fuselage). I trial fitted the upper FW, the engine mount and the wings to the CS setup. Throughout this process and the construction of the strakes, I keep the fuselage blocked up and level at the same position. Note: I installed the aileron servomotor for the autopilot before this point. See chapter 16. I cut my work table in half and used it to support the wings. You will have to place additional support at the outboard end of the wing.



19-6

In the first and fourth picture is all that you need for a water level system. I got 30 feet of 1/2 inch outside diameter clear hose. The size matched the sharpie pen diameter. The red Crystal Lite makes this a one person system. I would start out at the same point and equalize the two ends. One end starts out at the fuselage and then go to the stands that are in the fourth picture and mark the same level there. As long as the stand stays at that position, it will remain accurate. I checked the waterline matching of left and right sides of the fuselage first of all. The stands were very important. The second picture shows the initial trial fit. When I made the CS, I had made cardboard templates of the wing root where it mates to the CS to match the CS more accurately and that turned out well. You will need tons of small pieces of plywood and short board to tweak the wing pitch and roll to even everything up. The third picture shows the locking in of the CS. In the last picture, I drew my target lines to guide the drilling alignment.



19-7
The wing is supported on the backside to brace for the drilling of the 1/4th inch holes. I used a platform like the you can see in the next picture to line up the 1/4th inch long bit. The 1/4th inch bit went from the front of the CS to the back and then through the hard points on the CS and then the wing. The drill that I used was a Black and Decker masonry drill with the side handle. The drill is set for regular action and not hammer action. I used the same drill for all three size bits. The first picture also shows the addition of bracing on the TE of the wing. The CS is locked into position with the finishing nails. After the 1/4th holes are drilled, I used a mirror and checked the accuracy of the center on the hardpoint. The second picture shows the use of the platform. I leveled the platform for each job. The drill bit picture shows the three bits used. The order is right to left. The middle picture is the 1/2 inch diameter DEWalt "gold" bit with the 1/4th inch guide point. When you drill and you transition to the glassed layers, then the bit will bind. Back up the bit and restart again. The last bit used is the 5/8th inch Hitachi (1/2 inch shank) "Black Shield" brand bit. Before I moved from one site, I would trial fit the bushing and trimm off the excess debth and mark the bushing and store it away, until trial fit of the wing.

The fourth picture shows the support bracing of the wing for that side to be drilled out to the 5/8th inch size. I used the water level and the level stands to line the wing up to the original position, then I leveled the drill platform. The outboard drill points had only a minimal platform height of 1/4th to 1/2 inch on the bottom hole, so that one was easy. The platforms help keep from having diverging bolt angles of the three bolts. The last picture shows the install of the wings. This is Dr T, a dentist that visited from Mexico. His english is limited and my spanish is limited, so we had an interesting time on the install.

19-8

The first picture above is a reminder that I installed the aileron servomotor before the CS install. The access panel that I cut in the armrest is shown to get to the AN3 bolt. Notice that the fuel line is visible, so I limited the depth of the dremel disk cut. Also, it is better to install the forward of the FW aluminum pads and layups for the lower engine mount reinforcements, before you install the CS.

CS Install (to the fuselage and lower firewall)

In chapter 14-4 it shows the BID reinforcement of the CS to the lower aft part of the firewall. So, left some plastic over the part of the BID that is going to be "clinging" to bottom aft of the CS, when I slide the CS into place. I used some masking tape over the plastic and onto the bottom of the CS to hold that up ( I took off the plastic and duct tape after cure). The second picture shows the aft view of the CS and you can see the back half of that reinforcement. At the time that you flox in the CS, you will have to have that layup in place, called L-1. I cut all the layups out and labeled them. The floxing in of the CS is no big deal, when the finishing nails are already ready to lock in the position. I waited for the other seven layups until after the cure and after the cure, I used pliers and slipped out the finishing nails.

Layups:

L-1, L-2, and L-3 are 5 ply BID tapes for the lower firewall to CS layups.

L-4, L-5, and L-6 are 5 inch long strips of 5 ply BID

L-4 is at the longeron to CS at the left and right sides (outer and inner)

L-5 is at the CS lower outer to fuselage (in the depression area of the fuselage)

L-6 is at the CS lower inside to fuselage interior

L-7 is 2 inch UND strips from the bottom of the CS to the "wings" of the the landing gear bulkheads ( you will have to use the plastic and masking tape trick to hold it up for cure)

L-8 is a 5 inch, 5 ply BID on the CS forward side to the interior fuselage sides.

The last picture shows the wing root rib that I placed to transition to the end of the wing and to use to attach the oil cooler to on one side and a small radiator on the other side. The rudder cable will route to the top side of that space. The pictures here and below also show the wing to CS transition strips. These have worked out very well. The layups for the strakes just right over the top of these.




19-9

The hidden tie downs are made to fit on the lower outboard bolt. In the first picture above you see the transition strips. A cut is made on the last two inches of the strip. The first picture below shows the hidden tie down in place on the wing side. This is the third version that I made. I made a small "beak", aka pull handle. The weight is distributed so that when the tie down is used and then released, then it will fall back in place on top of the transition strip. It is impossible to rotate to the opposite side, because of the upper bolt. The tie down was made of 16 gauge steel. The thickness is about the same as a regular washer. I added a grommet in the 1/2 inch tie down opening to keep from cutting or fraying the ropes. I painted the steel to protect it. The first picture shows an uncanny resemblance to two penguins. The length is about 6.5 inches and 2.75 inches at the greatest width. I drilled a small hole in the pull handles for pulling them down, if the friction is too great. I have installed my wings and taken them back off, but I don't know how much friction will be on the tie down, to resist rotation.

19-10
Nav Light mounts:  I used the 12 volt Aeroflash Nav/St/Pos lights. Since they are so expensive, I decided to make a sturdy mount.
Pic#1: This shows the plastic template that I made. The company should supply this template. I cut out a base from some hardpont scrap. It is about 3/16 inch thick. The most important thing is that the narrow areas are strong enough. The Tee nuts are 6-32 size. The forward one and the two aft ones are floxed into the outboard end of the wing. The light unit uses 6-32 screws to secure on the middle two Tee nuts. I did extend the shape at the forward edge to allow more room for the forward Tee nut and blend to the LE.
Pic #2:  The base has been floxed into place and blended to the wing with micro. I will not install the Nav lights until the painting is finished.