Upper Aileron I

11/16/2005

I started building the upper ailerons tonight. They are built the same way as the lowers, but the fundamental difference is that the whole thing has to be skewed 6.5 degrees so it follows the shape of the swept-back wings.

I had recently purchased some kwik-grip type clamps - these are really a god-send. The spar apertures were still radiused in the corners, so I squared those off with a jigsaw and chisel. Then I slightly beveled the rear side of each aperture with a block-sander to allow for the 6.5 degree 'twist' in the rib when its placed on the spar. Spacer blocks were made for in between the ribs, and the spacers were bevelled so as to not contact oozing glue. Grease paper was also utilized...nothing worse than ripping your lovely work off the work bench!

As with the lower ailerons, the inboard end rib was not butt-jointed to the spar as per plans, but received a spar aperture and then laminated with 1/16 mahogany - effectively creating a mortice/tenon joint.