Left Wing VII

11/13/2006

The final Clearcoat has been applied. The spar butt fittings were bolted in place, I then focused upon fitting the drag' wires. One of my wires was 4 inches too long :0| , how I managed that I don't know...I added some cut-off pieces of PVC tube at the wire cross-over points, and wrapped a small cable tie around them, this is to prevent any vibration and paint chafing in the future.

More explanation on trammeling the wires can be found in the Right Wing section of my site. I then left the wing loose on the bench for 3-4 days, to see if there was anything untoward going on due to the wire tension...all was OK after re-checking with the trammel bar, and there was no wing warp whatsoever...phew.

Next, I drilled the holes for the idler arm and bell crank bracket, space is a bit tight here, so a small air drill comes in handy. The holes were soaked in Clearcoat and brackets fitted. The idler arm and bell crank need to be as low as possible within the bracket in order to avoid clashing with any wires.

Next, was fitting the aileron pushrod, but I couldn't find it! I was 90% sure I had made it and sprayed it when I made the other one for the right wing... I had to then go to my invoices to confirm I had in fact purchased two 4ft pieces months back. That confirmed, I ripped the shop apart, finally finding it 'safely stored' in the cardboard tube the wing trailing edges arrived in...

I had to Dremel in a couple of places at the rib uprights so the pushrod had full travel.

I have also started the tip foam. I found the ideal 'glue' for this is Clearcoat! A few smears on the inside, insert the foam with a nice cozy fit and that foam isn't going anywhere.