Left Wing XI

12/21/2006

The wing walk was next on the list. The plans show that the 3/16 ply sits flush at the top of the ribs. Because I have 1/16 ply leading edges which cause a step down to the ribs, I decided to make the 3/16 up from: 1/8 ply, flush with the ribs as per plans, then veneer over everything including the ribs stations 2 1/4 and 13 1/4 with 1/16 ply. This flushes everything up to the leading edge ply.

A 1/4 x 1/4 spruce step was added all around the bay 1/8 down to house the 1/8 ply. The step gussets were then glued in place. Shimming was added to the top of spars, then the 1/8 ply was glued down with nailing strips. I decided to reinforce the rib at st. 13 1/4 with 1/16 sheets of mahogany ply [see pic], then the final 1/16 ply was glued over the top of the bay. The underside near the trailing edge was given an extra 1/8 x 1 cleat to give some support where the alum' trailing edge meets the ply, this fitted great, because the 1/8 thickness of the ply allowed it to be situated partly in the mouth of the alum' trailing edge creating one entity.

At the underside, the saddle gussets were added, I used a Dremel to make a clearance in the added 1/16 support for the aileron pushrod, drilled a couple of holes for the pitot-static tubes, then everything was brushed with Clearcoat, twice.