Wing removal and misc: 2 hours

• Finished trimming right wing fairing
• Prepped wings for removal including: removed and stored flaps, removed rear spar bolts, removed left fuel line and organized shop.
• Britt and I removed wings and put them on sawhorses to mount wing fairing plate nuts and fabricate fuel vent lines prior to returning wings to storage.

Wings detached:

Wings on sawhorses to finish fairings:

Flaps removed, prep for wing removal:

Right wing root fairing: 4 hours

• Drilled wing fairing to wing - I spent a fair amount of time pre bending the fairing to improve fit
• Trimmed wing fairing for 1/8" gap - this took the longest amount of time, with a lot of on and off. I have a tiny bit more trimming to do and it will be finished.

Drilled to fuel tank leading edge:

Finished fitting left wing root fairing, started on right side: 3.5 hours

• Match drilled the new wing fairing part to the original part
• Put the new fairing in place then used a washer to mark a 1/8" line from the fuselage
• Trimmed fairing to fit fuselage ...  used the shears, files, dremel tool, sandpaper, emery paper etc. ... a lot of on and off to check progress.
• Drilled and reamed right side fuselage skin to wing underside
• Started initial fitting for right wing root fairing

Starting on right wing fairing:

Match drilling new left wing fairing:

Right flap fitting done, wing root fairing v2 started: 5 hours

• Made hinge pins for right flap
• Traced right flap actuator opening
• Progressively trimmed right flap upper skin to fit. Also put an initial bend in the lower flap skin edge.
• Cut out flap actuator opening
• The right flap did not require any clearance hole but I will be converting a few rivets on the flap to flush for clearance.
• Tested flap motor with both flaps temporarily connected - works great.
• Started on second version of left wing root fairing. I will be shooting for a 1/8" gap based on VAF member recommendations.

Fitting the new left wing fairing:

Right flap fitted:

 Trimming right flap skin edge:

Working on right flap hinge pins:

Finished left flap fitting: 4 hours

• Enlarged flap actuator rod opening to final size
• Enlarged clearance hole for flap mount
• Once all interference was eliminated I finished trimming the flap upper skin to the fuselage
• Started organizing for mounting the right flap
• As suggested by a forum member I made a rubbing (?) of the left flap actuator openings, cut it out with my xacto knife and transferred it to the right side. That should help things go more quickly.

Rubbing of the vertical flap actuator opening:

Final flap trim in the up position:

Full down position (this will be reduced a bit in final rigging):

Looking at the horizontal opening from inside the fuselage:

Left flap fitting & actuator hole: 3 hours

• Trimmed left flap lower skin and worked on the joggle bend to fit the flap in the full up position. To verify the up position was in the ballpark I temporarily attached the left aileron and centered it.
• I made a lot of progress on the left flap actuator rod hole. This is a gradual process but I'm almost there.
• I also cut out a small area where the flap reinforcement angle is rubbing the fuselage skin in the full up position. This still needs a little more work.

Testing flap travel:

Getting ready to check the full up flap position:

Left flap fitting: 3 hours

• Made hinge pins for left flap
• Most time was spent trimming the top skin of flap to match the fuselage. A lot of take flap off, trim a little, re-attach flap.

Left flap in progress:

Misc fitting work: 3 hours

• Riveted the connector plate to the vertical stabilizer front spar. All went well except for one rivet which had to be redone.
• I had a metal fabrication shop weld the bearing bolt hole on the elevators closed so they could be re-drilled to the new horizontal stabilizer. (More detail on this when I fit the elevators.)
• To get ready to fit the flaps I need to be able to run the flap actuator up and down so I went ahead and ran the flap wires.
• I twisted the wires using a hand drill after watching the Steinair.com video. It worked great. I also crimped on the female molex pins (also reviewed Steinair's video for that).

Flap wiring molex connector:

Nicely twisted flap power wires, test battery and my new flap actuator rods from Cleaveland Tool:

Vertical stab connector plate riveted on:

Vertical stab prime and left wing fairing: 3 hours

• I took advantage of unusually warm temperatures to prime the vertical stabilizer connector plate and touch up various spots on the vertical stabilizer itself.
• I spent a fair amount of time fitting the left wing root fairing. Trimming it with the shears worked well.

Trimming the left wing fairing with shears:

Vertical stab priming touch up:

Started wing root fairings & misc: 4 hours

• Temporarily installed the cockpit fuel valve then marked the right side fuel line for where the flare needs to be located so when the wings come off I can put on the fuel line fitting.
• I then started working on the wing root fairings. The left side started out well but unfortunately I let the angle drill move while match drilling a hole and the first fairing part was damaged.
• I ordered a new part from Vans (part cost $18, shipping probably $50!) and used the other fairing piece to continue work on the left side.
• I got the left fairing drilled to the wing and fuel tank then opened up the holes on the fuselage to wing skin underneath for #8 screws.
• Lastly I marked the fairing for a 3/16" gap for the rubber weatherstripping

Marking the fairing with a cut off piece of 3/16" thick angle:

Left wing fairing drilled:

Spent a fair amount of time down here:

Starting on the first (botched) fairing:

Right fuel line will be trimmed and flared after the wings come off:

More wing fit related work: 3 hours

• Fitted the right wing fuel tank attach bracket
• Drilled the bracket on the fuel tank for an AN4 bolt
• The majority of the time was spent working out the connecting fuel line for the left wing tank to the fuselage. The left wing tank has a more complicated fuel line connection because it is the aerobatic tank and the fuel port is in the leading edge of the tank.
• I made a rough, hand bent piece of tubing as a trial run then used the tubing bender to make the final. The fit has to be exact so it took a while to get it dialed in.
• I had not made any fuel lines in a while so I practiced flaring the tube ends on some scrap.
• I carefully polished the ends of the fuel tubing then made my flares. Everything turned out great and fit well.

Checking the fit for the finished fuel line for the left tank:

Fuel line turned out nice:

  

Making practice flares:

Checking the initial fit:

Right wing fuel tank bracket done: