Wing and top skins
The wing kit was delivered in Oct 2019 after ordering at Oshkosh. After the extensive inspection process from the customs department, we could get started:
Relative to the empennage kit, there seemed to be fewer parts, they were just all bigger.
It's been said on here before, but wow are these spars come just beautiful. The idea of taking powertools to them sounded insane when I first got them. That goes away really fast though, since you have dozens of nutplates to get ready, and hundreds of countersinks to finish. Especially since the quality problems I've had seem to be from countersinking (too much side pressure, chatter, or depth issues) I was a little in my head over them.
With Lindsay fresh off the SportAir workshop, she was excited to work on rib deburring and fluting to get us ready for the next steps. Having some help is good, because there are a lot of them!
Once we got all the ribs ready and primed, it was time to break down the old empennage box that I had been using to control primer overspray. I build the wing stand from
Mouser's build log that should help us hold everything through the rest of the wing steps.
Riveting the ribs to the spars really messed with my head. The drawings don't indicate which side the manufactured head or shop head should go on relative to the spar. Usually, the manufactured head should be on the thinner part to prevent bowing that part, but that requires a double offset set for the gun to go past the ribs on these, and I had so much trouble not making smilies in that orientation. Given that one of the ribs must be riveted in the opposite orientation anyway (the torque tube brackets block anything but a bucking bar), I decided that I was much better able to rivet all the ribs that way without risking damage to the spar. The ribs didn't bow or buckle, and a rivet's strength doesn't change with orientation, so I'm reasonable content with that decision. I'd love to hear other's thoughts though.
Putting the skins was a fantastic moment! It definitely gave both me and Lindsay the feeling of "oh, this is a real flying machine!" There were so many holes to drill though, and I finally realized the #40 drill bit that I had been using was past the end of it's lifetime. One down, many more to go!
As intimidated as Lindsay was by working on rivets in as visible a place as the top of the wing, the backriveting technique that folks discuss here make easy and pretty work of these rivets. We spent a little while getting the rythm, but after that we were able to really make quick progress. It was so much fun to see the whole smooth surface of the wing once everything was set!
I have to admit that the build process can be frustrating, exciting, exhausting, and exhilarating, sometimes all at once. But it has been so much fun to see the progress, and we're looking forward to keeping up the pace!