Category: Wings

Center wing spar and landing gear

Leveling and centering checked again, and then the center wing spar was glued into place with structural adhesive+flox+cabo and clamped. MLG legs were bolted into place and bushings glued on both ends. MLG were then removed again. Thick tapered layups of triax were applied to link MLG bulkhead, firewall, and center spar together.

Aft keel was cut down for -5 option, and carbon keel cap was placed in position (not glued). NLG linkage, shock absorber, and over center link was installed in keel. NLG swing check completed.  NLG bushings and over-center hard points were mounted inset in keel skin, so careful cutting of outer skin and foam was needed.

Rudder pedals were positioned and attached to canard bulkhead and linkage was attached to see-saw.

Topside layups joining winglets to wings applied and curing. Strap layups at spar bolts applied – wings and winglets are completed (for now)!!!

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Keel and center wing spar

Keel glued in place with structural epoxy + flox + cabo.  Riveted in place to clamp. Lower cowling removed from fuselage, cowl flange is now in place. With cowling removed, holes for MLG bushings can be drilled into firewall and gear bulkhead.  Multiple layups placed around forward area of keel, where it joins the canard bulkhead.

Lower fuselage was cut out for center spar just forward of firewall and from flange down to gear pocket.  Also MLG cutouts were made in the lower fuselage.  Center wing spar section sanded and wiped down with alcohol. Preliminary fitting, leveling, and shimming of center spar accomplished.

Glassing wing top surfaces

The fiberglass on the bottom of the wings cured overnight.  The wings were removed from the wing fixtures and placed top-side up on sawhorses.  Any overhanging fiberglass was cut off with a sharp blade.  The trailing edge foam was trimmed and removed using a knife and a long steel straightedge to expose some bottom glass for the top glass to bond to – this surface was sanded well. All other edges were sanded to remove sharps.  The foam was sanded to make the surface smooth and any excess micro was ground away.  A trench was melted into the foam with a soldering gun for the rudder cable, running from the wing root to the tip.  The Nylaflo housing was inserted and hot-glued into the trench. The foam was rough-contoured on the wingtip, and a cutout was made for the rudder horn cove.  A pre-fab cove part was microed into place with the rudder cable housing passing through it.

The top-side aileron seams were taped to prevent the glass from sticking, and then the wings were filled and faired with micro.  Then cabo was used to do a final fill and wet of the spar and non-foam pieces.  Triax fiberglass was cut, draped, and wet out on the wing top surfaces.

Glassing wing bottoms

With the micro starting to get tacky, the final fill and fair of gaps and transitions was done with a thick mixture of resin+cabosil (cabo).  A length of triax was cut and draped over the wing, and smoothed out by hand.  Resin was squeegeed and worked into the glass to wet it out completely.  Peel ply and weights were used in select places to keep the surface flat.  The trailing edge glass needed to be periodically forced into a sharp edge by stippling with a brush.

Prepping wings for fiberglass

The trailing edge foam was cut back to make an even and straight edge.  Ailerons were cut out using a long hotwire foam cutter, and then the foam was replaced in the wing.  The control surfaces will be cut back out later, after the wing is glassed, filled, and primed. A hole was melted through the foam with a soldering gun to the cable conduit in the leading edge foam blocks.  The VHF NAV antennas were placed on the wing and glued into place, with the cable and balun routed to the wing root.  The foam surface was sanded lightly to smooth the gaps and to fair all the edges.  Micro was spread over the entire wing and squeegeed into the foam.  Micro was used to fill gaps and holes and to fair all transitions.