Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Wings, Outboard Leading Edge (Part 6)

I ran out of clecos last night, so I was only able to cleco three of the Outboard Leading Edge Rib inside the Skin.  To fix that “problem”, I went to Pan American Tools and picked up some more clecos.  (Ironically, I ran out again....another story). 

So, with the extra clecos, I was able to get all six of the Ribs the plans called for into place in the Left Wing’s Outboard Leading Edge.  Additionally, I finished drawing the centerline on the two J-Stiffeners (plans excerpt on previous days post) as shown in the picture below.

The J-Stiffeners don’t come pre-punched from Van’s and requires the builder to make the necessary holes.  To do this, the J-Stiffener is inserted into the channels in the Ribs and the single #40 hole (previously drilled yesterday), on the inside edge of the Stiffener, is clecoed to the Skin. Now, moving hole by hole, the centerline that was drawn on the Stiffener is centered in the pre-punched hole in the Skin.....then it’s Match-Drilled.  A cleco is inserted after drilling each hole to keep the J-Stiffener as straight as possible.  Pictured below is the inside edge of the J-Stiffener (on the inside) with the clecos inserted in the freshly drilled #40 holes..... 

.....and here is the outside.

That completes the Match-Drilling for the J-Stiffener on the Left Wing.  Tomorrow, there are several holes that need to be Match-Drilled in the Ribs and the same process will be repeated on the Right Wing in sessions to come.