Wing Construction

One thing that I did need to do was place a block underneath the form block.  I needed to keep the bolts from sticking up through the form block so the router could make an unobstructed path around the perimeter.

I managed to cut the first 10 holes without incident.  Then somehow I skipped the pilot hole for hole "E" and instead drilled out the hole in the next spot.  The next spot should have a hole that is .1 inch smaller than the "E" hole.  

This stopped me dead in my tracks.  A nose rib or back rib, hell even a center rib wouldn't be bad.  But to mess up a tip rib.  That's a lot of aluminum in that thing.  

Waaaay back in the beginning of this project I had sanded this template to size.  Tonight I drilled out the jig pin locations and drilled out a number of blanks.  

Sunday fared a bit better.  I went out there around 8:00 after a day on the farm, and cleaned the work area.  No actual production, but the area is now in much better shape for me to do something.  Tools were put back where they belonged.  Wood and aluminum shavings were swept/vacuumed up.  

I decided to make the routing template for the flap ribs last night.  There I was, merrily working along.  I shaped and sanded it to near perfection.  Just as I was finishing up the sanding and admiring my work.  I noticed that I hadn't bothered to add the rib flange to the template!  

I was done for the night at that point.  I will be using the same template that I used for the back ribs now.  The flange is already there, and the block formed.  I will then cut the flap and aileron ribs to size.  

Weds:  I was still kind of steamed about the night before.   Yeah, I know.  I need to get past it and move on.  I'm working on it.

I took an early lunch to accept the delivery and spent the afternoon checking the order accuracy.  There were a few errors.  The worst being how the shipper packed the plate steel.  The steel was placed directly on the aluminum and scratched the hell out of it.  I'll need to notify Wicks and see how they want to resolve it

Saturday:  Again another day spent not working on the plane.  I looked at a few items, and finished putting away the aluminum order from Wicks, but no measurable progress.

Sunday: I was supposed to have a lesson today.  Just as I was pulling out of the driveway my cell rang.  It was Adrian, "We have to cancel the lesson, Hotel Victor is in for it's annual."  

I rescheduled for next weekend, and kept upbeat on the phone but WTF?!!  I didn't think annuals snuck up on you.  Maybe I'm wrong but the whole once a year portion of the annual might tip them off.    I scheduled this lesson three - four weeks ago.  Nobody could let me know before 1/2 hour before the lesson. 

 I don't blame Adrian.  He was away on vacation.   I think this was his first morning back.  But I'll bet the owner knew it was going in and was hoping it would be out in time.  Mostly I'm just pissed because it was a perfect morning for a flight.  grrrrr.

With my morning now free, I sat down and wrote an email to Wicks to let them know about the errors and the damage.  The rest of the day was spent walking around on the farm.

Oh yeah, I had a visitor today.  Bill Sheridan a friend from EAA1363 stopped by the farm and allowed me to gave him the "grand tour"  of my shop.  

His reaction?

"It looks so much nicer on the web."

I couldn't help but laugh.  

If anyone else  is ever in the area and wants a tour feel free to stop by.  I'm proof that you don't need a state of the are facility to produce some nice parts.

*shameless plug alert*  www.salisburyfarm.com 

They are sending me a new sheet of .032 aluminum, a three ft length of bar stock I was shorted, plus another length of bar stock to replace a length that had no labeling on it.

A++++ service.  The service person who called me was so nice.  What a pleasure to deal with them.

By 1:30 or so I couldn't take the howling and barking any more.  I went downstairs and sat with him so that the rest of the house could get some sleep.  I went down with the intention to quiet him a bit and then head off to bed again.  I ended up spending the night keeping him quiet.

Since I spent the night up, I went to bed right after Paula woke and slept until 10:00 or so.  Since I wasn't in any shape to go to work I called in and started to plan my strategy for ridding my dog of his stench. 

I tried a commercial cleanser.  No change.

I tried this solution  1 qt. hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 tsp dish soap.  Success!!

With that accomplished I turned my attention to the BH.

I cut out some .032 center ribs and started routing.  The high-speed bearing seized about half way down the first cut and dug into my form block.    There is a nice divot in the flange area.  I'll hammer the edge and measure. I'm pretty sure the ribs are toast.  

I fixed my router template with some 6 min. epoxy and cut the remaining center .032 center ribs.

I also started drilling the pilot/jig holes in the flap nose rib blanks.