Starting on the RH wing structure. The ribs and spars all have pilot holes which appear to match up perfectly, so the only real work required was lining up and drilling all the spacers to match.
All the parts laid out
Starting with the aft ribs, and all the spacers which needed to be drilled to match the spar
Aft ribs 1-12 pilot drilled!
I flipped the spar over and got the first few forward ribs done before quitting time
It's getting close to time to start putting the wing structure together, but one of the last detail parts required is all these little spacers. There are 0.125" x 1/2" spacers for 10 of the aft ribs, and 0.032" x 1/2" spacers for 8 of the forward ribs. So for both wings I needed 20 of the .125" and 16 of the .032".
I started on the .125" spacers, and I found a sheet of material that would work. I cut one spacer out on the bandsaw and then I realized I had a whole 10' piece of 0.125" x 1/2" bar stock for this very part. So I cut the other 19 out of the bar stock! Hopefully whatever I needed that sheet for didn't need the whole length...
For the 0.032" spacers I just cut a bunch of long 1/2" strips out of this sheet with snips, and then cut them to length.
On to the aileron bell cranks, which will attach to each #9 aft wing rib that I started a while ago. The first step was to press the bronze bushings into each bracket. The holes are way to small to start with, so I drilled them up to the closest size I could and still have an interference fit.
The bronze bushing OD is 0.440"
My closest drill bit (marked 27/64") measured 0.435"
The bushings still seemed a little tight to just force in, so I put the bushings in the freezer for a little while, and heated up each bracket with a heat gun just prior to installing. They went right in with a few good whacks with the rubber mallet.
The next step was to get these steel bushings to go through the bronze bushings and spin freely but without slop.
The steel bushing OD is 0.314"
The bronze bushing ID is about 0.309"
The steel bushings initially didn't fit at all. I tried reaming the bronze bushings to 5/16" (0.3125"), but they still didn't quite fit. After some messing around I finally tried drilling the bronze bushings out to 21/64" (my bit measured about 0.325"). This allowed the bushings to finally fit and turn freely, but there is a tiny bit of play in the fit. I'm going to have to do some research and see if it's too much play or if it's OK. Worst case I'll have to replace the bronze bushings!
The RH bell crank turns a lot more freely than the LH, but I can make them even by shimming and/or sanding down the spacer blocks between the brackets. I'm more concerned about the radial play between the bushings though.
Here's a video showing the RH first, then the LH:
Anyway, some adjustments required still, but here's what they'll look like on the ribs:
I got my super skinny PRG410 rivet puller from ebay, so I was able to go back and get the last few rivets on the ailerons. This thing can get in tight corners, it's awesome! Sonex should add it to their list of recommended tools in my opinion.
The rivets next to the drive rib are a real tight fit, but this PRG410 thing had no problem reaching them.
The counterbalance rivets are pretty tight as well, but not too bad.
More progress on the flaps. The RH one just needs all the parts deburred, and on the LH one I need to fit one more rib plus the hinge and then deburr everything.
