Wings Final Install

I got the idea for using a sheet rock jack to aid in attaching the wings, so I borrowed one from a contractor friend and duct taped my old wing spars to carry the load.

Worked slick, all I needed was my Dad to help me get the wings on the platform and I could manipulate attachment myself.

In order to the get the wing attach points level, I had to use a saw horse under the fuse and tether the tailwheel to the wall for fear of nosing over.

The spar is attached to the fuse as two locations.  Here is the connection at the leading edge spar.  There is a carry through spar from the fuselage that has a welded Tee on it in which the bolt passes through.  I had to cut off and file the front portion to fit inside the spar.  Once the front holes were aligned, I transfer drilled right through the back side of the spar.

Here is the connection at the trailing edge spar.  Both connections allow the wing to pivot up and down to apply dihedral to the wing.

Here is the front strut going on and is sufficient to hold the wing upright.

I then moved over to the left wing and here I am filing the "Tee-bone" fitting.

Now I've finally got something resembling a complete airplane.  WOOHOO!!  Major Milestone.

Wing washout (or reduction in angle of incidence/attack) of the outboard end of the wing will be completed during rigging. An adjustment is made to a threaded fitting inside the lower end of the aft strut.

Rudder Final Install

The tailfeathers are now complete with the installation of the rudder. 

Here are the tailwheel horns attached to the rudder horns by chains and springs for tailwheel steering.

Rudder cable to pedal connection.

Spring attached from rudder pedal to frame.

Guides installed to frame to align rudder cable.

Elevator Final Install

The elevators turned out to be quite a project to install.  The right one has an electric trim tab operated by a servo motor and rod.  I strung the line and wired a DB connector with pins for this connection.  The trim is operated from the control stick and the position is determined on an LED indicator on the control panel.

The trim tab bolts are safety wired to the tab.

  Here are the male pin connectors.

Next the female pin connectors.

The elevators were horizontally static balanced similar to the ailerons.  I used lead shot cast in Altoid cans again to make ingots.  The weights were filed until the elevator lifted off the aft end onto the hinge line on the leading edge.  Here is the right elevator which required more weight to offset the mass of the trim assembly.

 Here is the balance left elevator.

The elevators were then attached to the horiz stabs.  The elevator hinges were then oiled to remove friction.

The elevator horns were attached to the control stick push-pull assembly.  I'm encountering friction in the fore-aft stick direction and will need to trouble shoot.  Will try applying lithium grease to the push-pull tube next to see if that alleviates stick forces.  Final installed painted plastic fairings.

The trim tab is fabricated from two pieces and joined at this middle connection.

Horizontal Stabilizer Final Install

Rather then move directly to the wings, I decided to begin at the tail and install the control surfaces.  First off, was installing the horizontal stabilizers.   The tangs for the wire brace connections needed to be deflected to specified angles.  I got this tip from Rans for forming the tangs.

Remaining pics show H. stab installation.

"Feathering the Nest"

After the moving the fuse and wings, I then spent the weekend moving all the remaining parts and a high percentage of my tools.  This particular hangar was outfitted with a lot of shelving, which helped in organizing the remaining parts. 

Relocate Project to Houghton Co. Airport

The project finally out-grew my garage and it was time to move it to an actual hangar.  There I can attach the tail feathers and wings.  Here are some pics from the big day using a 26' long truck.  Everything went as planned with no accidents and mis-calculations on needed truck dimensions.

Root Skins, Fuel Sight Gauge Final Install

Here are acid etched primed root skins.

Following the white topcoat, fuel sight gauges were installed on the inboard side of the root skins (viewable from the cockpit).  After the fuel fittings for the sight gauges were installed, the forward and middle root skins were riveted to the root rib. 

Grommets were installed for fuel fitting, pitot and flap cable penetrations.  The pitot tubes and flap cable run through a third aft root skin piece that is screwed to the root rib for easy removal to facilitate inspection/maintenance.

Here's a closeup of the fuel sight gauge.