Lining up the aileron and flap spar flange rivet lines
Today I developed a new (to me) trick to help line up the rivet lines in the top skin with the spar. It was easy to see whether my rivet line was under the skin holes or not. But if it wasn't, it was tough to tell whether the river line was fore or aft of the skin holes. So I took some red electrical tape and laid it on the forward side of the rivet line. Whenever I saw the red tape, I knew the spar was further aft than it should be. When I saw bare aluminum, the spar was too far forward. This techique worked out great for getting the spar straight and alleviating any potential for twist in the aileron. Good little trick. Worked just as I had hoped. I plan to use this in a lot of places.
Rolling the top aileron and flap skins onto the rib/spar frame
Today I discovered it was easier to use the weight and rigidity of the aileron rib/spar skeleton cleco'd to the botton skins as as a lever to "roll" the top skin onto the spar and ribs. I just turned the entire assembly over so the top skin was sitting flat on the workbench, and I cranked the lower skin/rib/spar assembly down onto the top skin. A few tries on the trailing esge matchup and whammo! Clamped the trailing edges together, turned the entire assembly right side up and I was good to start drilling.
I will definitely do the same thing for the right aileron and, if appropriate, the flaps. Stay tuned for that.
I will definitely do the same thing for the right aileron and, if appropriate, the flaps. Stay tuned for that.
Super skinny bucking bar
I was forced to do this because there is a rivet on the top aileron skin mating to an aft rib that is virtually unreachable due to the aileron hinge bolt nutplate. So I took a 1" wide chisel and taped it tightly to one of the bucking bars and set the nose of the chisel about 3/4" proud of the end of the bucking bar. This gave the chisel some density but using the bucking bar to "back it up" so to speak. Thought the rivet took a little longer than typical to set, it looks good!
CitraSolv. All natural and vegan citrus product.
Removing old, dried out masking tape and adhesive residue
Stacy introduced me to a great all natural and vegan citrus product she uses for cleaning around the house. It's called CitraSolv. It's a concentrate, but I used it straight out of the bottle to remove the old dried masking tape from the interior of the flap skins. Some of the parts in the kit were manufactured before the turn of the century (literally, 1999!).
The dried up masking tape was stubborn. I simply poured an ample amount of this solution onto a shop towel, laid it over the tape area, and weighted it down lightly. After about 15 minutes, I reapplied the solution, and repeated the procedure. 15 minutes later, the tape peeled off with little effort, leaving behind a light residue. The cloth had enough solution on it to wipe away the remaining residue. Piece of cake...and it smells great!
CitraSolv did what GooGone and Acetone couldn't. Maybe there's something to be said for all natural products.
The dried up masking tape was stubborn. I simply poured an ample amount of this solution onto a shop towel, laid it over the tape area, and weighted it down lightly. After about 15 minutes, I reapplied the solution, and repeated the procedure. 15 minutes later, the tape peeled off with little effort, leaving behind a light residue. The cloth had enough solution on it to wipe away the remaining residue. Piece of cake...and it smells great!
CitraSolv did what GooGone and Acetone couldn't. Maybe there's something to be said for all natural products.
Here's the new tool ready for action. Note how stable it is on the shop bench. This thing isn't rolling away!
Profile view. I am sure this particular bucking bar has a design name, but I don't know what it is. I call it the "slotted bar" for the slot behind the nose.
The tool in action, inserted all the way against the spar and between the neighboring clecos. Good leverage with the handle extension (to the limits of the interior flap space, but enough to get the job done)
Bucking bar extension handle
When riveting the flap upper spar/skin combo, my hands were far too large to get inside the small flap cross-section and maneuver a bucking bar, so I came up with this. (Not sure if someone else with equal or greater IQ has already figured this out)
I used a very sophisticated device, often referred to as a "wooden paint stirrer" from my local aviation supply store, Home Depot. Now don't underestimate this tool. It is the "big" version made for the 5 gallon paint buckets! Sturdy and long.
I took the stirrer and, using another sophisticated adhesive product called "red duct tape", I attached it to my bucking bar. Leaving just enough room for the bucking bar to step up above the lower spar flange and into the slot between the two neighboring clecos, this gave me a lever of sorts to manage the pressure on the shop head side of the rivet.
Simple solution and the red tape gives it that Holiday flare. It's probably going to hang on the wall for display purposes!
I used a very sophisticated device, often referred to as a "wooden paint stirrer" from my local aviation supply store, Home Depot. Now don't underestimate this tool. It is the "big" version made for the 5 gallon paint buckets! Sturdy and long.
I took the stirrer and, using another sophisticated adhesive product called "red duct tape", I attached it to my bucking bar. Leaving just enough room for the bucking bar to step up above the lower spar flange and into the slot between the two neighboring clecos, this gave me a lever of sorts to manage the pressure on the shop head side of the rivet.
Simple solution and the red tape gives it that Holiday flare. It's probably going to hang on the wall for display purposes!