I put a large drop sheet on the ground out the front of my shed and moved the horse float so that it would provide a wind break and also wouldn’t get any overspray. I then layer all the parts for one wing on the drop sheet and primed them. When they were touch-dry, I flipped them over and did the other side. I repeated the process for the other wing parts.

Nothing too difficult, it just took a while. I had to make 2 batches of paint to do everything. Once everything was primed I clecoed the rear spar parts together and went back to the instructions to double check I hand’t missed anything. I had. The outboard holes on the outboard doubler plate need to be countersunk to allow the use of flush rivets. I set my countersinking tool up and countersunk both plates.

I then clecoed everything together on the main spars. Wing skeleton ready for rivets!

Build time – 4 hrs.

Next I cleaned all the wing ribs and rear spar parts ready for priming. I use PreKote as a cleaner/surface treatment. Using some fine sand paper, you spray the PreKoate all over the part then lightly wipe it all over with some fine sandpaper. Next you rinse it off with water, then spray PreKote all over the part again and wipe it all over (either using my fingers wearing a latex glove, or with some lint-free paper cloth). Finally, one last rinse off with water then put the part aside to dry. From this point onwards, I never touch the parts with bad hands and always wear latex gloves when handling the cleaned parts.

I had enough PreKote to clean all the main ribs and rear spar parts for both wings. I managed to get the the nice ribs cleaned for the right wing but the left wing nose ribs are yet to be cleaned. Cleaning all these ribs took AGES. It was repetitive and boring but the iPod made it bearable. Here is a shot of all the cleaned parts (and the stack of nose ribs yet to be done).

I also had a very good turn of luck during the week. Another builder from Perth named Alex was very generous and dropped off some 2-part primer that he wasn’t going to use before it’s expiry date. This was great timing as I was wondering if I had enough primer to paint all of the wing skeleton. Many thanks Alex. You’re a champion!

Build time today – 5.5 hrs.

I set of my Unibit on the pedestal drill and grabbed a spare block of wood to drill behind each rib to prevent bit chatter. I carefully drilled the ribs that were still clecoed in pairs so I was drilling 2 ribs at once. There were a couple of ribs that only had 1 tooling hole. I used another rib as a guide and match drilled.

Once I had all the left wing ribs drilled for the air lines, I put them aside. I then got to work on the right wing ribs and deburred all the tooling holes using TIMMY or my microfiles. I then scuffed them with some Scothbrite pad. Here is a shot of the right wing ribs ready for priming. I can also save you some research time – you don’t dimple them yet. This happens after match drilling the skins.

I then repeated the process for the left wing ribs.

I was keen to prime the ribs and rear spar parts this morning but it’s very windy. I’ll have to wait for a calmer day.

Build time 3.5 hrs.

I disassembled both rear spars and used my hex deburring tool on all the holes I had match drilled. I used TIMMY on the hard to reach holes on the flanges. I also scuffed each part after I deburred it. Here is a shot of all the rear spar parts deburred and scuffed.

As the spar forks are mounted close to the upper rear spar flange, it is difficult to dimple the skin holes with the fork riveted onto the spar. The instructions call for all the skin holes along the length of the spar fork to be drilled to their final size and dimpled now. Fairly straight forward.

I wanted to do whatever drilling and prep work needed for the electrical wiring for the wing lights to be finished before I primed the ribs. After a bit of research, I decided that I would use flexible conduit. Vans has some instructions where to make a 3/4″ hole in the main ribs. I made a cardboard template that I used to match drill a #30 pilot hole on each of the main ribs for both wings.

The Chief Driller decided to get in on the action at this point and helped me match drill the pilot holes onto the ribs using my template. Thanks Damon!

Once all the ribs had pilot holes drilled, I set up my Unibit on my pedestal drill. Using some board underneath each rib to prevent drill chatter, I drilled out each pilot hole to 3/4″. I found by clecoing left and right pairs of the same rib number back-to-back (e.g. 711L and 711R) I could drill two ribs at once to save time. I used the tooling holes for the clecoes.

I’m also going to drill out the tooling holes for the pitot line so I can use a SafeAir kit. The kids were calling for me to go for a swim at this stage so I called it a day.

Build time 3 hours.

Build time 2.5 hours.

Build time 2.5 hours.

We picked up where we left off with me filing all the nooks and cranes and Bill sanding the lightening holes. When Bill finished sanding he leapfrogged me and started straightening and fluting the flanges.

Finally after 2 solid days, we had a pile of deburred, straightened and fluted wing ribs. We cracked a celebratory beer and massaged our aching fingers and just stood back to admire … well to be honest … a pile of wing ribs that don’t really look much different than when we started.

I then trimmed the rear spar forks and doubler plates using my band saw. After I trimmed a piece, Bill cleaned them up with a hand file. Here is a shot of the doubler plates after being filed.

After I handed the last piece to Bill to file, I went back to the rear spar and clamped the reinforcement plates in position. I match drilled all the holes and marked the funny taped hole for the aerolon control rod.

I then removed the aerolon reinforcement plate and placed it in a vice with a block of wood behind it. I was going to use my Unibit to drill most of the hole out but I had to mark the centres for each drill location. I fond using a washer and marking the inner diameter made it easier and accurate to mark the centres for each drill circle required.

I then drilled most of the hole out using my Unibit, moving the block of wood so I had an undrilled section of wood behind the hole to keep the Unibit steady for each drill. I handed the plate to Bill to file the hole to the correct size and I went to debarring the forks and doubler plates. I used my Scotchbrite wheel to debur the doubler plates and the outside edges of each fork. For the inside edges I used a file and finished off with 400 sand paper. Here they are all smooth.

By the time I had these done, Bill had finished filing the aerolon control rod holes to size. Here is a shot of the final result.

I finished off a very big couple of days by debarring all the holes in the spar that I had drilled and all the holes in the reinforcement plates.

Once again, I have included the man-hours supplied by Bill as well as myself. Build time over the past couple of days 23 hours.

Build time 1.5 hrs.

DO NOT MATCH DRILL THE PLATE NUTS THROUGH THE WING SPAR!

I held each plate nut vertically and made a small match drill mark on the t-section. I only drilled enough to mark the position of one plate nut rivet hole. Don’t drill all the way through. I then removed the t-section and finished drilling the hole all the way through at eat spot I had marked. Here is a photo of the marks on a t-secton.

I then reassembled the tie down assemblies on the bench (not on the spar) using bolts finger tightened through the spacers and the t-sections. Using the newly drilled holes in the t-section as a guide, I match drilled the spacers. I then put a cleco through the spacer, t-section and nut plate, then used the other rivet hole on the plate nut as a guide to drill the t-section and spacers. I then disassembled everything and countersunk the rivet holes on each spacer. The countersink needs to go on the side facing the spar.

I finished off by deburring all the holes and breaking all the edges using my Scotchbrite wheel.

Build time 9 hours.