Right wing bottom skin

Posted on by Neal

Today I spent some time riveting the bottom right skin. I was able to rivet all then way up to the j-channel. So far it has been straight forward and no issues, but I suspect it will become increasingly challenging as I get closer to the main spar.

I slipped in the j-channel, making sure to go between the inboard j-channel and the skin, and then clecoed it into position. I then checked the clearance between the j-channel and the rib cut outs, and everything looked good.

The duct tape straps are to hold the skin away from the ribs to allow easier access to buck rivets. I need to remember to take out the padding on the spa soon, else it will be stuck there forever!
Clearance between the j-channel and one of the ribs. Because the j-channel was match drilled there’s a chance that the alignment could be off. This one looks great on all ribs.

Right bottom skin riveting

Posted on by Neal

Today I made a start riveting the right bottom skin onto the right wing.

It want easier than I thought, perhaps because I’ve done it before on my previous set of wings. I didn’t finish the job, and expect it will take a number of sessions to get this set done.

Tape to hold the skin off the ribs and allow arms to reach up inside

Left wing bottom skin

Posted on by Neal

Today I clecoed the old left wing bottom skin to the new one, marked out the pitot tube mast mount holes, and then drilled them all. I also made a start of cutting out the mast hole, but didn’t finish that step.

I previously decided to replace the left bottom skin. On my first pair of QB wings, I had riveted on most of the left skin before deciding to replace the wings due to faulty primer. Because I had painstakingly positioned the pitot tube mast mount holes on the old skin, I drilled out all of the rivets and removed the skin before sending the wings back to Vans. I couldn’t reuse the skin because too many of the holes were enlarged.