Wings

Another new experience tonight! I've read all about how dangerous these fly-cutters are, and how you should never use them in a hand-held drill. I'm not about to risk losing any digits or any of my precious skin, so I set up the drill press and my new cutter to cut the big holes in the end ribs of the fuel tanks. I'm surprised this isn't done at the factory. They do so much in regard to other details. But that's okay. Here we go...

I set the drill press for a low speed and started cutting away. It went surprisingly well. The setup time took a lot longer than the actual cutting out of the hole. The reason this is necessary is because this hole will be covered with an access plate that holds the fuel float gauge. It needs to be built in such a way that you can take the plate off if necessary if the float fails, or if you need to inspect the tank or get inside for some reason. While I was at it, I did the one for the right tank. Might as well, since I'm all set up for it. I'll thank myself later.

Next, I put on my 2" scotchbrite wheel and used it to deburr this ring. This is a stiffener ring that gets riveted on around the big hole in the rib. It will have nutplates riveted to it, as you can see above, for bolting on the cover plate.

Next, you drill the stiffener ring to the rib, cleco it on as you go. That was all I had time for today.

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