Wings

Well, I posted some pictures and questions to a couple of online forums, rivetbangers.com and my local homewing chapter forum, asking about the problem with my aileron brackets and why the bolts won't fit inside. All the guys were very generous with answers and help. These online forums are such a great thing! I got a response from Van's, too. In the end, it all came down to my not looking at the drawings close enough. When am I going to learn to pay more attention to the plans when I'm having a problem or question? Slow down and pay attention to the little details.

As it turns out, there isn't supposed to be a washer under the head of this bolt. The only washer goes on the other end. So, once the washer was taken off, the head of the bolt only needed a slight bit of work on the scotchbrite wheel to round off the edge, and it fit perfectly. These bolts, if you look close, actually have sort of a raised "washer" built right in to them. Amazing!

Here are the bolts involved. Before and after. The one on the right is fresh out of the bag. The one on the left has been worked very slightly on the scotchbrite wheel to round the edges a bit. As you can see below, it now fits perfectly in the bracket! Problem solved.

And here's the bracket a few minutes later, installed on the aileron. The rest of the brackets were bolted on and torqued, and then mounted to the wings.

It took a while to get these babies mounted. It's frustrating trying to get all the little washers in between the brackets. I have to get some washer wrenches! Once it was on, I just had to pull the vinyl and clean it up, and then admire the progress.

My ailerons are finished. My wings now have ailerons on them!

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