Wings

Tonight I mixed up a small batch of proseal and continued on with the AOA installation.

This is the top sensor, bolted in place (the wing is upside down). I used a layer of proseal to seal it up completely and insure no leakage. I used my mirror to check the proseal bead all the way around. The top sensor has a spring-actuated drain valve on the bottom, just like the drain on the fuel tank. It's there to drain any water that may accumulate in the sensor. Rob tells me he has been flying with one of these for years and has never had to drain any water out of it. The little brass fitting sticking out to the left is where the tubing will attach.

Flipping the wing back over to an upright position, now I installed the bottom sensor in the same manner. A layer of proseal, two bolts torqued in place, and a #60 hole drilled in the middle. This sensor has no need, obviously, for water collection or a drain valve. It's just a simple port to the bottom of the wing.

The tubing is very easy to install. Just push it on. The cool part is the color coding "blue as the sky for the top sensor; green as the grass for the bottom one". That makes it easy to remember.

The fittings are designed for the tubing to push on easily. But you can't pull it off! I like that.

I routed the tubing through the bay back to the wing spar, held here with a tie-wrap. Then it continues on through the wing.

You can barely see the top sensor through the hole in the wing spar (again, the wing is upside down). The tubing is routed back through the wing as shown.

I was careful around the aileron bellcrank. I used extra tie-wraps here to tie the tubings to the pitot tube, which is quite stiff through here. There's at least 1/2" clearance under the bellcrank.

The rest of the way to the wing root, alongside the pitot tube. My tech counselor gave this installation a "thumbs up".

For now, I'll leave the bundle of tubing here at the wing root just rolled up like this. When I mate the wings to the fuse, I may need to cut it. On the other hand, it would be nice to route this all the way to the instrument panel without a break in it. We'll see.

This was an exciting day. My left wing is now ready for the bottom skins to be riveted on!

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