Covering - Flaps

I started covering the flaps today. I decided to cover the flaps and ailerons in two pieces each, a top and a bottom. Of course, the "other" way is to do it in one piece. To me it is easier to do it in pieces, the down side is an extra seam at the leading edge. To help hide the extra seam, I will do the top of the flap and aileron for that matter, first. This puts the seam on the top which will be hidden by the wing when they are installed. I had previously sprayed both the flaps and ailerons with primer which is required to give the Oratex glue something to bond to.

First thing is to cut the fabric to size, one for each side. Then lay the flap on the fabric and mark the outline of the flap on to the fabric which becomes the glue lines. A light scuff on the flaps and a wipe down with Acetone to clean any debris off. Then two coats of glue on both the fabric and the flaps.

Lay the fabric in place and start tacking with the heat gun.

I came up with a technique to deal with the rivets. I used the butt end of a wooden foam brush handle to push down the fabric around the rivet head. First, heat the area around the rivet with the gun, then use the wooden dowel to roll around the edge of the rivet until it cools enough to hold.

It gives a nice heat shrunk look rather than the unsightly puckered look. Really adds a lot of detail. However, it is a very time consuming task as every rivet has to be done. Worth the effort I think.

This side all complete. I'll wait until I finish both sides before I put a final shrink on it so I don't warp the flap.

Time to do the bottom.

Same process; layout, glue, stick...

Left Flap...

Left bottom.

Reinforcing tapes. There are some different schools of thought regarding these tapes with Oratex. Some use them, some don't. Some just use the fabric rivets, some don't. I chose to use the tapes with the fabric rivets.

The tapes are a polyester self adhesive tape, you cut to length, peel and stick. Once they were down, I used a portable soldering iron to burn holes where the rivets will go. These holes have to be drilled out prior to fabric installation.

Rivets in place...

Once all the holes are burned through the fabric tapes, I used a razor blade to carefully slice the crusted burn material from around the holes. A nice light touch will yield a "doughnut" of burn material leaving a nice smooth hole for the rivet..

Once all the rivets are in place it's time for finishing tapes. They are short strips of Oratex self adhesive finishing tape cut to length. They are shrunk over the reinforcing tape and rivets.

If I had to do it over again, I don't think I would have used the reinforcing tape. Oratex is so strong compared to Polyfiber that I think the tape isn't needed. The tape is a hold over from the traditional Polyfiber covering method. In the end, the look would be much cleaner without the tape, and the fabric rivets give the additional mechanical fastening needed anyway. Additionally, since the Oratex is glued to the ribs, I don't see any additional benefit added by the tapes. Just my .02 on the matter.

The last thing to do is add the sea-plane grommets to the trailing edge, one per bay on the side toward the fuselage. This allows any water that makes its way into the flap to exit. A hole is burned through the fabric at each location and then a sea-plane grommet is super glued in place over it. I didn't snap a pic of this on the flaps but will do on the ailerons.

Slat Arms

I installed the slat arms on the wings to check fit and function before sending them off to be powder coated. I'm changing the color from gray to matte black. I discovered one of the arms was not functioning correctly and binding. I determined that it was due to the inner bearing not seating into it's cup. This posed a real problem because there was no easy way to ream the cup after the wing was built. To compound the problem, I ran into the same problem on the slats themselves. Five of the eight interior bearing cups on the slats were in need of reaming too.

So, after bypassing this problem for at least a month I decided to tackle it. I came up with a simple solution. I found an under size socket that would fit in the bearing cup leaving enough space to super glue a strip of 80 grit sandpaper around it. I wasn't sure the super glue would hold the sandpaper. but it did.

A small video showing the dog bones working properly after reaming.

Covering - Wings

I cut the Oratex panels for the wings today. I decided to stick with the same strategy of a top and bottom cover as I've done on all the other pieces. So, I cut four panels, two for each wing. I trimmed the width down to 49 inches from 77. The four excess pieces ended up being the top and bottoms for the flaps. I then laid them on the wing to draw the glue lines on the fabric.

A 49 inch panel on top of the wing.

My glue was expired, so I had to test it to confirm that it was still usable. It failed so I ordered new glue.

After drawing the glue lines on the panel. Ready for glue...

 

Priming Wings for Covering

Spent the last few days prepping the wings for priming. Had to finish several tasks such as scuffing and then cleaning the aluminum.

 

Because I had already installed many items in the wing (wiring, servos, magnetometers, pitot tubes, etc.) spraying the primer was a no go. So, I had to brush it on and used foam brushes. They don't last long in the epoxy primer so I am sure to change them out frequently. I wasn't sure how it was going to come out using the brushes, I was worried about brush strokes, but it came out really nice. The primer is self leveling so the brush strokes pretty much disappear. I put two coats on and am happy with it. 

The purpose of the primer is to act as a substrate for the Oratex glue and has to be applied everywhere the glue will be applied. Almost ready to cover...

Engine Cont...

Getting there.

Yamaha Epex 300ti Engine Update

Clark Cameron’s EPeX300Ti Black-Edition is finally taking shape! Crate new Yamaha Apex core engine loaded with the best...

Posted by EdgePerformance EPeX Aero Engines on Sunday, October 4, 2020

Pitot and AOA Air Line Install

 The Garmin Heated/Regulated pitot static system requires two air lines to be installed. One for the pitot static system and the other for the Angle of Attack indicator. I installed those lines today. I had been thinking about this for some time, a way to mount the air lines where they wouldn't conflict with anything else I've mounted in the wing. I saved a picture from my surfing the internet showing this method, this is not my idea but I liked it and made it my own. Sorry, I can't give credit to the individual that I borrowed it from, if you are seeing this let me know and I'll give your credit.

Anyway, it required drilling about 24 holes, inserting protective plastic bushings, and routing the air lines. I made a small template out of scrap aluminum and drilled holes in it, this allowed me to position the holes in relatively the same position on each rib. The chosen path takes the lines over the top of the front of the gas tank when it's installed. The lines will route out to the rear of the wing once they clear the front of the gas tank. These pics are of the bottom of the wing. The YELLOW line is for static air and the BLUE line is for the AOA.

 

Fuel Tank Bay.

 

The Pitot Static Port is not installed at this time, it will be after covering.

Stick Grips

I installed the grips on the sticks today. I used yellow heat shrink on the 6 wires all the way to where they attach on the grip head. A little bit of a process getting all the pieces on and the wire threaded through the stick. The wires have to route out the side of the stick because of the way the stick attaches to the control horn. I used a grommet on each side to further protect the wires from potential chaffing.

The stick head with the switches mounts on the top of the stick, there is a spacing tube that goes over the stick (this is to accommodate smaller diameter sticks) which plugs into the stick head. This all has to be held in place in order to drill a hole through the head, spacer and stick for a rivet that secures it all in place and prevents it from coming off or rotating. Once the rivet is in place, the foam grip can be slid into position. It is very tight and takes some pushing to get it seated.

Instrument Panel

Got the Instrument Panel back from powder coating and re-installed it, for the last time. Came out really nice. I'll be re-installing all the avionics over the next couple of days. I have to remove the windshield anyway so Chris can continue wiring. I'll be working on fabricating some sort of mounting system for the glare shield that will sit on top of the panel. The lock plates are already installed in the top of the panel, I just need a way to mount the fire wall side of the glare shield.

Door Trim

I received the door post pieces back from powder coating yesterday. I wanted to get the inner pieces installed today so I can permanently mount the instrument panel. I fitted the pieces using the #40 clecos and match drilled them to the larger #30 size. These pieces will be riveted in place and I'll secure them even more by Hysol'ing them to the frame since the instrument panel mounts directly to them.

I had to prep the frame and the inside of the pieces by scuffing them to accept the Hysol. Once scuffed, I wiped everything down with Acetone. I mixed up some Hysol and laid a nice bead of it on the inside of each piece. Then I riveted each piece to the frame. I was able to get a good bead of Hysol spanning the piece to the frame on each side. The outer pieces, when in place will cover all traces of the Hysol and will finish off the door jamb nicely. I left them to cure for several hours.

The next task is to install the instrument panel.

Extreme Windshield Cont...

After a couple of emails with Richard Holtz (the EW guru), it was determined that I could trim the upper corners of the Extreme Windshield. So, I did. These areas will be covered with a cuff, yet to be fabricated...

Patching Oratex

I decided to tackle the patch repair today. First thing was flip the fuselage so I could examine the damage and to clean it with Acetone, both top and bottom. When I got it upside down, I saw another hole I didn't realize was there. The handle of the rotisserie had punched a hole near the firewall.

I cut two patches out of the Oratex 6000 scraps I had on hand and pre glued them. After cleaning the fabric, I used blue masking tape to tape the fabric together so I could place the patch on the inside. By pulling the fabric as taught as I could get it while taping it, gave me a pretty good surface for the patch. A lot of tape was used, well beyond the perimeter of the damaged area. Once that was done, I rotated the fuselage back up to glue the inside surfaces. After the glue dried, I laid the patches in place and used the heat gun to get them installed. They went on without issue and I left them to cure overnight. I also removed the tape.

 

The next morning I used the Toko iron to shrink the fabric and get it taught again. Worked pretty good. I was able to get the fabric pretty smooth. I again applied the blue masking tape all around the damaged (sliced) areas in order to keep the Super Fill confined when applied. I used a plastic putty blade to spread the Super Fill into the gouges to fill them in. Once finished, I removed the tape leaving the Super Fill only in the damaged area and left it to cure.

I will re-tape the area once cured so I can sand the Super Fill flush with the surrounding fabric protecting the fabric from the sand paper. Once happy with the finish of the Super Fill, I will cut exterior cosmetic patches from the thinner Oratex 600. I have the front patch already cut from 600 tape. I'll need to order a larger piece for the big patch.