The tank skins need to be final drilled in preparation for assembly. The first task is to final drill the bottom skin to the tank stiffeners. These stiffeners are needed on the bottom skin because the tanks will be holding the weight of 21 gallons of gas. I began by labeling each stiffener to I … Continue reading Drilling the Tank Skins
Author: rossted
The W-423 Joint Plates
The W-423 joint plates were fabricated earlier during the construction of the outboard leading edges. The joint plates are strips of aluminum sheet that are riveted between the leading edge skin and the inboard rib. They extend out from under the skin to the area under the fuel tank skin and are drilled to match … Continue reading The W-423 Joint Plates
Drilling the Z-Brackets
In order to align the fuel tank properly on the wing spar, the forward flanges of the Z-brackets need to be match drilled to the tank's rear baffle. These are the Z-bracket flanges that are on the opposite side as those that were previously drilled and fitted with plate-nuts. This task is begun by assembling … Continue reading Drilling the Z-Brackets
Finishing the Z-brackets
With the tank-mount Z-brackets drilled to match the wing spars, it's time to prepare them to be attached to the wing spars. The Z-brackets are attached to the wing spars using bolts so that the tanks can be removed later for service if necessary. There are seven brackets per tank. Bracket #1, the inboard-most bracket, … Continue reading Finishing the Z-brackets
Starting the Fuel Tanks – Z Brackets
The aircraft's fuel tanks form the inboard part of the wings' leading edges. The first task in building the fuel tanks is to drill the Z-brackets that are used to mount the tanks to the wing main spar. The aft boundary of the fuel tank is a flat aluminum baffle. The Z-brackets are riveted to … Continue reading Starting the Fuel Tanks – Z Brackets
The Stall Warning Assembly
The stall warning vane is a unique part of the left-wing leading edge. There isn't one on the right side. With the parts now primed, I was able to build the microswitch assembly for the stall warning. Here are a series of pictures showing the progress: The first task is to rivet the plate-nuts onto … Continue reading The Stall Warning Assembly
Priming Left Leading Edge
In this session, I primed all of the components of the left-wing leading edge, including the ribs and the inside surface of the skin. My wife took a couple of pictures of me shooting primer on the ribs.
Left Wing Leading Edge
In this session, I assembled the leading edge section of the left wing. This is the outboard leading edge of the wing. The inboard leading edge is the fuel tank and I'll get to that soon. I started this task by putting the skin in the leading edge cradle that I built earlier and using … Continue reading Left Wing Leading Edge
Left Wing Skin Prep
The kit plans show how to use a plumb-bob to measure the twist in the wings. The plumb-line is attached to the main spar with a cleco and the distance from the rear spar to the line is measured. There is no wing twist if the measurements are the same at the root and tip … Continue reading Left Wing Skin Prep
Right Wing Main Section
Time to get the right wing caught up with the left wing. I started by priming the 14 main ribs. I'm using a new method that is proving to be much faster than the scuff-and-clean method of primer preparation I was using before. I'm using PreKote to clean and prepare the aluminum surface for painting. … Continue reading Right Wing Main Section
Ted's RV-7 Build 