Drilling the Tank Skins

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 →

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 →