Flap alignment

I am installing the flap on my finished left wing and after clamping and drilling the wing side hinge it has moved slightly such that the trailing edge of the flap is now not aligned with the trailing edge of the aileron (off by about 3/32 ), Is this a problem, I have not riveted the hinge on yet so I can order another hinge and try again.

I also notice that the gap between the top skin trailing edge and the flap (in the neutral aileron aligned position which I assume is up) is not constant along the length of the flap (smaller gap outboard than inboard) is this common.

Thanks for feedback

Your Choice

Dave,

I seriously doubt you'd ever detect any affect on performance, but as long as you own that airplane you're going to see that misalignment if it's a bother to you now. For the price of a hinge, I'd redo it. Even gaps, straight lines, aligned surfaces, etc., create a strong impression regarding craftsmanship outlandishly greater than their operational consequences.

The flap/skin gap is rather common because the overhanging skin winds up a bit wavy after riveting. Just remove the flap and press the trailing skin down a bit until it just makes contact with the retracted flap. Careful not to crease the metal. After painting, you'll be putting UHMW tape on the flap to prevent wear and stratches. You might want to wait on this operation until you're assembling the airplane for the last time.

John Siebold
Boise

For the price of a hinge?

If there are no rivets to drill out I would just buy a new hinge and try again. I wouldn't throw away the old one though as the new one may end up worse. Are you using clecoes in every hole as you drill them? If you are and you check the correctness of the situation as you go, you will probably be able to detect an error like this soon enough to make a repair at a single location rather than be faced with a "live with" or "replace" decision. By the way, I put the plastic tape on the underside of the wing skin and stainless steel tape on the flap skin bearing surface - no scratches, looks good, adds weight (pros and cons).

Bob Axsom

Flap hinge alignment

Thanks for the feedback, I decided to replace the hinge (used the one from the rightwing to be replaced later) and now everything lines up correctly and looks much better. Glad I did it as it would have bugged me forever. Also with the flap now in alignment the gap is more consistent along the length of the flap.