Ah, they grow up so fast! It seems like only a few months ago that our RV-3 project (affectionately known around here as ?Junior?) tried on his gear legs for the first time. And now, all of a sudden ? he sprouted wings!
Even though we are building in our backyard hangar, we have been working towards getting everything possible complete on the fuselage before mounting the wings because ti meant finding temporary hangar space for one of the flying airplanes in order to make room for a new RV. Fortunately, we have generous neighbors, and Mikey and the Val have assured space just a few doors down, so this morning it was time enlist a little help and address one of my greatest fears on this project?.would the Quick build wing fit the slow-build fuselage?! With a number of things that need to be built ?to fit? in the area of the fuselage/wing intersection, we know that we?ll be pulling the spars out a few times yet, but we wanted to get the ?big fit? out of the way and make a few measurements.
It really only took about two hours from the time our crew showed up until we broke for pizza with the wings fitting nicely. The left wing went on first, and fit the center section and the rear spar stub perfectly.
How many hands does it take to fit a few temporary spar pins? Just enough to whack someone?s finger with a hammer!
The right wing went on next with similar results. Later measurements of sweep indicated that we needed to cut about 1/8? off the rear center spar, but I expected this, as I left it longer than the plans had shown. I wanted to maintain maximum edge distance for the critical rear spar bolt, and achieved that goal.
We had the wings off two more times as the afternoon wore on, measuring sweep and incidence each time, making minor adjustments. Junior gets the hangar alone tonight, as he is sitting on alignment lines and e didn?t want to disturb anything for a few follow-up measurements.
Next up is fitting the fuel lines to the tanks, hooking up wing wiring, and fitting the flaps. Then it?s on to intersection and flap fairings. Oh?and we?ve got to get that registration paperwork in to the FAA!
Paul
Even though we are building in our backyard hangar, we have been working towards getting everything possible complete on the fuselage before mounting the wings because ti meant finding temporary hangar space for one of the flying airplanes in order to make room for a new RV. Fortunately, we have generous neighbors, and Mikey and the Val have assured space just a few doors down, so this morning it was time enlist a little help and address one of my greatest fears on this project?.would the Quick build wing fit the slow-build fuselage?! With a number of things that need to be built ?to fit? in the area of the fuselage/wing intersection, we know that we?ll be pulling the spars out a few times yet, but we wanted to get the ?big fit? out of the way and make a few measurements.
It really only took about two hours from the time our crew showed up until we broke for pizza with the wings fitting nicely. The left wing went on first, and fit the center section and the rear spar stub perfectly.
How many hands does it take to fit a few temporary spar pins? Just enough to whack someone?s finger with a hammer!
The right wing went on next with similar results. Later measurements of sweep indicated that we needed to cut about 1/8? off the rear center spar, but I expected this, as I left it longer than the plans had shown. I wanted to maintain maximum edge distance for the critical rear spar bolt, and achieved that goal.
We had the wings off two more times as the afternoon wore on, measuring sweep and incidence each time, making minor adjustments. Junior gets the hangar alone tonight, as he is sitting on alignment lines and e didn?t want to disturb anything for a few follow-up measurements.
Next up is fitting the fuel lines to the tanks, hooking up wing wiring, and fitting the flaps. Then it?s on to intersection and flap fairings. Oh?and we?ve got to get that registration paperwork in to the FAA!
Paul