Tank screws and bolts

[SmittysRV]

I'm ready to rivet on my top skins on my left wing this weekend! Earlier this week I riveted on the leading edge assembly and installed the fuel tank. The skins are clecoed on and are ready for riveting. The instructions said to only put in half of the tank screws and bolts. Is the tank coming off later? Why can't I go ahead and install all of the screws and bolts?

[dan]

You can. Some builders leave the tanks off to make wing mating easier. I didn't bother...tanks have been on for good since they were done. The choice is yours.

[RudiGreyling]

Ditto on what Dan said, I asked the same question, same answer, but since then have mounted my wings with tanks intact and it worked out fine.

Regards
Rudi

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Once your bottom wing skins are riveted on it would seem to me that it would be REALLY tough to get all those bolts in and probably impossible to get a torque wrench on them. My vote would be to just have an extra helper around when you mate the wings. Good luck.

[DGlaeser]

Originally Posted by alpinelakespilot2000

Once your bottom wing skins are riveted on it would seem to me that it would be REALLY tough to get all those bolts in and probably impossible to get a torque wrench on them. My vote would be to just have an extra helper around when you mate the wings. Good luck.

Actually it's not that tough - at least with the wings in their stands I did the final torqueing and applied torque seal after my wings were completed. Now doing it after the wings are installed would be a job
I also had my tanks installed when I installed my wings to drill the aft spar holes, and I also drilled the holes for the forward tank support bracket. I didn't have any problems mounting the wings with the tanks installed. I've done this a few times now - helped my son when he mounted his wings initially and finally (he's flying now) with the tanks installed. It's an easy job for 2 people.