[uk_figs]

As I have finished the wings and am waiting for the fuselage I thought I would fit up the wingtips, it looks as if I will have to trim the fibreglass on the inboard of the wingtips in the area of the ailerons and aileron bracket to get the wingtip to sit flush with the wing skins (where the attachment screws are). Is this normal? The aileron position is fixed with the bracket and spacers which are exactly to plans and the gap between the flaps and ailerons is also to plans.

 

[dan]

Yup, that's normal. The flanges of the wing tips need to be trimmed so they are narrow enough to fit without hitting (or just hitting) the outboard wing rib, and you need to trim enough off the aft end to clear the aileron.

 

[uk_figs]

wingtips

Any tips for the best way to trim the fibreglass and get a clean edge?

 

[dan]

Think I used tin snips to cut it, and then used a sanding block to smooth it out. The sanding block was an 18" long (or so) 2x4 with sand paper stapled to it (staples on the ends).

 

[ww2planes]

Rotozip

I just trimmed mine today for the left wing. A friend brought over a rotozip. I clamped a 4 foot ruler to the wingtip at the appropriate distance from the edge and it worked like a champ. I will be adding one of these to my tool box before long.

 

[robertahegy]

RotoZips are Great. I used a dremmel with sanding drums followed by the sandblock method Dan describes.

Roberta

 

[RV7Guy]

Dremel

Measure the distance from the tip rib to the edge of the skin. On the tip, measure this distance from the joggle in several locations then mask off a line. If you have to cut, use a Dremel with a fiber cutting disk. Otherwise use the Dremel with the sanding drum. Once you get to the tape line, sand a little extra to make sure you clear the rib. Test fit and adjust as necessary.

You'll most likely have to trim the trailing edge to conform to the TE of the aileron.

Sounds worse than it really is.