David Paule
Well Known Member
On my RV-3B, I decided to put a landing light on the left wing's leading edge. First I had to mark its location, and since the cradle doesn't enforce alignment spanwise, the top and bottom can shift slightly. But the spar secures that, so I placed the leading edge on the spar.
Once marked, I got out the Dremel and put a new cut-off wheel on it and started cutting. Remember to cut on the inside of the line. Here's what it looks like after cutting the top part before I flipped it over.
There's so much tension on the leading edge that the cut-out took this shape.
After flipping the leading edge, I finished the cut-out.
The cutting took about fifteen minutes and was easy.
I put a coarse 2" sanding drum in an electric drill and trimmed the edges, after first removing a few of the high points with an Adel nibbler. The sanding drum works fast but it leaves an edge that needs final smoothing.
Even with the nibbling and the sanding, I don't think I spent 20 minutes at it. Marking the cut-out was what took a lot of time. That's what RV-3Bs are like: spend 80% of the time lining things up and checking, and 20% of the time building.
Dave
Once marked, I got out the Dremel and put a new cut-off wheel on it and started cutting. Remember to cut on the inside of the line. Here's what it looks like after cutting the top part before I flipped it over.
There's so much tension on the leading edge that the cut-out took this shape.
After flipping the leading edge, I finished the cut-out.
The cutting took about fifteen minutes and was easy.
I put a coarse 2" sanding drum in an electric drill and trimmed the edges, after first removing a few of the high points with an Adel nibbler. The sanding drum works fast but it leaves an edge that needs final smoothing.
Even with the nibbling and the sanding, I don't think I spent 20 minutes at it. Marking the cut-out was what took a lot of time. That's what RV-3Bs are like: spend 80% of the time lining things up and checking, and 20% of the time building.
Dave
