[Wes]

According to the plans, the chord of the RV-4's wing should be 58"; my wings each measured out to a chord of 58.25". My wingtips have a chord of 58.75" each, so they look very odd sticking out a 1/2" aft of the ailerons. Is this common with the older RV-4 kits (my wing kit was originally purchased in the 1980's). Is the fix for this simply to cut off the extra 1/2" and epoxy the end back together? Any input is greatly appreaciated.

 

[Mel]

It's actually pretty common still today. I just installed a set of RV-7 wing tips on my -6 and had to remove about 1/8" from the trailing edge.

 

[GAHco]

Same Tips on the 6

My 6 had the same issue, except they were over 1/2" too long.

I had to cut the trailing edge off with the band saw. This left them open at the trailing edge. I had to re-bond and shape the trailing edge.

I drilled about 40 holes, 1/16" and put a countersink on the outside, then I ran a long fiberglass thread in and out of these holes.

When I put resin with flox made from matte on the inside trailing edge my hopes were that I would have a very structural trailing edge on the wingtips.

After my aerospace structural surgery was done I sanded off all the external excess an shaped carefully. On the outside where I sanded it off the countersunk area, the sander cut off the fiberglass thread neatly, this left the strings going from top to bottom in place with a resin cone shape attached to both ends of the string.

Once primed there was no trace of the repair, except that now it looks good and fits correctly.

It was a lot of work but I prefer the looks of the old Hoerner tips.

http://www.gen-aircraft-hardware.com/toms/rvproj/Hoerner%20Tip%20Fairing%20Mod.jpg