I remember in Jr. High, one of my friends cut a piece of his project too short. The shop instructor said "go get the board stretcher". So... I need a Skin stretcer for my tank skins ![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Here's my issue. I've assembled the wing skeleton, per the plans. I've also assembled the Leading Edge and Tank assemblies (Clecoed only at this point). So I put the wing skins on the skeleton, everything lined up just fine. I then put the leading edge on, everything was fine there as well. Lastly, I put the Tank on (still cleco'ed only at this point). I put cleco's throug the tank skins into the main spar and, you guessed it... there was a problem (see photo).
Where the top wing skin and the tank skin meet on the main spar, I have 1/16" gap. The holes line up perfectly though. Is this a normal occurrance? I also have a small gap where the LE and Tank skins meet on the splice strip that joins them.
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I'm not quite sure where to go from here... neither one appear to be anything more than a cosmetic issue. If this is "normal" then I'll press on, if not, I'd like to fix them before I rivet anything else on that wing. I went as far as taking measurments looking for twist in the wing, but it came up with only 1/32 difference between the inboard and outboard readings.
Thanks for your help,
Darrin "Dex"heimer
RV-9A - Wings (for 3 years :-( )
Here's my issue. I've assembled the wing skeleton, per the plans. I've also assembled the Leading Edge and Tank assemblies (Clecoed only at this point). So I put the wing skins on the skeleton, everything lined up just fine. I then put the leading edge on, everything was fine there as well. Lastly, I put the Tank on (still cleco'ed only at this point). I put cleco's throug the tank skins into the main spar and, you guessed it... there was a problem (see photo).
![Wing_Skin_Gap.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boxbar.net%2Fimages%2FWing_Skin_Gap.jpg&hash=ca424e6e9e68a05a2bde6ffb17280aa0)
Where the top wing skin and the tank skin meet on the main spar, I have 1/16" gap. The holes line up perfectly though. Is this a normal occurrance? I also have a small gap where the LE and Tank skins meet on the splice strip that joins them.
![Wing_LE_Gap.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boxbar.net%2Fimages%2FWing_LE_Gap.jpg&hash=342c0678ac3d98508bb31646e4790104)
I'm not quite sure where to go from here... neither one appear to be anything more than a cosmetic issue. If this is "normal" then I'll press on, if not, I'd like to fix them before I rivet anything else on that wing. I went as far as taking measurments looking for twist in the wing, but it came up with only 1/32 difference between the inboard and outboard readings.
Thanks for your help,
Darrin "Dex"heimer
RV-9A - Wings (for 3 years :-( )