mill2978

mill2978

Well Known Member
I brought home my wing kit yesterday, it was like Christmas morning, I almost couldn't sleep the night before! :D

I am just about done with my tail and just startewd looking at the wing instructions for planning purposes. Is there any reason I can't/shouldn't build some of the sub components out of order? Tanks, flaps, ailerons, then build the rest?

Living in CO and not having a heated work space I would like to build the tanks during the summer while the the temps are conducive to working with proseal. In addition I have opened the proseal for the tail and don't want to waste it by not using it in time. I have it in the freezer, but my understanding is that only buys you so much time...

Thanks for the help

Aaron
 
Aaron,

Yes, you can build in any order, I like doing the flaps and ailerons first 'cause they're easy, and when the wing's done, they're ready to fit to finish the wing job in a few days. But you're concerned with temps. Start with the wings in the manual build sequence. You don't need to rivet anything together; cleco well. Fitting the tank components is early in the build. If you really feel pressed for time, fit one tank and assemble. Tear down the set-up and fit the second wing/tank. Assemble. You'll be done with both tanks in a couple hundred hours.

The sealant can date is worse case storage with lots of fudge factor. Freezing will surely get you past the wings. Not to worry.

John Siebold
 
I'm building a -9A, and part of the tank needs to be matched drilled to the spar. I began with ailerons and flaps then moved on to the wing. I built the fuel tanks when called for in the plans.
 
Flaps and Ailerons it is

Thanks John and Fred. I am going to start on the flaps and ailerons then move onto the tanks once I get my wings stands built. I should be able to get them done before it turns too cold.


Aaron
 
You'll need to cleco up the entire wing structure as a unit to hold it all in the proper position on the wing stand - so you really should do the wing step-by-step as the instructions say for the wing. However, there is no reason you couldn't stop work on the empennage to get the wings done before warm weather is gone, just make sure you have good notes about WHERE you stopped on the empennage so you can pick up later.
 
Aaron,

What Airguy said is what I was refering to. You'll need to begin work on the wing and get it to a certain level of "completion" prior to beginning the fuel tanks.

Good luck.
 
Out of order??

has anyone ever started with the wings and skipped the tail feathers until they need them after the fuse is mostly done? Wil vans even let you do that?
 
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A thought I had would be to do the tanks last, as in next summer. I know it doesn't solve your expiring proseal predicament however.

There is a lot of edge to deburr, flanges to straighten, plus this is where you're going to need to start deciding on other things that haven't cropped up yet like wing wiring, lighting, aoa, etc, and other things you might want that aren't in the kit.
 
N18RA said:
has anyone ever started with the wings and skipped the tail feathers until they need them after the fuse is mostly done? Wil vans even let you do that?
Click to expand...

Maybe but I'd suggest the empenage is a "cheap" learning curve relatively speaking. Most of what you need to learn in order to complete the aircraft can be learned on the empenage....
 
Shockwave said:
A thought I had would be to do the tanks last, as in next summer. I know it doesn't solve your expiring proseal predicament however.

There is a lot of edge to deburr, flanges to straighten, plus this is where you're going to need to start deciding on other things that haven't cropped up yet like wing wiring, lighting, aoa, etc, and other things you might want that aren't in the kit.
Click to expand...

I am considered that as well, it isn't a huge amount of $$ I would be throwing away when the proseal goes bad.

I have a mostly completed my wiring diagrams for the wings and the decision making around the pitot/AOA, LED lights, AP servo's, ETC. I have been thinking(my wife would say obsessing) about this for build for a longtime.

Aaron
 
N18RA said:
has anyone ever started with the wings and skipped the tail feathers until they need them after the fuse is mostly done? Wil vans even let you do that?
Click to expand...

Having never built before I can't imagine how much harder this would be starting at the wings.

Fred is right, the emp is a good place to learn. Having made a couple of replacement orders to Vans already I would much rather replace $100 in tail kit parts than mess up a large skin or worse yet a spar :eek:
 
If you have the preview plans, take a look at the level of "hand-holding" in the empennage section versus the wing section. Big difference. You actually spend much more time analyzing the plans to figure out where things go and the best order to proceed.
Building the wings wasn't hard after doing the tail, but it did require more planning and forethought, since that level of step by step instruction just isn't there for the wings.
 
mill2978 said:
In addition I have opened the proseal for the tail and don't want to waste it by not using it in time. I have it in the freezer, but my understanding is that only buys you so much time...
Click to expand...

I used some proseal that'd been opened, most of it used up, and the remainder sitting in a refrigerator (not freezer) since 2004 to glue up a crack I knocked in my Audi's die-cast aluminum oil pan. It cured just fine and sealed the crack quite well until I later busted an even bigger hole in the oil pan.
 
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