[NYTOM]

I read somewhere a tip about installing a strip of aluminum around the inside of the wing tip edge to beef up the edge so plate-nuts would be installed more securely. Sounds like a plan but what are you guys using to attach the strip? I figure the rivets through the plate-nuts would be enough but what's the thought on scuffing things up a bit and using some old pro-seal to completely bond it? Has anybody tried contact cement like you would use on a Formica counter top?

 

[Rockyjs]

used epoxy with flox to bond metal doubler strips inside my tips and then installed nut plates.

 

[Robert M]

Wing tips and platenuts

Haven't done it yet but I'm planning to put a small strip of aluminum at each platenut rather than trying to adhere an entire strip around the inside. Each piece will be riveted in place with the platenut - no adhesive.

 

[OneCharlieKilo]

"Amazing Goop"

I used "Amazing Goop" contact adhesive I got from Home Depot or Lowe's. Roughed up the surfaces a bit, glued/clamped in place, and installed nutplates the next day. Worked fine.

 

[noelf]

Check out what Phillips did on his "possumworks" web site. Although he used piano hing lengths to attach his wingtips, the method he used and his pictures and writeup are great and I believe are applicable if you are only attempting to attach aluminum strips.

BTY, I use his method to attach my wing tips and am very pleased with the results.

 

[Capflyer]

The strip in mine is only held in place by the platenut rivets and worked fine. The base strip of my Archer antenna is sandwiched between the support strip and the wingtip edge, and also held in place by the platenut rivets and helps ground it to the airframe by the screws attaching the assembly.

 

[Rick6a]

........what are you guys using to attach the strip?....... what's the thought on scuffing things up a bit and using some old pro-seal to completely bond it?.....

I used good ol proseal to bond .025 strips on two pair of wingtips now. Works fine. Others have reported using West System epoxy some builders using flox, others not and report similiar good results too.

 

[f1rocket]

I've done it several ways. I don't believe you really need to bond the aluminum strip to the flange at all. It would only be there to hold it in place when the screws are removed. The purpose of the strip is to provide a more solid riveting structure to mount the plate nuts, otherwise they can work their way loose (although it's not that big of a problem). I look at it as a lot of mess for not much benefit. After I mount the plate nuts to the strip, I just use a couple of soft rivets between the plate nuts to rivet the strip to the fiberglass flange. With the mounting screws installed, they hold the strip tightly against the flange.

 

[Bob Axsom]

Well I've done it three ways

With the stock tips I mounted the plate nuts directly to the fiberglass and It works fine. There has been no tendency to loosen at all even though I remove the tip at least twice each year. I believe for the stock tip instalation that is the lightest and smartest way to do the job.

Then I made my own design tips for racing. These extend each wing by 3" as opposed to 12" and reduce the stock RV-6A wingspan from 23 ft to 21.5 ft. The new tips are only 3 plys thick and I had some concern about stability of the installation so I incorporated a narrow strip of 0.016" 2024T3 to the inside of the the first wing tip edge. I completed the installation with rivets in the platenuts and rivets between the platenuts securing the strip to the tip. When I looked at it it seemed to me that this was a very awkward looking and inefficient assembly so I decided on the second racing tip I would use only the the platenut installation rivets to secure the strip and the platenuts. This produced a much nicer looking assembly. I use no adhesive on the strips.

All three installations work fine with no sacrifice of strength, reliability or serviceability. With stock tips, aluminum strip doublers are not necessary and if you make you own thin tips no adhesive or rivets other than those needed to mount the plate nuts are needed in my opinion.

Bob Axsom

 

[Steve]

The book sez

to use the aluminum strip if you choose to pop rivet the tips to the wings. Aluminum reinforcement is optional under nut plates.

Steve

 

[Rick6a]

I received a private e-mail asking for more information on the Archer VOR antenna installation partially shown in my previous post so I thought I would add these additional notes:

#1. Some builders are of the opinion the strip is optional.....perhaps. My decision to install the strips some years ago was based upon the strength of comments from a few builders posting at another website that the unreinforced wingtips on their RV's started to sag. At the time, those comments made sense to me but here is another potential consideration.

#2 The Archer wingtip VOR antenna must be firmly grounded to the airframe per plans. I believe (without any supporting evidence to back me up whatsoever) that the .025 strip not only provides a convenient means to firmly secure the antenna inside the wingtip but also the very nature of the installation enhances airframe grounding. In operation, I find that Archer antenna to perform as well or better than traditional cat whiskers. Does the reinforcing strip help? Maybe, maybe not.

​

 

[trib]

5 minute epoxy

As others mentioned, the rivets for the platenuts hold the strip in place permanently. You only need temporary mounting to help. I used 5-minute epoxy so the process can be completed quickly. Proseal would be more than adequate, but then you have to wait for it to dry!

 

[Ingo Weise]

Archer antenna and fuel tanks

Is it possible to put an Archer antenna in one of the wing tips, glas it over to protect it from fuel and use the wingtip as an additional fuel tank, or would the the fuel in the tank badly reduce the range of the antenna?