[William Slaughter]

Fitted up my second wingtip today, and was initially pleased that the trailing edge was not misaligned vertically by about 1-1/4" like the first one, but then on closer inspection saw that someone got a little carried away with the grinder at the wingtip factory. As you can see in the pictures, the trailing edge is quite truncated, and about 3/16" short of matching the aileron.
The only fix I've come up with so far is to split the trailing edge and glue in a pre-fabricated fiberglass "board" to extend the line back, then fair in as required. I had to split open the trailing edge of the other one to get it to line up, and sure hate to do it again, but I just don't see how to get anything strong enough otherwise. Tips or suggestions appreciated.

 

[Adam]

That's the beauty of fiber-glass, just build it up and sand it down! I had the same issue and after a little effort it looks as if it was always there.

Adam Silverstein
Finnish RV-8

 

[MrNomad]

Wing tip ****

Yes, we're in our 10th day of wingtip ****. One would wish that Van's would demand their suppliers actually create an item that works but what we did to mitigate the part's errors (there were many) was to roll the wingtip in the socket caused by the leading edge. That forced the wing tip to change overall dimension. It's like rolling a balloon.

By rolling it in the socket, the aft edge will line up with aileron and even extend further. But before you get fat, dumb and happy thinking the **** thing works & you're done, put in the foam & the metal pieces and fit it again.

Make sure the rivets that go side to side (holding the inner bracket) line up with the rivets on the top of the wing. Also, make sure you don't stress the tip too much with brackets and/or foam cause the surface will crack and that creates a project for West fiberglassing.

We tossed one of van's brackets & made our own cause it caused more grief than help.

Suffice to say, the manufacturer needs to send parts that actually fit. I've built a lot of custom cars and never have I received any part that fit as poorly as these wingtips.

Feel free to call if we can help you or offer our condolences.

Barry
520-797-0265

 

[frankh]

Cotton flox

should do it..its supposed to be structural. Make up a paste with the flox and daub it on the there after you have files the back edge of the tip to get a good key.


It will be rough filed to shape and then finish with a little filler.


Frank

 

[Todd]

cotton flox will work just fine for this. scuff up the edge of the fairing where the flow will bond before applying it and you'll be fine. have fun