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Fitting the Tanks - Using the #8 screws

A

Aero_Octaveus

Well Known Member
I've cleco'd the tanks up and I'm starting to fit them to the wings/z-brackets. I see that most builders use ratchet straps to fit them to the wing to hold them in place while they drill the W-423 joint plate and the baffle/z-brackets. (I get a great alignment on the bottom skin, but I'm having a tough time getting the gap closed between the tank skin and the top wing skin with this method.

I'm toying with the idea of drilling the tank/spar attachment holes to #19, dimpling and using some #8 screws to help attach the tanks to help with a proper fit. ( I see Andrew's RV build site did this http://n999za.com/2011/02/26/right-tank-work/

If you did it again....would you use this method or just keep with the straps?
 
IIRC I left the screw holes undrilled, and used #30 (copper) clecoes through them into the nutplates in the spar. They hold pretty well doing that, actually.

On the joint plate with the outboard side I just drilled with light pressure and clecoed every hole.
 
I don't remember whether I used screws or clecos to attach the tanks to the spars, but I know I didn't use straps. The tanks lined up perfectly and I was able to drill the joint plates without issues.
 
Tank fit

rmartingt said:
IIRC I left the screw holes undrilled, and used #30 (copper) clecoes through them into the nutplates in the spar. They hold pretty well doing that, actually.

On the joint plate with the outboard side I just drilled with light pressure and clecoed every hole.
Click to expand...

I did as well but i did use the straps too.
 
I figured "match hole; I don't need the straps" on my first wing. I ended up having to make shims as many others have mentioned doing and still didn't have completely perfect fit. I thought it had more to do with the difference in thickness of the skins. On the second wing, I cinched down with a ratcheting strap - much better, almost perfect skin fit with no shims needed. I also used the #30 clecos into the nutplates.
 
Straps and clecos

Great advice. I too ended up with both straps and then clecos as suggested. The fit was perfect! One benefit to my wing stand I didnt think of was that it allowed me to have a good anchor point for the straps that did not damage the top skins.
 
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