flap alignment advice please

[mgregory176]

I just installed my flaps while the wings are sitting in the cradle. Bottom skins are riveted and everything seems straight, except the flap for the right wing will not nest completely in the recess. It appears to be striking the back of rear spar just outboard of where the skins begin. This causes a differential between the flap trailing edge and the aileron of approx 3/32". The flap seems straight, the wing seems straight. Left wingflap and aileron align perfectly. Would this work itself out when the wings are hung on the fuse? There doesn't appear to be any adjustability since the leading edge of the flap is striking the rear spar.

 

[rleffler]

I don't think anyone can answer your question at the moment. Hang the wings on the fuselage, then measure alignment. I think attempting to adjust alignment in a wing stand is non-productive.

 

[Mike S]

Yep, what Bob said.

 

[mgregory176]

flap question

Thanks for the replies. That was my suspicion and my hope is that everything will naturally align when oriented "into the wind"

Luckily now I have the fuse kit to concentrate on.

 

[BobTurner]

The flap should rest uniformally on the aft spar when full up. Then, you align the aileron to the flap, not vice versa.

 

[Jesse]

Don't worry about final alignment until installed on the plane, but you can check a few things. The flaps, when fully up, will just touch the rear spar. To check for a twist in your flap, measure the distance from the trailing edge of the top skin on the wing to the trailing edge of the flap leading edge skin. Is should be exactly the same over the entire length of the flap. If it isn't, then you have a twisted flap. With a straight flap, you can rig the aileron to the flap and he wingtip to he aileron off the plane, but I wouldn't go too far now.

 

[Bill.Peyton]

I would follow Jesse's advice and check both the flaps and ailerons are true. Now is the time to address that issue. In terms of alignment, final alignment can't be accomplished until the wing are on the aircraft. What I did was mount the wings temporarily to verify alignment, then I installed the wing tips, which required some significant work to bring in to alignment. I would not wait until your ready for final assembly to find out you have a warped flap!