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Special Tools for Wing Construction

Robert M

Robert M

Well Known Member
Hi gang!

I have all but finished the Empennage and I'm about to order the wings. I purchased the ATS tool kit with 3X gun. Also I have purchased a Tatco squeeze and a pneumatic squeeze (medical Reasons). Are there any "specialty" tools that I might need/want for the wing construction?
 
Robert M said:
Hi gang!

I have all but finished the Empennage and I'm about to order the wings. I purchased the ATS tool kit with 3X gun. Also I have purchased a Tatco squeeze and a pneumatic squeeze (medical Reasons). Are there any "specialty" tools that I might need/want for the wing construction?
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Robert
You mentioned medical reasons for getting a pneumatic squeezer, you may want to get a pneumatic cleco tool. I think I paid about 20 for one. When I built my wings I didn't have one and my elbow really hurt after finishing the wings. Other than that there aren't really many tools you need for the wings. You will probably have to ground down the end of a pop rivet tool when working on the tanks. You could get fancy and back rivet the top skin, that takes a special back rivet set.
 
I bought the Avery double offset back rivet set and the Avery round bucking bar for the top wing skins. I used a single offset 1/8" set for riveting ribs to the spar.
Get a plumb bob for verifying zero wing twist. You'll need 4 total when you set the wing-to-fuse incidence angle later on.
Tank equipment has been hashed over in other posts.

Steve
 
I'll second the pneumatic cleco tool. There are a lot of clecos on the wings, and you have to install and remove the wing panels several times. I was having a lot of pain in the back of my hands, and the pneumatic cleco tool solved the problem. Plus, clecoing goes a lot faster with the pneumatic. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find the tool that I bought. It was only $22 at the time.

You will probably need the offset rivet set in a few places. And, I wish that I had the longeron yoke for my Tatco when I did the wings on my 7A. The longeron yoke was hard to find, but Brown tool company has them
(http://www.browntool.com/productselect.asp?ProductID=603)

The longeron yoke for the Tatco is not quite the same as most other company's yokes. Most longeron yokes have an extension on the stationary jaw, but the Tatco is just a wider jaw that requires longer rivet sets. So, you will need some longer rivet sets if you get one (trust me, eventually you will need one). You might be better off getting the longeron yoke for you pneumatic squeezer.

Tracy.
 
Extra-wide countersink cutter for tank screw hole c-sinks. The body of the cutter has a larger diameter than the "standard" narrower ones that most tool kits come with. Since the c-sinks in the spar flange are relatively deep, you need a larger c-sink body diameter to cut that deep.

Tube flaring tool, i.e. Parker Rolo-Flair that ATS sells. Tube bending & tube cutting tools. These are used for plumbing tank vents.

Sealant gun (possibly look on ebay for "Semco sealant gun" or beg/borrow/steal one).

Fuel tank dimple dies (3/32"). Cleaveland carries these.

Those are just a few extra "needed for slow build wings" tools off the top of my head.
 
I second the double offset back rivet set and round bucking bar for doing the top skins. I got mine from Avery at SNF and they were well worth the price. Also, as always, more clecos. I think I ended up with about 550 of the 3/32 ones.
 
I believe I bought my $22-24.oo cleco tool from "The Yard Store". They have ones that cost over $50.00 and the one that sells for less than $25.00. My cheap one works fine. I have problems with my wrists from doing machine work for years and the pneumatic cleco tool sure helps. If you don't find it at The Yard Store then it must have been "Brown Tool".
 
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One other thing I forgot to mention, I bought the double offset back rivet set and for the life of me could not get consistantly good shop heads. I had a helper with the bid round bucking bar but decided to go back to using a swivel 1 inch dia. mushroom head with the rubber edge guard and the normal bucking bars. I had much better luck that way and now have finished both wings except for the bottom skins I left off until the bitter end. :)
 
RV7Factory said:
Same question was asked in this old thread. Lots of good info there.
Click to expand...

Thanks to all that responded. I specifically posted that question in the RV-9/9A section because I didn't know how much difference there was between the different model's wings and I didn't want to get a list of tools I didn't need.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this forum and the people that contribute to it are the best! :D :D :D
 
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