Finally getting around to mounting my ailerons and flaps, not sure I had a good reason for not doing this earlier? For some reason I just skipped over it when I built the wings? I think I was just excited to get started on the fuse?? ;)
Anyhow, easy enough to do it now as I get ready to mount my wings on the fuse. These kinds of tasks in the project are really fun and satisfying for me. Deburring, match drilling, edge prep, primer, etc, I could really do without, but attaching control surfaces is a hoot. And as simple as this was, it took me about 8 hours to do...kinda slow I realize, but I was being very careful to not make a mistake.
The instructions say to lay the wing on a table to do this, not only do I think that isn't necessary, I think it may actually work better doing it while they are in the wing cradle...which is how I did it.
You will soon learn that attaching control surfaces is a tight quarters exercise. I HIGHLY recommend you get a telescoping magnet (shown in picture) and some washer wrenches. I couldn't have done this without either of those. I found that the only way to attach the connecting rod to the bell crank was to do that one first...as shown, its just too tight to get in there after the fact.
You have to fabricate some spacers for these, that coupled with washers and nuts, completes the assembly. I want to add, there was a recent posting on VAF about the proper way to attach rod end bearings. I didn't realize that some builders are confused by this. There is a bearing inside the rod-end...so make sure you torque your nuts down, they should not be left loose. They do not need to be loose to rotate freely...the bearing will take care of that. Always, always, always torque your nuts. I haven't finalize these yet because I know I will have to remove them later.
Aileron attached...looking good!
Don't forget this handy little piece of alum, its a jig to use so that you can get the bell crank in a "neutral" position.
Here it is in place, this is where having the wing in this orientation helps. The weight (gravity) put the aileron bell crank in its proper position. Keep in mind, this bracket only gets the proper position for the bell crank...not the aileron, I'll explain in a minute.
Once I got the aileron attached, the flap was next...you have to match drill the continuous hinge to the wing. So, here you can see I used a straight edge (yard stick) to get a nice fit before drilling. You also need to have 1/4" gap between the two...and keep it square. Check...and double check before committing to drilling.
There are two approaches for your hinge pins on the flaps. Use one full length piece and drill an access hole (in the aileron I think?) or cut the pin basically in half so you can remove them from the center. Van's has endorsed the split version and I think its the way most builders do it now. In this pic you can see how I fastened the two halves...once again, not my idea, but really clever. Just cut two eyelets off some scrap hinge...add a nutplate and some through holes. I will probably trim the ends a little shorter later...they don't need to be that long. I was really happy with the way this came out...kudo's to the guy who came up with it...unfortunately I cant remember his name off the top of my head.
I mentioned getting the bell crank in its neutral position earlier...to get the aileron in its neutral position (they are not automatically the same) you need to make a jig...I think it was in the plans on the wing jig page? Its just a straight line between tooling holes in the end rib and the aileron. To get the aileron and the bell crank synced up...you need to adjust your rod-end bearings on the connecting rod. Once I got his right, I torqued the lock nuts and finalized it...I don't think that should move again now that its set? So, in conclusion...not too difficult to do and a fun project to tackle.
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