I had just a little bit of time to work on the plane today. I now have the drill bits and reamers that I need to drill the top of the gear legs. So, I cut new pieces of 2x4 to make a new jig for the main landing gear alignment. I cut the pieces and then mailed them to my dad in Pennsylvania where he can cut a slot in them to fit nicely on the gear stems. I could do this, but it would require me buying a table saw. It's cheaper to send it home!
Next I started working on the wings. I've had fuel sitting in the left wing tank for about a week. When I built my S-10 I mounted the tanks, built the plane, covered it, painted it, etc... and then filled the tanks with fuel. After about a week, the tanks grew so much that it distorted the aft mount and make the drain holes no longer line up with the holes in the fabric. AARGH! So this time, I filled the left tank with fuel before I mounted it so it would grow to full size first. Well, the tank grew alright! It grew, stretched, bulged, etc... Now I just had a real difficult time mounting it. Here's what I have determined will work best with the tanks...
HOW TO MOUNT WING TANKS: First, build the wing frame. Then set the fuel tank in the cradle in the wing. Don't rivet the little tabs on yet though-just let the tank sit in there. THEN fill it up with fuel and let it sit for a week. This way, it will grow and stretch to the shape of the wing. (I'll post pics of this when I build the right wing)
Here the fuel tank is FINALLY mounted in the wing. Now I can get busy fitting
the ribs, top wrap, and root wraps.
Here is the upper root rib clecoed in place.
Another picture of the root rib. Rib #3 (which is actually the second rib in
from the root) is not going to fit nicely. The rib rubs on the side of the fuel
tank and may cause problems getting the lower root skin to fit. Right now I am
clecoing the top together, and then I'll stand the wing on the leading edge on
the floor and see if the bottom root skin is going to fit.
See what I mean? Here is rib #3 and the rib, the tank, and the tank mount (aluminum tube) all try to occupy the same vertical plane. This is pushing the bottom of the rib to the outside of the plane which again, may make the bottom root skin not fit. Things would fit a lot better if the rib was designed to fit about 1/2 inch further outboard!