Wings part 36

Riveted on the right wing's bottom tip skin.

I did not forget the wire!

Then I got started on the left wing.  Here is the hand hold rib.

One of the bottom skins.

And the aft rib.

Top skins.

Bent the tabs on the bottom skin.  Ran out of primer!

Did not forget the nutplate and the 3/8" hole.

Wings part 35

Not much time spent today.

Cleco'ed on the tip's bottom skin and was amazed that all the tab angles matched and the holes aligned....

These three rivets get left out for the NAV/Strobe light mount.

Wings part 34

Continuing to work on closing out the right wing tip.

Flipped the wing over and got started on the bottom skin of the wing tip.

Drilled out the hole for the NAV/Strobe light wires.

Made this tool to bend the tabs on the skin.

Each tab gets bent to a specific angle.

All of the tabs are bent.

Wings part 33

Tonight I got started by finishing the access door hardware for the left wing.

All 10 nutplates installed after dimpling the rivet holes and the screw holes.

Hatch installed with flat head screws.  I will change these to stainless after paint.

I then moved on to closing out the right wing's wingtips,  Primed and installed this rib.

This bottom skin transistion.

And folded the hand hold reinforcement per the KAI's and riveted it on.

Then I installed the aft half of the top skin.

And finally the forward skin that wraps around the leading edge and meets up with the aft bottom transition piece.

A peek from the front underside.

A peek from the aft underside.

I did not use my normal primer on these parts because it was raining and I wanted to get this done.  I just used some self etching rattle can primer after I scuffed and cleaned the parts.

Wings part 32

Finished the left wing's landing light.  Same Same as the right wing.

Back side of the left wing landing light.  

Lens all installed.  A tiny bit more gap on this one at the front for some reason.  Not bad but more than the right wing.  

Wings part 31

Today I succeeded in getting the lens into its new home.  The trick was to use a heat gun on medium heat to warm up the lens and to squeeze it while inserting the outboard end into the wing first.    The heat helped tremendously and helps reduce the amount of pressure required.  Don't over do it and keep the heat gun moving and at least 12" away from the lens.  Work fast once you get it warmed up!

Then I started repeating the process on the left wing.  Rinse and repeat!

Wings part 30

After returning from our week long glamping trip,  I started working on the landing light for the right wing.

First I used painter's tape to totally cover up the acrylic lens to prevent scratches.

Then I centered the lens in the cutout opening and used tape to pull it forward while also reaching in thru the end rib holes to push on it to minimize any gap between it and the skin.  The lens looks fairly symmetrical but it is not.  One way it matches the skins better than the other.  Try both ways and then keep up with which side is the top.

I then drilled the 1/8" pilot holes using a special bit that is made for acrylic.  Cleco'ing as I went.  I then marked the cutout on the lens all the way around the hole.

I then used the cutoff disk and the Dremel to cut the excess lens away,  I just followed the KAI's here.

Cut down to size....

I then increased the size of the pilot holes to as close to #27 as I can get since I only have a 5/32" acrylic bit.

These acrylic bits have  a specially ground point, 60° included tip angle, 0°rake angle, shoulder relieved, for drilling acrylic sheet to prevent fractures, chipping or cracking.

Next I used the screw backer strips to mark the radius for the corners of the lens.  Once this was done, I carefully sanded the entire circumference of the lens making the edges smooth and rounded.  I used many different grits and a sanding drum like this one to get the job done.  The smoother they are the less likely they are to crack.....

Then I upsized the holes in the skin to #27.

And dimpled the skins for #6 screws.

Then I countersunk the backer strip for the nutplate attach rivets.

And then riveted on the nutplates.

Increased the size of one of the tooling holes to 3/8" for a snap bushing in the landing light attach ribs.

Then I cut the ribs apart.

Riveted on the doublers for the ribs.  Also cleaned up the slot to ensure the bolt can slide freely.

Installed the two snap bushings.

AeroLED supplies a more robust connector for their landing lights now.  I had to cut the pre-installed pin off of the factory wiring and install the pins that come with the landing light.  Here is the ground wire installed in the connector.

The ground wire gets connected to the landing light mount rib with a screw, washer and nut.

Here are the other three wires with pins crimped and then installed in the connector.

I then riveted the landing light mount ribs to the wing skins per the KAI's.

Here is the landing light all mounted and aimed per the KAI's.  Do yourself a favor and loosely assemble this assembly before riveting it in.  I also had to use an additional washer on the pivot bolt because the bolt bottomed out in the light housing before it tightened up on the rib and doubler.

Here is the assembly from the backside.  I added some spiral wrap to protect the wires from rubbing on the skin.

I then spent a very frustrating 2-3 hours trying to get that lens to fit in the hole after the light is all installed.  Gave up and decided to sleep on it after reaching out to the Interwebs for advice.