Wing - Left Flaps and Ailerons

2004-07-04 - Aileron assembly. (5.5 Hrs).

Fourth of July. I'm back from vacation, and working again. The first task was to redrill and countersink the holes in the aileron counterbalance and leading-edge. I realized this the night before going on vacation. Fortunately, I remembered this when I got home.

Here's something that you rarely see on other websites--a nose rib riveted to the counterbalance. For some reason, a lot of builders seem to miss this step. Maybe Van changed the instructions, because it is clearly stated as the first step when you actually start assembling the ailerons (after the stiffeners, that is). There are several things that can go wrong when assembling the ailerons, so pay attention to the plans and the instructions.

We've seen this picture before on other websites. Bucking the top rivets on the aileron spar is a bit of a pain. The clecos are left off of the bottom spar, so you can reach in from the bottom and buck the rivets. There's quite a bit of pressure on the leading edge, and the marks on the back of your hand are the result. I would hate to see the hands of someone who did not do a good job of deburring the edges of the leading-edge.
Note, the instructions said to rivet the counterbalance to the aileron leading-edge after the top rivets have been set. I found that the clecos were in the way, so I riveted the counterbalance before the top rivets. This didn't seem to cause any problems.

Here's a picture of the inside of the left aileron, just after all of the top rivets have been set. The bottom of the aileron is on the left and the top is on the right. The bottom is not cleco'd together so you can get the bucking bar inside.

Top rivets all done. Notice that the blue plastic has been cut-back on the rear of the aileron from the edge of top seam. I wish I had done this prior to clecoing the leading edge to the spar. I wish I had done this on the bottom a few minutes later, when I started riveting the bottom of the spar. If the seam does not overlap the plastic too far, the plastic will pull out from under the seam after you have set a few rivets, but it's easier the other way.

Riveting the bottom of the spar using CS4-4 blind rivets. I used two pieces of aluminum angle to keep the edge straight. The edge is not perfect, but I got pretty close.

The left aileron is complete.

The left aileron is temporarily installed on the wing--works very smoothly.

	Here's something that you rarely see on other websites--a nose rib riveted to the counterbalance. For some reason, a lot of builders seem to miss this step. Maybe Van changed the instructions, because it is clearly stated as the first step when you actually start assembling the ailerons (after the stiffeners, that is). There are several things that can go wrong when assembling the ailerons, so pay attention to the plans and the instructions.
	We've seen this picture before on other websites. Bucking the top rivets on the aileron spar is a bit of a pain. The clecos are left off of the bottom spar, so you can reach in from the bottom and buck the rivets. There's quite a bit of pressure on the leading edge, and the marks on the back of your hand are the result. I would hate to see the hands of someone who did not do a good job of deburring the edges of the leading-edge. Note, the instructions said to rivet the counterbalance to the aileron leading-edge after the top rivets have been set. I found that the clecos were in the way, so I riveted the counterbalance before the top rivets. This didn't seem to cause any problems.
	Here's a picture of the inside of the left aileron, just after all of the top rivets have been set. The bottom of the aileron is on the left and the top is on the right. The bottom is not cleco'd together so you can get the bucking bar inside.
	Top rivets all done. Notice that the blue plastic has been cut-back on the rear of the aileron from the edge of top seam. I wish I had done this prior to clecoing the leading edge to the spar. I wish I had done this on the bottom a few minutes later, when I started riveting the bottom of the spar. If the seam does not overlap the plastic too far, the plastic will pull out from under the seam after you have set a few rivets, but it's easier the other way.
	Riveting the bottom of the spar using CS4-4 blind rivets. I used two pieces of aluminum angle to keep the edge straight. The edge is not perfect, but I got pretty close.
	The left aileron is complete.
	The left aileron is temporarily installed on the wing--works very smoothly.