Outboard Wings Assembly
Construction Time 237.50 hours
Date Description Time
03.04.10 Cut the outboard wing upper skins to provide access to install attachment bolts. 1.00
00.09.23 Removed fuel from right wing.  I found that when the wing was inverted, the fuel cap was leaking.  I thightened the adjustment of the fuel cap.  Finished riveting the right wing. 4.00
00.09.17 Leveled aft of wing extension.  Riveted bottom of right wing (after storing the left wing and bringing the right wing).  I was affraid of a fuel leak (because of traces  on skin), so I refilled the fuel tank and stored it outside for a week. 2.00
00.09.14 Riveted left wing (closed wing) (except for aft-end of wing extension) 3.00
00.09.13 Re-installed pitot/static tubes.  They are now attached with MS21919 clamps and grommets.  I had to bring the wing back in the garage. 2.50
00.08.18 Primed nose skin.  Clecoed bottom of nose skin and drilled holes for drain and vent.  I ordered a pre-cover (actually sub-assembly) inspection today!  This will be for the wings, ailerons, stabilizer, elevator and rudder. 1.50
00.08.14 Primed top of nose ribs.  Deburred nose skin. 3.00
00.08.10 Removed nose skin from right wing.  Besides that, I went to Mascouche to see my friends Fernand and Gilbert who were getting prepared to fly.  Fernand is flight testing the plane of Gilbert, a CH601-HDS.  0.75
00.08.09 Made some repairs to right wing.  For instance, when I installed the tip top skins, I enlarged the holes of the main skin.  So, I decided to add several rivets to correct the situation.  Those new rivets are attaching only the main skin with the rib.  They are flush and will not be visible once the tip skins will be installed.  Changed the location of the L angle holding the tip light wires (to avoid shaffing).  Added rivets on the rib outboard side of baggage compartment. Installed the rear wing tip parts (in preparation for aileron installation). 3.00
00.07.03 Tried a new approach for the trim tab (on my fake aileron).  I then installed the trim tab on aileron.  I also disassembled the aileron, deburred, primed the ribs and reassembled (bottom and front side are riveted.  The trim tab is tested. 8.00
00.07.02 Working on determining how I will install the trim tab and servo on the right wing aileron. 1.00
00.06.30 Intalled left aileron on wing.  De-installed and deburred left aileron flange.  I still have to debur inside the wing. 2.00
00.06.29 Disassembled+deburred left aileron. Cleaned + primed ribs.  Reassembled and riveted front and bottom of aileron.  I also cut the flange (flexible hinge) to proper length. 2.00
00.06.28 Fabricated aileron horns and clecoed them to the rib. When positioning it, there was a gap in Zenair's measurement.  On the plans, three measures are indicated (x,y from the rib and a radius from the hinge).  With the radius measure, I came about 4mm lower than the 15mm specified in the plans.  I decided to go with the radius measure as this is a safer approach (I feel).  I am more certain to clear the splice plate and longer horn makes it easier on the controls when flying (this is my theory of the day). 2.50
00.06.26 Predrilled aileron skins, formed (time accounted in part manufacturing), cleaned+primed,  installed ribs, predrilled, clecoed and redrilled to proper size.  Both ailerons are assembled (except for horn and right aileron trim tab).  Nothing deburred yet…. :( 7.00
00.06.19 No building during the weekend.  I spent some time at "Les Faucheurs de Marguerites", an airplane meeting in Sherbrooke.  I also checked back the regulation in regards with night VFR minimum equipment list.  And I found that I do not need a heated pitot!  I removed the wire and put rivets in the extra holes. 0.75
00.05.08 Installed the nav/strobe on right wing tip.  For this, I made another bracket with rivnuts that is installed inside the fairing (held in place with three rivets (two for the left side).  I then removed the light assembly and stored it.  Then, I epoxied washers to all holes of the fiberglass wing tip (so the rivets will have a good grip).  This was done last week for the other wing tip (the left side). 1.50
00.05.07 Installed nav/strobe light on left wing.  Made a bracket with nutplates so the assembly can be installed with screws. 1.00
00.05.07 Installed connectors in Whelen lights and on left wing tip wiring.  I had to get used to my new tool… 1.50
00.04.30 Deburred + primed wing tip nose skin.  Today, my emphasis switch from the aircraft to a deck.  I worked on installing the three tubes + filling them with concrete until 22h15 this evening.  I poored 14 bags of concrete (pre-mixed) and I am about 4 bags short! Shit! 0.50
00.04.29 Could not sleep… so I went in the garage and played with the Whelen tip light to see how I would fit it.  I made a bracket with rivnuts and I decided that this is the way to go… 1.00
00.04.29 My father in law came home and helped me installing the fiberglass wing tip on the left wing.  It went VERY well!  I was quite happy.  After he left, I redrilled the holes to #30 and I deburred.  I also worked on the Whelen wing tip light assembly…. I made a bracket to install in the fiberglass tip to anchor the light assembly (it is made with 0.025" aluminium and three nutplates.  I am sure that there could be a simpler ways to do this, but this is one way I can do it...  May be I'll try something else.  3.00
00.04.18 Worked on nose skin for left wing extension.  Also looked at how I will install the tip rib… it does not look much easier than it was for the right wing! 2.50
00.04.17 Removed the tip nose skin from right wing so I can copy the shape for left wing.  I was feeling too tired to do more, so I spent some time building a cover for my plans… (see tools). 0.25
00.04.16 Primed+reassembled pitot assembly.  Installed ground wire for nav light and attached nav/strobe light wires with nylon clamp.  I decided that I will be installing a trim tab on right wing.  As a result, I attached the left wing trim servo cable in the wing.  Started to work on the left wing tip nose skin (I drilled and clecoed it with main wing and with bottom of spar extension). 4.00
00.04.15 Finished installation of bottom wing extension skin.  Also deburred and primed.  Installed pitot/static port. 4.50
00.04.13 Disassembled tip top skin and rib.  Deburred and primed surfaces to be in contact.  Riveted L angles to skin and to spar and Z extension.  Turned the wing over. Back drilled wing nose bottom skin to ribs with #20 (it was pre-drilled with #30).  Started the installation of the bottom tip skin.  (it appears it will be somewhat wider than the one of the right wing (up to 1/4"). 2.50
00.04.11 Drilled most of top skin to tip rib and riblet. 1.50
00.04.09 Installed top tip skin and tip rear rib.  Remaining… drilling skin to tip rib and to riblet. 4.00
00.04.04 Drilled holes for Dzus and installed Dzus springs on opening.  Also changed the piano hinge on baggage door for a better fit. 2.75
00.04.03 Cut baggage compartment opening and installed piano hinge on wing and compartment door.  I feel that I could have closed the opening a bit more, but I will look at this again 2morrow.  My current problem is that I am running out of clecoes (again!). 2.25
00.04.02 Cut hole for landing light, formed and installed the acrylic lense.  My first attempt at forming the acrylic was not good… I burned the lense.  My second attempt was normal.  I don't know what kind of acrylic this is, but it is quite special… I can screw a #8 metal screw in it without drilling and it does not even crack!  4.00
00.04.01 Drilled + clecoed top nose skin.  I lost quite a bit of time working on the landing light bracket installation :( 5.00
00.03.31 Looked at Pitot/Static installation (decided to wait because I need a larger Unibit). Turned the wing over to work on the top skin. 1.00
00.03.28 Finished positioning ribs with tool rod. Installed nose skin on left wing.  Clecoed the bottom and cut skin behind the rivets for the spar. 3.25
00.03.27 Cut and formed LE skin for left wing.  Installed tooling rod. 2.50
00.03.26 I brought my right wing in the shed outside the house.  To do this, I needed to do a major cleanup in there and I also cleaned up the mess in the garage.  Then, I made a baggage compartment door for the left wing and I clecoed the bottom skin to the left wing.  Oh... while we moved the right wing to the shed, the baggage door fell right on the concrete floor, damaging a corner (I forgot to lock the Dzus and the piano hinge was not clecoed) :(  That's it... my plane will not look perfect!  I just lost the potential to win the Grand Champion at Oshkosh (just a joke).  Normally, I don't consider cleanup as building time, but this time it was major enough to justify it... I also made a wall stand for the wing in the shed. 5.00
00.03.25 My right wing really looks like a wing now and I won't touch it again before the LE fuel tanks are made.  What remains to be done are: deburring/priming nose skin and spar caps.  Installing tie down ring, install fuel tank, make and install aileron. 0.00
00.03.25 Installed wing tip fiberglass rib!  I got help from my father in law.  We really need to pairs of hands to do this.  The installation is not entirely perfect, but I think it is good enough (while top of skin is straight with wing, the nose bend inward the wing about 1/8").  I deburred wing tip (nose portion) and reassembled (well, about 5 times during the whole process!) 5.00
00.03.23 Tried again to install wing tip (fiberglass rib).  Can't do it. 2.00
00.03.21 Glued some gromets that were slack in the right wing.  Tried to install the tip nose skin and I am not able to… :(  I will call some help. 2.25
00.03.20 Made + installed right wing tip bottom skin (ready to be primed).  I also copied the dimensions of my wing tip skins for left wing.  Drilled hole for tie down ring and made a mistake… drilled half of a tack rivet (I have large hole with half of a small hole) and I wrote to Zenair about this one.  I also looked at how I will make the nose tip skin.  (Zenair said no problem... cut rivet head flush and install the tie-down ring.) 3.50
00.03.19 Started to make bottom tip skin (drilled to main skin and last rib).  I tried several methods to trace the contour of the tip rib on the skin… but with no success. 1.50
00.03.19 Installed Dzus springs around baggage compatment opening.  I decided to stiffen the area by attaching a L angle to the spring.  Since my springs were too deep (the S5A-275), I compressed them with a hand seamer… the result is good.  I then made the compartment door, turned the wing on its back and cut the nose skin at the spar.  Then, I final drilled the nose rib with #30.  6.00
00.03.14 Primed+reassembled wing tip. (top skin+rib) Cut the opening for the baggage compartment and cut  a baggage compartment door. 2.00
00.03.13 Drilled second row of rivets joining top skin with tip top skin.  disassembled+deburred and cleaned assembly. Final drilled nose ribs (top only).  Looked at sizing for baggage compartment cut.  Tested Dzus fastener on a scap piece of aluminium (seems too small). 2.00
00.03.12 I found during the weekend that my rear Z extension was not level with the rear Z.  This was because of the skin drilling (it was pushing down the extension.  I redrilled the skin to the Z extension properly and I double-pitched the rivet line because of the elongated holes created by the repositioning of the Z extension.  I installed the tip rib (rear) to the spar extension and Z extension.  I cutted the top tip skin to fit the tip rib and I drilled the skin to the tip rib (#30, pitch 40). 3.00
00.03.08 Installed L stiffener on tip top skin.  Intalled skin on wing (drilled with wing rib).  I misaligned the parts while drilling the Rear Z extension with the skin.  To correct this, I installed a L angle inside the extension and I riveted it with dimpled rivets.  I showed this to an RAA inspector and he told me my repair was overkill... (I prefer overkill than killed! :-) 3.00
00.03.07 Formed top wing tip skin for right wing and looked at how it would fit. 2.00
00.03.06 Tried to figure out how to install wing tip… I remade the tip rib. 2.00
00.02.05 Drilled + clecoed nose skin to top spar cap. 1.00
00.02.02 Drilled + clecoed top nose skin on right wing, except skin to spar cap (I did a lot of measurements prior to starting).  I decided to drill the last rib as well.  I will find another way of drilling the wing extension skin with the main skin.  I thightened the straps fairly tight and as a result, I have some marks on the leading edge.  More slack, the skin was not firmly seated against the three first rivet positions. 2.50 Wings
00.02.01 Drilled + clecoed bottom nose skin on right wing. 2.50 Wings
00.01.31 Formed right wing LE skin (I scrapped one prior to that because one of the two jacks fell on the skin :( . Installed landing light ground wire on skeletion.  Positioned right wing LE skin on wing. 2.50 Wings
00.01.30 Installed tooling rod on nose ribs of right wing (to hold the ribs parallel).  Also installed bottom skin on wing. 2.00 Wings
00.01.25 Modified the small aileron to see the fit with a piano hinge.  I installed a MS20257-P4 hinge.  Observations: I would need a P5 hinge if I want to be able to rivet it with the pre-drilled hole on the outboard wing.  I would also need to modify the aileron ribs and skin because now, the aileron protrudes about 1/4" below the wing.  Because of the hinge, the aileron distance to the spar is not 20mm anymore, but more closely to 30mm.  On the positive side, the aileron deflection is done without any force.  I spoke with a test pilot who flew both with piano hinge and flexible hinge... he has no problem with any of these... I will go with flexible hinge. 1.00
00.01.24 Made a small (11") aileron to see how it fits (and to check fit of ribs with skin).  I made a form bloc, two ribs and a skin (with dimensions as per plan).  The aileron looks nice, but there is a gap of 1/8" (front bottom of aileron) when I extend a ruler beneath the wing.  I asked a question to the Zenith list about this. 1.50
00.01.23 Primed top of left wing.  Attached wiring with tie-wraps.  Installed and riveted top skin on left wing. 3.00
00.01.22 Primed left bottom and right wing skeletion.  Installed electrical wiring in right wing.  Installed and riveted top skin. 4.00
00.01.22 Deburred left wing skeletion (not finished).  Installed wiring and tubings in left wing.  I decided to run trim tab wiring in both wings… I will not install the trim tab prior to test flight, but I want to be ready to install it in any aileron as needed.  I also decided to run the strobe wire separately from the other wires on most of the distance (they are all bundled behind the baggage compartment). 2.00
00.01.08 Disassembled left wing and deburred/primed bottom skin. 1.00
00.01.02 Finished construction of landing light assembly (Installed screws, made and installed bushings, installed rivnuts and assembled landing light.  I also attached false rib to light assembly and light assembly to wing outboard nose rib.  So far, I spent 13.25 hours working on landing lights (3 versions by now!) 4.00 LL
00.01.01 Disassembled right wing and deburred skeletion 1.50 Wings
99.12.31 Drilled and clecoed bottom right skin to wing. 2.50 Wings
99.12.30 Drilled and clecoed bottom left skin to wing. (oh!  I got my order from Wicks today… now, I think I have enough clecoes to build a 747!!!  It is fun to be able to work without having to optimize sequence to minimize the use of clecoes --- I am building both wings simultaneously). 2.50 Wings
99.12.28 Cut+predrilled bottom skin.  Made, installed and clecoed L stiffeners on skin.  Positioned skin on wing. 2.50 Wings
99.12.27 Made wing support for working on bottom skin (2 hours). Drilled baggage wall to skin and installed stiffener behind baggage compartment on left wing. Measured rib position for bottom left skin. 3.00 Wings
99.12.24 Clecoed top skin to left wing skeletion. 3.00 Wings
99.12.23 Pre-drilled left wing top skin.  Made L stiffeners and drilled to skin.  Made jig on workbench to hold wing frame straight and square.  Positioned top skin on wing skeletion. 3.00 Wings