|  Home  |  Who Am I?  |  The Sonex  |  Build Diary  |  Contact Me  | 


Build Diary

Rigging the Wing

 



I finally drilled out all the wing attachment holes to 1/4" in preparation for rigging the wings.  There is a nice level area out the front of my place that will do nicely and I will be enlisting the services of Doug McLean, another Sonex builder here in Canberra who is nearly finished his plane.  I also have a couple of mates coming around to help.  

The wing rigging was done on 17 Jun 08 and took about 8 hours to complete. Previously paying close attention to the measurements with the rear spar attachment brackets paid dividends, as they slipped in to the grooves on the fuselage with space to spare each side – no rubbing against the skin. One area that was a bit disappointing was that the distance between the left wing tip and the rear fuselage should be slightly greater (5/32") than the distance between the right wingtip and the rear fuselage. In my case, that distance was slightly less. However, I could not adjust the wing to address this issue without adversely affecting the rest of the alignment. In the end, I decided that it wouldn't affect the flying characteristics much, if at all, and that I'd just live with it. 

The incidence is pretty easy to set, as is levelling the wings with the fuselage. Getting the wing into the spar carry-through tunnel was tight, but OK. Also, drilling the ¼" hole through the attachment angle went really well, as did drilling it out to 3/8". I had a 3/8" drill bit with a ¼" pilot head, so step drilled straight from 1/4" to 3/8". I used a 90 degree air drill, but my 2hp compressor with a 30 litre tank really had to work hard to keep up. I regularly stopped to allow the pressure to resume – in hindsight, I should have rented a large capacity air compressor for the job. 

The rear spar attachment assembly was a bit fiddly, but I got there in the end. The attachment strip made out of channel has to be drilled to the assembly and the lower cross tie, and then riveted to both. I ended up installing the rivets from the rear of the cross tie, as getting a rivet puller in underneath the assembly was impossible. 
 

 

Disclaimer

Be advised that this site IS NOT an official or approved site of Sonex LLC and is in no way intended to be a publication of Sonex LLC. These pages may contain ideas, opinions, and methods employed by me in the construction of my personal aircraft. They are not necessarily the most desirable method nor are they necessarily endorsed, approved or recommended by Sonex LLC. Many of the ideas and methods which may be discussed in the site represent a compilation of ideas and methods which other builders have used or expressed on other web sites and in separate correspondences. The photos, tips, if any, and methods presented on this site are provided only as this builder’s construction process, for information as a forum for exchange and the sharing of ideas and construction methods. NO responsibility or liability is assumed, expressed, or implied as to the suitability, accuracy, safety, or approval by me or any agency thereof. Any person using any suggestion, idea, method, example or material depicted on these pages, does so at his/her own risk and discretion and without recourse against the site owner or any other person and/or agency noted on this site.