Section 13 Starting Troubles

 So I tried to start my build over the weekend and on step 1 of Section 13 I hit a road block.  I put the left spar on my workbench as the directions show the left spar at first, so I figured this is a good way to start.  I dug through my part storage and located the W1006E and W1006F pieces.  The W1006E is marked as Left and Right since you need one on each spar, but they are mirror pieces to each other.  When applied to the spar, there is an additional hole that should be in the lower flange when placed on properly (Page 13-2 Figure 1).  I put the piece marked Left next to my spar and the extra hole was not correct.  I took out the Right piece and the hole was in the same spot.  I quickly realized that I had been sent two "Right" pieces despite one was marked left.  

Note the extra hole in bottom left on both pieces.  These were marked per the original part marking.

So I quickly was at a grinding halt realizing the left spar had no extension piece.  I put the left spar back in the crate and placed the right spar on the workbench to begin.  I was able to quickly cleco together the extension assembly and do my first match drilling.  I deburres all the splice plate holes and put it back together for now until I am ready to debur the edges and prime.  I am holding off until I can do all of the pieces together in one priming session.

I reached out to Van's and they promptly apologized.  They are sending out another Left piece for me, I hope this one is marked properly.  I reached out to another builder who received their kit around the same time as me, and he actually had two Right pieces.  So I hope this isn't a bigger issue where many others are mismarked. 

So while I wait for the spar extension piece to arrive, I began step 5 and 6 in the meantime.  I took out the J channel and began to fabricate my W1028A and W1028B stiffeners for both wings.  This didn't take too long but it's interesting trying to use a tape measure on these weird shaped pieces.  Regardless, I got them marked up, removed the blue film, and got my bandsaw out.  It didn't take long, but I had to make a few extra cuts to get the long piece into the band saw straight without hitting the frame.  It worked out fine, and I got to sit outside enjoying the beautiful day while doing so.

My bandsaw setup in the driveway.  I wanted to enjoy the nice weather and minimize the metal pieces in the garage.

After a nice session of cutting down J Channel, it was time to bust out the deburring wheel and get to work. Getting the little curve of the J channel took a little practice for the first piece but I quickly got the hang of it and knocked out the J channels pretty quick.  The ends took a little more finesse to obviously deburr the cuts completely, and a quick run on the sides for any imperfections was all that was needed.

Deburr...Deburr...Deburr

For my first lengthier session, I really enjoyed getting things done.  I am looking forward to getting the stiffeners mounted for match drilling sometime this coming weekend.  I am trying to get much of the heavy and louder work done in the daytime to minimize my families precious beauty sleep.  I hope they appreciate the lengths of planning to minimize that I have taken.  Until next time...