Priming Take 2 and First Drilling

 So I had to redo my priming setup based on the issues found during my first session.  Luckily I had some scrap wood lying and I had an idea.  I went to the hardware store and got some wire netting which I stapled across the wood as a frame.  It allowed me to spray down and through the frame with no issues of sticking.  I quickly flipped the parts over and sprayed again without issue.

After ironing out my priming setup, I moved onto match drilling the J stiffeners.  They require you to mount at a specific measurement and drill along the length.  It is a lot of holes to match drill on one flange alone.  With some manipulating and moving as I went, it took me about an hour to do the top flange.  I am going to do all of the countersinking and river the nutplates before I flip the spar and do the bottom flange. I figured this would be easier instead of continuously flipping this spar over repetitively.  I now need to setup the counter sink cages and get those dialed in.

The new priming setup.  This worked much better than the paper itself.  

In other news, I received notification today that my empennage kit is finally shipping out today.  Its exciting to think that I will have a tail kit next week sometime.  However, I need to make space on the garage floor for it to sit.  My wing spars need to be stored appropriately and the minds at be seem to think storing them flat is optimal.  I am currently debating finishing the one wing so it can be put into the wing stand, but I am not sure.  I am very torn as it would be a great way to store the parts and open up additional space, however the work would take me quite awhile to do.  The other option is to put the spar back as it is, move some parts around and deal with the tail kit right away.  Either way I will be looking for space to store things as I continue building.  I'll post back what I decide to do in the next update.

First Priming Session.... A Semi Success

 So I decided to try and get started with the right wing since I didn't have the appropriate spar extension piece for the left side.  I got the spar extension and the splice plates all drilled and deburred and got ready to have my first priming session.  I am using the Stewart Systems EkoEtch and EkoPrime products.  I chose this product because its water soluble and easily cleaned up, not toxic like many alternatives, and has virtually no odor allowing me to spray anywhere.  I ordered it direct from the manufacturer because it was cheaper than many resellers.  Note, they took a few days just to ship the item, so it took over a week to receive it.  If you are in a time crunch, order it from one of the bigger resellers.

When I was planning  out my priming setup, I wasn't sure how it was going to work exactly.  I've never spray painted anything with a spray gun, so there is some learning to be had.  I bought a detail gun from Harbor Freight and it was relatively inexpensive.  The gun was easy to setup and easy to use once I got it hooked up.  The primer easily mixed with some stirring, poured through the strainer, and was ready to spray quickly.  I bought a roll of butcher type paper to use as a mat to spray over, however this would end up being a poor choice.  

I quickly got setup and etched the parts easily on my lawn.  I used a watering can as an easy way to rinse everything off and then busted out the red Scotchbrite.  After a good scratching, I laid everything out to get spraying.  I took pictures of the parts so I knew what was what after spraying, I noticed this will take some practice as the primer covers up the markings on the part.

Priming went well and I had no major issues.  The Ekoprime dries relatively quickly in only a few minutes allowing for quick sessions.  I flipped over the parts and got to spraying side two.  I left the parts for a bit to dry and did some other work.  When I came back to remove the parts, I came across my problem.  The primer was still slightly wet and not fully set, so when I flipped it, the primer starts to adhere to the paper below.  The result was some missed/removed primer.

Paper stuck to primer and ripped off when removed.

So I quickly realized my paper setup was not going to work.  I brainstormed and thought about all of the leftover plywood from building the tables.  I thought about what I could use it for and came up with a "paint frame" idea.  I cut out the middle of the plywood and hit up Lowes for some Hardware Cloth.  This is essentially thin wire mesh which comes in a roll.  I then cut down and stapled the mesh to the frame I had cut out which would allow me to elevate the piece off the floor, put it on a hard surface, and not have the issues the paper created.  

My primer frame setup.

Now that I have a frame to work with, I am going to do the left side pieces.  Van's sent me out the replacement part which was actually another right piece.  After a second call, Van's went and checked the batch and found a bunch mislabeled.  A quick correction and another piece was shipped and received this past week.  Now I have drilled and deburred that, we are ready to test the new priming frame out this weekend when its nice out.  I'll report back my results, if it works well, I'll probably cut up two more pieces to have additional frames for larger batches.

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...

Inventory.... Inventory... and More Inventory

 Well there is a lot of work to do with the kits once they arrive.  The first thing is opening the crate carefully as to not damage anything, remove the packing list, and then start to dig through the packing material.  Van's does an exceptional job of packaging so much stuff into these crates very carefully.  They use lots of tape and paper to secure everything so there is little to no movement of the parts during transit. As long as the crate stays intact (thats the big part), there seems to be a small chance of damage.  A few things I've noted:

• Look out for the shipper to mis-orient the crate.  My one crate arrived on its side despite clear markings for which side up..... and the truck was empty otherwise so there was no reason for it.
• Look for damage on the bottom and sides, the forklifts can do some good damage if they aren't careful.
• Open and unroll all the packing paper, they wrap things up and you don't want to throw away a part by accident.    
• When inventorying the larger parts, you will come across a few items that are not labeled.  These are mostly angle iron, tubes, and some other odd parts.  Set them aside and finish the rest of the inventory.  Once this is done, then compare the remaining few pieces to the inventory list. It will be pretty easy to identify them at this point.  Then take painters tape and label the item with the appropriate part number for later.
  
• Another item I found helpful was to mark out where you put things.  Depending on your workspace, you should have bins or shelves that are labeled.  Then mark on the inventory where these items are for easy location later.
• I had one part which was "warped" but its due to how the part is pressed in the punch at production.  Since I am doing the wing kit first, I have not received the first part of the manual and need to download the details for straightening in section 5.

I spent about 5 hours or so doing the small hardware alone and probably two hours doing the main kit pieces and subkits.  This took up the majority of the inventory time overall separating out the mixed bags and putting everything into storage bins.  I found the Harbor Freight bins really helpful for this.  I think the small bins are probably the most useful but I had purchased a few of the medium ones.  They are a bit big for some items, but I'd rather have the space for later when we get into bigger items like fuselage parts.  As well, my tail kit is expected next month so I will be hopefully combining some of the rivets and bolts into one bin for easy storage.  

I'll update this later with some pictures of the bins and how I marked things for reference.  Until next time.

The Day Has Come....

 Well after a long anticipated wait, the first kit arrived yesterday.  I was a bit disappointed to be starting on the wings before the tail, but I am glad to at least have something to work on.  I am waiting for one or two more parts for my Air Hose system.  I opted to buy the Rapid Air Products RapidAir System.  This was a good setup as it had 100 feet worth of hose and two outlets.  It would allow me to setup a drop down reel, and remote reel by the garage, and keep my compressor in the back of my garage.  I am trying to maximize the distance from the bedrooms to the compressor so I can hopefully work in the evening after my kids are asleep.  Time will tell how that plan will work out, I might be limited to certain tasks only late in the evening.  I am going to do another post about that system and my feelings on the setup for it.

The Truck Has Arrived.

Wings Are In Transit!

    Well the news has arrived and my wing kit is now on a truck crossing the country.  I expect the local depot to have it next Thursday, so I presume I will take delivery early the following week.  Now I need to get in gear and finish up prep work.  I just received my RapidAir air hose kit and hung my hose reel in the garage.  I need to stop and grab some mounting gear at the hardware store and to tackle that this week.

    In other news, I received an "estimated" crate date for Early-Mid May for the empennage kit.  I am debating starting my wings until that comes, but we'll see how long that progress takes at first.  It might be worthwhile to wait until the tail comes and just start that. The issue is going to be storing all of it at once, my garage will be quite full with three full crates there. 

    I will try to get some pictures of the RapidAir kit and hose setup as I get the install completed and done.  Then to finish doing the DRDT2 table is on the hit list.

Crating Date Received!

 We have been anxiously waiting for the details about crating for the wing kit.  It took about three weeks since we made the balance payment, but the crating schedule has been published.  Now to anxiously wait for confirmation that it was shipped.  

In other news, we have been grabbing parts and items to finish up organizing the garage.  I got some lag bolts yesterday so we can hang the air reel, and am going to order some air piping from Rapid Air Products so I don’t need to move my compressor around all the time.  The last big thing remaining is the support tables for the DRDT, I have been procrastinating as the garage has been in the 20 and 30 degree mark the last two months, and since I had no kit there wasn’t any rush. I guess it is time to get in gear and finish this up. I have to admit, I am getting excited!

Progress...

So news came yesterday via email. Our wing kit is ready to be scheduled for crating and Van's wants all of my money. I was a bit shocked as we haven't heard anything on the tail kit still. I requested more information but still haven't heard back. I decided to query some other builders and my local EAA Tech Advisor for their opinions.  A lot of people seemed to believe if I wanted to spend time prepping all of the wing kit, that would eat up alot of my time. Then hopefully I will get my tail kit while i'm working on that. Worst case scenario, I finish up the prep work and start on the smaller surfaces. Only time will tell, but I am excited to at least get some information about one of the kits coming. Since I might be getting the wingsn first, I decided to do some research into wing items. The biggest thing that I eventually have to decide will definitely be the lighting. I am torn between the FlyLED's products which are highly recommended and liked by many builders. The other option is the Aveo ZipTips which are a one piece fit all where all lighting is built into the wingtips. However, I have heard a few things about them which doesn't make me happy. I have heard the trailing edge doesn't quite match the ailerons on many planes, the assembly is delicate and some had issues, and the shipping can take quite awhile. To not help matters, the ZipTips are probably triple the cost of FlyLED's solutions.

FlyLED's Original Lighting

Aveo ZipTips

The downside to the FlyLED's is that I probably will need to cut into my wing leading edge for the landing light install. This isn't a super big deal, but it definitely makes you nervous. I have to do some more research into the Van's light kit and an aftermarket one from Duckworks. The duckworks seem to have better documentation, but some of the online talk suggests they have a smaller lens. Will have to report back. Now to wait for more details on when the kit will actually ship or more details on the tail kit.