Home

Start Here
The Builder
The Shop

RV-7 N8ZG
Empennage
   Horizontal Stab
   Vertical Stab
   Rudder
   Elevators
   Fiberglass
Wings
   Spars
   Ribs
   Wing Skins
   Fuel Tanks
   Ailerons
   Flaps
Fuselage
Cowling
Engine
Paint

 

Tools

Links

 

 

Leading Edge Assemblies

The leading edge assemblies are framed up in cradles and then transferred to the wings for final alignment.  I had plenty of scrap plywood, so I made two cradles.  I screwed four chunks of 3/4" plywood together and trued the edges up on the table saw.  I positioned a rib on the blank and traced around it, then added 3/8" to the outside of the perimeter.  With the blanks still screwed together, I used a bandsaw to remove the oversized profile from the stack.  Strips of scrap carpet glued to the form prevent scratches and dings on the skins.

Check the ribs against the plans again and make sure that you have a Left pile and a Right pile and that the correct ribs are in each pile.  Note that the inboard ribs are different from the others.  Mark the ribs for position.  Pull the protective plastic off the insides of the leading edge skins and slip the skins into your cradles. 

Check each rib as you cleco it in place.  Make sure that you have removed all the sharp edges from the rib flanges, especially around the nose - you don't want the ribs gouging the insides of the skins.  Cleco the top flanges first, working from the nose to the rear of the assembly, then cleco the bottom, also working front to rear.  Set the inboard ribs aside - they will be worked in later.

Check the spars for straightness and remove any sag by adjusting your center support.  A piece of string stretched between clecos in either end of the spar flange will run right down the center of all the skin holes when all the sag is removed.  Check the Tools page for my low-cost super-stable wing jack.

With the ribs clecoed in place and the spar straight, remove the LE assemblies from the cradles and place them on the spars.  Cleco the LE ribs to the spar webs and the skins to the spar flanges. 

You should have already fluted and flanged the inboard LE ribs.  Slip them in place inside the LE skins.  Using the holes in the spar web as a guide, back-drill the aft flange of the inboard ribs and cleco them in place. 

Remove the vinyl from the joint plate blanks and draw a line on each one 1/2-inch from one long edge, for the full length of the blank.  Pre-bending the joint plate to approximate the LE profile will make things go together easier.  Slip the joint plate in place between the LE skin and the inboard rib.  Center the line on the joint plate in the LE skin holes, then adjust the inboard LE rib by measuring from the exposed edge of the joint plate to the web of the rib.  When you're satisfied with the fit and position, drill and cleco the joint plates and ribs to the LE skins.  

Extend the lines you drew on the bottom skins to locate the tie-down bracket and drill a small pilot hole.  (The preparation for this step made no sense to me at all, until about a month after I drilled the hole.)  Check your alignment, file as necessary to correct and use a Unibit to enlarge the hole to full size.

Leave the clecos in the LE and proceed to the tanks.

Tanks

When you're happy with the tanks and have them riveted together, put them back on the spars and re-check the fit with the leading edges.  When everything fits to suit you, take the leading edge assemblies off the spars and put them in the cradles.  Rivet the leading edges together and set them aside.