Leading Edge Skin Clamps

[terry]

Nice to talk to Terry. Understand Lloyd Fry to have them next. Will wait to here , hopefully , from Lloyd. Thanks.

Wing Clamps are on their way to Lloyd from New Zealand Today,they work just fine, now to put the fabric on.

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[dballin]

Just wondering who has the leading edge clamps and when they might be available.
Please email me off line

dballin@gmail.com

Thanks
Dan Ballin

[t.c.williams]

Just wondering who has the leading edge clamps and when they might be available.
Please email me off line

dballin@gmail.com

Thanks
Dan Ballin

A set was shipped to me Monday. Hopefully have by tomorrow. Should thate no longer than a week I hope. Will ship to whoever needs them.

[Lloyd]

Being a non-A&P and first time builder of anything there is a huge learning curve of even the simplest of tasks, so for those using or waiting to use the clamps, it'd be nice to hear any tips from those who have more experience. I'm in process with them now.
1)What I've learned from experience (experience being defined as learning from your mistakes) is that with extended range tanks, you do not rivet the top of rib one AND five, nor do you rivet the bottom of rib one.
2)If you have lights in the wing, the recommendation is not to rivet the bottom of either rib next to the light housing until the housing is riveted.
3)That's a lot of rivets to catch later and I wonder what's going to be the best way to snug things up when time comes as the clamps will be long gone since you've followed the manual's order of building and shipped them out after placing the LE skins. I plan on using ratchet ties which I actually used in combination with the clamps since you could not get the clamps in the N brace bay.
4)There were five clamps shipped to me and I dutifully clamped as many on as I had room for. Study the picture in the forum and you'll see there is blocking between the spar and clamp which must be in place for the clamps to work. A 6.5 inch piece of 2 by 4 worked best for me. The 2 by 4s weren't shipped with the clamps to save shipping cost. Duh, no wonder the clamps ran out of travel before the LE skins were snug.
5)Start in the middle and work outwards in both directions is what the manual said, which is to allow the metal to move as you rivet it. The problem is, if you are not carefully with the order the clamps are tightened and tighten all the clamps the same amount at the same time, the skin does not have a chance to move away from the center. Does that mean you'll get buckling at the bottom when the clamps are removed if you don't do that? Don't ask. I'm guessing if you use multiple clamps, the centermost clamps should stay ahead of the next ones out in the tightening process, or maybe don't bother with putting too many clamps on at a time.
6)It is my understanding that one of the reasons for the washout block is to replicate what happens when you hang the wing and set the washout. If the block is not in place when you do the LE skins, you may get wrinkling of the skins when they are hung and the washout set.

Anyone else wanting to chime in, it would be helpful.

Lloyd

ps Second wing will go a heck of a lot faster

[Thomas]

Lloyd,
We only used ratchet straps (1" wide), one at each rib on each length of skin and achieved a perfect fit on four wings. Cleco the top of the skin first then gradually tighten the ratchets one click at a time until the skin is touching each rib completely without distortion, then drill and rivet the bottom of the skin. We used a length of 2"x1" under the straps on the bottom of the rib to get an even pressure.
Hope this helps
Bruce

[Lloyd]

Thanks. That's the size strap I used. One of the points I made was that several of the bottom rivets cannot be placed until later in the build. That is not clear in the current version of the manual.

[Thomas]

Lloyd,
Could you let me know if you got my reply to your direct query, I'm not sure if it went to you.
Bruce Thomas

[Lloyd]

Sorry Thomas, couldn't find your email in my inbox. Checked my junk/trash folders as well as some emails are booted there automatically. No go there as well. Sorry to be a bother. L

[Thomas]

Sorry Thomas, couldn't find your email in my inbox. Checked my junk/trash folders as well as some emails are booted there automatically. No go there as well. Sorry to be a bother. L

OK Lloyd I'll start again, and describe the process that we used, it's hard without pictures so bear with me.

first mark the wing as shown Photo 175 thru P178, now remove the skin and mark a centre line on all ribs, now continue to mark the skin to establish the other holes in the position shown in W42 in the manual, then drill all the holes in the skin with the skin on the bench. Double check all measurements before drilling. Now put the skin back on the wing and rivet the top holes as shown P177. So now we have a skin on the wing riveted in the top holes only without rivets in #1 #3 #5 ribs at this time.
Now you put seven (7) 1" ratchet straps on, around the rear spar and next to each rib, ( not over the rib because we are going to drill cleco and rivet all the holes we previously drilled, with the ratchet on the botton side of the wing , ,now gently tighten all the straps a few clicks at a time and using the palm of your hand to help ease the skin onto the rib as it tightens.
Keep doing this along the skin until the skin is in contact with the rib all the way around, DO NOT over tighten, you may find it helpful to put a length of 2"x1" timber (lumber) under the straps to get the bottom of the skin to firmly contact each rib.
When you are comfortable with the fit all round the rib,. check this with a torch (oops flashlight) from underneath
adjust each rib until you can see the centre line that you drew on the rib through each hole, this ensures that you are guaranteed to drill in the centre of the rib, then drill and rivet the complete skin, ( use a fine scraper thingy to remove as many of the drill chips that will be between the skin and rib before riveting, this is how the factory does it)

Again don't rivet where skins overlap until the next skin goes on top. A little caution and common sense is needed when ratcheting up as these jiggers can exert a lot of pressure, you may get a slight impression of the rib showing through the skin, don't worry about this as the two layers of fabric and paint will cover it.

I thing that just about covers it, email me directly if I have been obtuse and I will elucidate( bvthomas@bigpond.com)
Regards Bruce

[t.c.williams]

OK Lloyd I'll start again, and describe the process that we used, it's hard without pictures so bear with me.

first mark the wing as shown Photo 175 thru P178, now remove the skin and mark a centre line on all ribs, now continue to mark the skin to establish the other holes in the position shown in W42 in the manual, then drill all the holes in the skin with the skin on the bench. Double check all measurements before drilling. Now put the skin back on the wing and rivet the top holes as shown P177. So now we have a skin on the wing riveted in the top holes only without rivets in #1 #3 #5 ribs at this time.
Now you put seven (7) 1" ratchet straps on, around the rear spar and next to each rib, ( not over the rib because we are going to drill cleco and rivet all the holes we previously drilled, with the ratchet on the botton side of the wing , ,now gently tighten all the straps a few clicks at a time and using the palm of your hand to help ease the skin onto the rib as it tightens.
Keep doing this along the skin until the skin is in contact with the rib all the way around, DO NOT over tighten, you may find it helpful to put a length of 2"x1" timber (lumber) under the straps to get the bottom of the skin to firmly contact each rib.
When you are comfortable with the fit all round the rib,. check this with a torch (oops flashlight) from underneath
adjust each rib until you can see the centre line that you drew on the rib through each hole, this ensures that you are guaranteed to drill in the centre of the rib, then drill and rivet the complete skin, ( use a fine scraper thingy to remove as many of the drill chips that will be between the skin and rib before riveting, this is how the factory does it)

Again don't rivet where skins overlap until the next skin goes on top. A little caution and common sense is needed when ratcheting up as these jiggers can exert a lot of pressure, you may get a slight impression of the rib showing through the skin, don't worry about this as the two layers of fabric and paint will cover it.

I thing that just about covers it, email me directly if I have been obtuse and I will elucidate( bvthomas@bigpond.com)
Regards Bruce

I used a string to pre drill the middle hole in the ribs. Run the string from the #1 rib to the #12 rib and mark. After the holes are drilled install the skin, top and bottom holes are no problem, then bottom drill the middle hole from the bottom with a 12 in. bit. Worked great. Had both wings done in one day. I now how a set of the wood clamps
I can ship to the next guy who needs them.