Back to the wing now.
Using the ply flap & aileron shroud templates as a guide, balsa strips were added using Aliphatic glue & then the shroud profiles sanded using a 12” long length of 3/8” dowel with 120 grit emery paper glued to make a long round file.
With the balsa sanded down flush with the ply templates, the control surfaces fit nicely.
The brass tubes which take the aileron hinge barbs have also been epoxied into place with the ailerons in situ. to ensure correct positioning - the tubes being pushed back to ensure maximum barb engagement.
The photos below show how the tubes project behind the shroud line.
The current gap between the inner & outer ailerons will be reduced by adding a doubler to one end riblet.
The flap was refitted (using bolts again) to check shroud fit & operation. A 25mm section has been removed from both shroud & flap LE at each track position to allow the pairs of track holes to be accessed, but I realised that the shroud could be left intact if the flap is attached in the extended position, so this will now be replaced.
A previously mentioned, 3 keeper sections of flap LE will need to be able to fitted on final flap assembly in order to retain the ball link on the actuation pin. These can either 3D printed or could be end sections of a full balsa sanded LE, temporarily removed after LE sanding to allow fixings to be put into place until final assembly.
The upper D box skin has also been added over the whole wing using 0.6mm ply. The 0.6mm ply is much more resistant to finger damage during handling/rigging - although it currently seems to be expensive & hard to find
As it comes in 50” Sq. sheets, the wing can be done with just a single spanwise joint.
Note that I have initially sheeted to halfway across the 1/2” wide main spar in order to apply the rear sections separately. (The upper outer rear section has 2 top aileron horn pushrod penetrations & the inner bottom rear sheet prevents further access to the flap actuation linkage).
- Aileron hinge barb tubes
- Twin aileron ends
- Inner flap track
- Centre flap track
- Outer flap track
- Ailerons in place
- Inner D box top skin
- Outer D box top skin
Note that the aileron hinges are not fully pushed into their tubes in the above outer wing pic. Hence the strange TE line!