The stub struts mount to the lower longeron at station 18 and are angled up 35 degrees from the horizontal. So the first job was to make a jig to support the stub strut in position for tack welding. Once this was positioned the end of the stub strut was through progressive iterations shaped to fit round the various tubes meeting at the station 18 cluster - much easier to say than do! The stub strut was then clamped into position on the jig and tack welded. The jig was then removed and the stub strut final welded into position all the way round. Next a reinforcing plate made of 0.049" thick 4130 steel was shaped to fit onto the bottom of the stub strut and round the lower longeron. This was welded into place progressively, clamping each section tight to the underlying structure, starting at the outboard edge and welding that section before moving the clamps inboard. The inner end of the plate was cut so that the outer sections could be curved round the longeron and the central section welded to the cross
member. Then as always the process was repeated for the other side. The last picture shows the struts in place in the stubs. The struts join to the wing 48" out from the fuselage and within the margins of measurement error appear to be correctly positioned. Next job is to re-install the fuel tank and work out a cable rounting from behind the panel to under the baggage compartment. If I can find a way to do this tidily it should be possible to keep all the cabling and pitot/static tubing neatly hidden.
The stub struts mount to the lower longeron at station 18 and are angled up 35 degrees from the horizontal. So the first job was to make a jig to support the stub strut in position for tack welding. Once this was positioned the end of the stub strut was through progressive iterations shaped to fit round the various tubes meeting at the station 18 cluster - much easier to say than do! The stub strut was then clamped into position on the jig and tack welded. The jig was then removed and the stub strut final welded into position all the way round. Next a reinforcing plate made of 0.049" thick 4130 steel was shaped to fit onto the bottom of the stub strut and round the lower longeron. This was welded into place progressively, clamping each section tight to the underlying structure, starting at the outboard edge and welding that section before moving the clamps inboard. The inner end of the plate was cut so that the outer sections could be curved round the longeron and the central section welded to the cross 
member. Then as always the process was repeated for the other side. The last picture shows the struts in place in the stubs. The struts join to the wing 48" out from the fuselage and within the margins of measurement error appear to be correctly positioned. Next job is to re-install the fuel tank and work out a cable rounting from behind the panel to under the baggage compartment. If I can find a way to do this tidily it should be possible to keep all the cabling and pitot/static tubing neatly hidden.
