I've finished painting everything apart from the flaps and ailerons so it was time to put everything together and check all the controls work properly before starting the covering. First the strut brackets were final bolted onto the wing spars. In line with requirements from the LAA, the holes for the attach bolts had been bushed and the 1/16" ply reinforcement replaced with 1/4" 12 ply. This provides a very strong mount for the attach brackets and it was possible to torque the bolts to full tightness without any risk of crushing the mount. The wings were then bolted into position and the flaps and ailerons installed. Packing pieces were inserted between the flap and aileron hinges and the wings to simulate the thickness of the wing skins and ensure the mounts were in the correct place.
The interior photo shows how the flap and aileron pushrods pass through the windowsills in the baggage compartment. The edges of the holes are lined with Rayrim edging. This is ready glued and is installed with a heatgun neatly protecting the edges.
The biggest issue has been with rigging the ailerons. The seat back support fabricated as shown in the plans (the end is just showing at the bottom left of the interior picture) fouled the aileron pushrods when I did the first test fit some weeks ago. To solve this it was necessary to remove and re-weld this to the interior of the door upright rather than to the rear and to replace the diagonal section with a two part welding that moved the tubing forward and in away from the pushrod. This solved the issue and the aileron linkages now operated very freely and without touching any of the aircraft structure.
The test fit revealed two bits of rework. First the right flap was too close to the fuselage side when the thickness of the flap and fuselage covering was considered so the inner rib was cut off, the tubing smoothed where the original weld had been and the rib re-welded 1/4" further out. Also I've positioned the counterweight on the left aileron about 5 degrees above where it needs to be to fit neatly into the slot in the wing in the neutral aileron position. This will need to be reworked but that's a job for another day. The bottom picture shows the rear seat belt attach, the elevator pushrod passing through the centre support and the static pressure ports and piping. Last job for the day was to set up a 8x4 workbench in the garage, remove the wheels, and carry the fuselage into the garage and put it on the bench ready for starting covering. I haven't weighed the fuselage in its current state but carrying it was just possible with two people and I can just about rotate it on the bench by myself.
