Author Archives: pclifton

Left leading edge joint plate

My goal for tonight was to get the inner leading edge rib and the joint plate drilled. This position is where the leading edge and the tank will meet; the W-423 joint plate is what hold the two together. This … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 1.5

Match drilled bottom left skins, started on leading edge

After taking the dogs for a walk in the arboretum this morning, it was out to the garage in the afternoon to do lots more match drilling. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was suffering from my … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 4

Match drilled top left wing skins

Very productive day today. I picked up where I left off last night with the wing walk doubler. The basic procedure here is to lay the doubler in place under the skin, and then use the skin as a drill … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 5

Wing walk doubler, misc stufff

Short day in the garage today. I had originally planned to go fly a bit today to stay current, but I fell victim to the notorious fuel-injected Lycoming hot start affliction. I couldn’t get the Arrow started to save my … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 3

Left wing on the stand

Short night tonight. We had a storm roll through and flood come streets while also disabling stoplights. As a result, my commute home was pretty ugly – instead of the normal ~20 minutes, it was over an hour. It honestly … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: .5

Left rear spar riveting (the conclusion)

Good news: Fixing that rib issue was pretty easy. I popped out to the garage after dinner and went to work. First order of business was to drill out the other two rivets holding the offending rib to the rear … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 2

Left rear spar riveting

Came home today to find a nice little present courtesy of Avery Tools. Longeron yoke, some long-reach 1/8” clecos, and a tube of Boelube for good measure. Finally, I can get back to this wing skeleton! I got Josie to … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 1.5

Wing stand construction, garage organization

Finally, a weekend workday worthy of the name. Yesterday I had the idea of focusing today on right wing prep, maybe to the point of even getting the ribs primed. However, after thinking about that some more and getting some … Continue reading

Posted in Wings, Workspace | Hours Logged: 6

Finished main spar riveting

Not much to report today. I recruited Josie to come out and help me rivet the ribs that I couldn’t do on my own. It was a bit odd at first (I may have some mild control-freak tendencies), but pretty … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 2

Riveted three nutplates

Yes, that’s really all I did today. My work ethic hasn’t been so great, and a lot of the problem is me being a little insomniac. I stay up too late, then I’m tired the next day, I try to … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 1.5