After an inspiring day at Sun 'n Fun on Saturday it was time to get back to work on the -7.
I spent about an hour and a half preparing the components of the aileron bellcrank assemblies for smooth operation. One bushing in particular was tight in the bellcrank so I polished the outside of the bushing by mounting it in the drill press and using a Scotch-Brite pad. I also cut a narrow strip of Scotch-Brite that I ran back and forth through the tube of the ballcrank. Eventually everything worked smoothly and I temporarily assembled all components then set them aside.
Next I started work on the ailerons. The skin stiffeners were cut apart using snips, then I marked the shaping angles using a straightedge then cut the angles on the band saw. Next I smoothed all corners and edges using the Scotch-Brite wheels in the grinder. The stiffeners were then clecoed to the skin and match drilled using a reamer. I marked each stiffener so it could be returned to the same location then dimpled them using the DRDT-2. With a total of 32 stiffeners this turned into a fairly afternoon consuming process.
