Spent 1.5 hours finishing the rough cut and final shaping of the Fabric Plates today. I spent at least anouther hour total a little each day at luchtime this past week. Much of it arranging the templates on the the aluminum sheet to accommodate all eight plates to no avail. It seems the original builder made something else with the sheet. So, I made all the major ones and will have to make the remaining two once we get our order in from Aircraft Spruce.
The templates were off as well. The major opening for the Lift Strut Bracket on the rear fabric plates was way too narrow in the opening. The opening had to be enlarged by 7/16” in width. No biggie, but it did slow us down. The front fabric plate for the Lift Strut Bracket did not fit either. I had to modify that by cutting a curve and trim the tab on one end to allow it to fit the bracket. Now they fit extemely well and all that remains is to dress all the edges and polish any scratches. Then they will have to be cleaned and scuffed with a Scotch Pad prior to applying the Zinc Chromate. I even made a small stand to hold them while being treated.
Now to the real Zinger! The Aileron and Flap Hinge plates are cut wrong. Not sure who did what, but the Brackets where precut, taped together “with” a factory ID label on them. Whether it was shipped this way by the factory in error or the original builder cut them and just place the label on them, I have no idea! I don't think the factory would have put a label on hinge material and called it Hinge Bracket. I can't see a builder with a “full size” template cutting these like this.
Anyway, they were cut entirely too small and are useless due to the “hinge point” being off by exactly 1/2”. You can see by the photos they are junk. Just more material to order from A/S and extra time in the build. At least it will be built right when complete.
Semi finished Fabric Plates
Full size Hinge Bracket Template
Factory marked Hinge blanks against full size template. Notice anything wrong here?
