Brief Description: Bellcrank Fabrication and Trial Assembly
I switched up things a little today to spend some time fabricating the aileron bellcranks. This assembly uses solid rivets, and I want to get all of the solid riveting out of the way. The cranks themselves are made of 1/8" 6061-T6. If you're familiar with the plans, you'll notice that my lightening holes are a little smaller than specified in the plans. I was able to drill the hole using a large Unibit, which saved me the trouble of having to use a hole saw or - God forbid, the flycutter. I decided that I could live with a little smaller hole if it meant I could knock it out in 5 minutes as opposed to a couple of hours. I was wondering where I was going to get the material for the spacers, and as it turns out, they're easily fabricated out of the spare aluminum bar you use to make the spar caps. All of the precise hole drilling and countersinking took a little time, but was rather enjoyable. Tomorrow I'll get some primer and put a coat of corrosion protection on the mating parts, then rivet those bad boys together. Voila - bellcranks!
