Brief Description: Initial fitting of leading edge wing skins
Initial fitting of leading edge wing skins. It was noted that some of the leading edge ribs needed additional adjustment to get the spanwise alignment just right. Image 1 shows some stings that were added to aid in visualization of any anomalies. Per the assembly instructions, drilling the leading edge skin rib holes requires creating a line of holes in the skin that are 90 degrees from the spar level line. However, it was noted that some of the inboard ribs were not exactly 90 degrees. This would have resulted in rib flange edge distance variation if simply drilled at 90 degrees. As a result, I elected to create a pattern of the actual rib and hole locations as built into the inboard (and tip) ribs. (Image 2) This should eliminate the minor variation. I really struggled to get the leading edge of the skin to sit down flush to the inboard and tip ribs. Although the radius in the skin is exactly to the specifications, the prebend in the skins turns out to be very important. If the nose radius is carried to far down the skin, you cannot pull the skin down far enough before it fouls on the sides of the nose ribs. Likewise, if it does not bend enough, it is difficult to pull the skin down properly along the side of the ribs. I spent a fair amount of time trying to fit, pull adjust and rebend certain sections of the leading edge skins to get the best fit possible without relying on excessive force to hold it in place.
Adjusting the tip ribs to get perfect alignment
Locating the ideal rivet location in ribs that cannot be adjusted
