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Date:  12-28-2014
Number of Hours:  8.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  

I've been working sporadically on the aileron, getting it filled to eliminate the concavity, readying it for balancing. This time has also been spent allowing the Hysol used to close the wing to cure the requisite two weeks or so.
Aileron's going just fine, but not so the wing. I presssurized the wing a couple of days ago, and found a leak. What a disappointment. The left wing went just fine, and pressure tested just fine with no leak whatsoever. I wrongfully assumed that the right wing would go likewise.
Once I accepted the fact that a leak actually existed, I had to figure out how to find and fix it. I could hear the hissing when pressure was applied, but couldn't isolate it with precision. The solution for this problem was borrowing a stethoscope from a physician friend. That worked great, and I was able to isolate the leak the corner of the main spar and the aft BL 75 rib. This location allowed me to open a hole in the skin in the flap radius area, where it is not honeycomb, and any patch will be easy to hide. This location allowed me to visualize the area of concern, and hopefully do the fix.
After opening the hole, it was immediately evident where the problem was. There was no Hysol squeeze out along a several inch area comprising the BL 75 rib to main spar junction. What I decided to do was to position the skin to allow epoxy to flow into the defect area, then pour some extra Rhino 9700 sealer, used to seal the inside of the fuel bays, along the problem areas. While doing this, Cathy positioned the shop vac hose adjacent to the open fuel outlet fitting, to hopefully suck some of the epoxy into the leaking area. We'll see. There could be other leaks, but I believe that this one is fixed.
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Aileron with micro fill

Aileron with micro fill

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Access hole to repair leak

Access hole to repair leak

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BL 75 to main spar, with Rhino epoxy applied

BL 75 to main spar, with Rhino epoxy applied

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