Completed the Tiedown Assembly for the Right Wing Spar this evening. After figuring out that my spacers were mounted incorrectly, it was an easy fix and I continued building. I also managed to prime a few parts, including the Tiedown pieces and parts required for the rear spar.
The big accomplishement for today was taping threads into the aluminum pieces. Following advice on Van's Airforce, I first pre-drilled the holes to the appropriate size for a 3/8-16 tap, which happened to by 5/16. I also bought some cutting oil at Lowes which helped immensely. The oil was good for aluminum according to the bottle, so I decided to go that route instead of just using kerosene. The real trick is to turn the tap half a turn, and then back off a quarter turn. That, and removing the entire tape 5 or 6 times to clean off the shavings. Altogether it wasn't too bad.
Tomorrow I plan to do the other tiedown providing I can find some 3/16 aluminum bar-stock.
