Hi! Dan
I had some difficulty with the ends of the spars being too tight in the
sockets. It is difficult to assess but very necessary. All I can
suggest is to put some engineers blue on the inside of the sockets and
do some trial fitting to identify where the spars are tight. Mine just
needed such a small amount sanding off one nose and bingo. I have since
had the starboard position socket (for the port spa) removed and top and
bottom guide ramp extensions welded on to assist with single person
rigging and so replaced it afresh .....they are still snug and need
quite a shove to get them home.
I seem to remember that the clear depth of the front sockets was an
issue too. I still need to really press each wing (starting with the
starboard) tight into the fuselage aft to first get the lift pip pins
in, then push each wing tip forward before I can get the main spar pins
in again with the starboard one first using a rubber mallet!(carefully
hitting the head of the pin not the handle part, they break easily !) I
have two main spar pip pins not the factory supplied welded bolt
arrangement.
Lots of grease on all the pins, sockets and bushes does wonders too.
It is also very necessary to ensure that the flap drive "rose bearing"
bushes are free to self align, if they are jammed in their full travel
position they will not allow the flap drive pin to access their hole.
Regards
Bob Harrison G-PTAG Europa MKI/Jabiru 3300
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of N914RB
Subject: Europa-List: Trouble fitting wings to fuselage
Hi everybody,
I found a thread in the archives about trouble fitting the wings into
the
fuselage but didn't come up with anything that addressed my situation.
The cockpit module is installed and I have the top temporarily on and
snug.
Following the instructions to set the wing incidence, I've attempted to
insert the wings and insert the pins to hold everything in place while
trial
positioning and fitting the wing root pins.
Outside the fuselage, the wing bushings line up fine, and using the two
large pins supplied, can get them to go through both bushings on each
side,
although they are VERY tight.
When installing the wings on the plane, however, it takes quite a bit of
jiggling to get the port pin to go in the hole, then upon inserting the
starboard wing and shoving it in as far as possible, the holes just
won't
line up. It'll go through the hole on the port spar, but not the one on
the
starboard spar. It's about 1/8" shy of going in enough to line up.
I've reduced material at the end of both spars, removed a bit off the
top
and bottom of certain areas of the spar that seemed to be making bad
contact
with the fuselage opening, and sanded the openings themselves. My
building
buddy, another Europa builder, and I are scratching our heads on this
one.
If they go together outside the fuse, they should go together inside it.
Right?
It can't be where the holes are located inside the cockpit module as
those
lines up fine with the first spar bushing. We just can't get the
starboard
wing to go in enough for the bushings on that spar to line up. Even if
we do
get them lined up, it's a bear to get those pins in and out.
Any help is much appreciated.
Dan Bish
Kit A144
Tucson, AZ, USA
Mono, short wing.
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