Dan and Dave,
Many thanks for your replies. It is very reassuring to have this kind of
help when the manual seems to contradict itsself.
Regards,
Keith Hickling.
New Zealand.
----- Original Message -----
From: "danbish" <n914rb@earthlink.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 5:28 AM
Subject: Europa-List: RE: Europa front wing pins
> Hi Keith,
>
> I had a devil of a time with this step so I can speak from experience. The
> short answer to your question is that you don't really have to worry about
> marking the fuselage. If the pins don't contact the fuselage, you don't
> need a hole. Just mix up some redux, set the incidence, and bond the
> socket to the fuse. Read below for more detail on this.
>
> Now, since you brought it up, I thought I'd relate my experience so other
> builders might benefit when they get to this stage. This applies mostly to
> those whose pins [i:79927d94d9][b:79927d94d9]do
> [/b:79927d94d9][/i:79927d94d9] contact the fuselage and hopefully this
> message will appear when they search on the subject.
>
> First, I'm assuming that you have been able to get the wings in the
> fuselage with the pins full through both port & starboard sides. If you
> haven't already, make up guides out of tufnol to support and guide the
> spars/wings into the correct position. This isn't mentioned in the manual
> but is shown in great detail in photos on Bob Borger's album on the Europa
> Owner's gallery. (Thanks Bob for making those available. They were
> invaluable!). There's just no way to keep the wings held in the right
> position throughout the process of setting the incidence without these,
> IMHO.
>
> I'm also assuming you've already made the cutouts at the trailing edge
> (TE) socket on the wings that allow you to access the pin in the TE
> socket.
>
> Now, on to fixing the problem. I, too, followed the manual and reduxed in
> the bolts. Then I discovered there was just no way of getting a good mark
> on the fuse to set the incidence. So, I heated up my bolts and removed
> them. This was easily accomplished by using a plumber's cloth that I got
> at the local plumbing supply. It's a black cloth that takes heat to
> something like a bizillion degrees and will protect the area around the
> pin. I cut a small hole in the cloth, pushed it over the pin, then heated
> with a butane torch until it loosened. You'll mar the pin a bit with your
> wrench, but that can be buffed out.
>
> Then I got 2-12mm (I think that was the size) bolts from the hardware
> store and screwed them in place of the LE pins. You might have to re-tap
> the threads to clean out the old redux.
>
> Next, with the help of another builder, Gary, we set up the fuse level in
> all directions as best as we could and put supports under each wing.
>
> Put a small dot of a paint or dye on the head of the LE bolts. I used that
> orange stuff you put on nuts & bolts to indicate slippage. Screw the bolts
> into the wing so they won't touch the fuselage and then put the wings back
> in place and pin them. Get the correct incidence set, carefully place
> supports under the wings, then reach in and unscrew the bolts until the
> dot of color contacts the fuselage.
>
> You now have your mark for placement of the LE socket. If your pins do
> contact the fuse, drill your hole on this mark now. If not, don't drill-
> you don't need it. Mix up some redux, coat the back of the LE socket and
> the appropriate amount of shim, coat the TE socket and shims, then push
> the wings in place.
>
> Check your incidence again (and again) then add some more redux around the
> sockets. Gary sanded down a mixing stick so it'd go into the gap between
> the wing and the fuse. Works a treat.
>
> Now, check the incidence a couple of more times until you KNOW you have it
> all set correctly and leave undisturbed until it cures.
>
> A couple of things that might not occur to you until it's too late:
>
> 1) Since you're setting the incidence relative to the fuse being level
> (measured at the window sill) we discovered that my kit wasn't exactly the
> same on both sides and couldn't be leveled this way. We decided that this
> was due to some variances in manufacturing and used the port window seal
> as our constant and set both wings to that.
>
> 2) Put plenty of grease on the LE pin and in the socket as redux will get
> in there during cure and you don't want to have the pin reduxed into the
> socket. If this happens, a little heat from a heat gun will help followed
> by a nice hard jerk on the wing. (personal experience here :oops: ) No
> jokes about the jerk on the wing...
>
> 3) Use a digital level if you have one but know that it's still tough to
> get this set EXACTLY right. I got both my wings set to 2.6 deg and just
> have to accept that. At least they're both set the same. Like Gary says,
> "measure with a micrometer, mark with a crayon, cut with a hatchet"
> :lol:. It's something like that but I'm a bit of a perfectionist and feel
> we did a good job of setting this as correctly as we could.
>
> Alright, that's about it. Now, this is what worked for me. Proceed at your
> own risk! And let me know if you need clarification on anything.
> Good luck!
>
> Dan
> Subject: Setting wing incidence
> ----------------
> Visit EuropaOwnersForum http://www.europaowners.org/
>
>
>
|