Chapter 25: Ailerons and Elevators
Inspections and Repairs
No structural repairs were required.
Ailerons -- Filling & Contouring
If I ever do this again, I will contour the wings fully before cutting out the ailerons in Chapter 19. In this manner, the ailerons start out already matching the wing's contour. I thought it would be easier to contour the ailerons on the bench (off the plane) since both sides are flat. However, I found that the ailerons didn't match up with the contouring on the wings. There was a slight mismatch where the ailerons meet the wings. I fixed it by mounting the ailerons onto the wings and recontouring those low areas.
Here are pictures of the first session when the ailerons were off the plane. I used small blocks of wood to hold them to the table. I cheese grated the first fill and followed it up with the final fill. Once again, cheese grating makes quick work of the contouring. Pay close attention to the trailing edge! There is the natural tendency to sand that edge too thin. To keep this from happening I set my ailerons just inside one edge of my table. In this manner the table edge serves as a guide to prevent the contouring board from over sanding the trailing edge. As more and more micro was contoured off the top of the aileron, I moved the trailing edge closer the table's edge.
Here are pictures of the second session with the ailerons on the wings. I filled a swath overlapping the wing and the aileron. Then I sanded that junction back into contour. A perfect match! I like to use masking tape to outline the fill area. I spread the micro, then pull up the masking tape.
