05 October 2013

Wings: Flaps. Trailing edge wedges.

The plans call for the (AEX?) trailing edge wedge to be countersunk on both sides to accept the skin dimples.  Not an easy task given the wedge angle.  So, I fashioned a jig to present the wedge straight to the countersink cage.  Thanks to Ed and Bill for the idea.


The jig uses a scrap section of the wedge with a couple of countersunk screws driven into wood to hold the wedge down.  When the wedge you want countersink is placed on top of jig, the face of the wedge remains parallel to the face of the wood and cage (i.e., when properly stacked, the wedge that's mounted on the wood offers a -12 degree angle to "cancel" out the 12 degree angle of the wedge you want to work on).  Just be sure to drill a few holes deep enough to accept some clecos to hold everything down.

An example of  how to align the wedge you wish to work on.


Here is the tool illustrating usage.  Drill press makes things go quickly.  Ultimately, I always cleco'd to the wood since it offered more stabilization of the part.  This was a trial run.


Here are all of the flap wedges countersunk on both sides.  Because the opposite countersinks meet in the middle due to the material thickness, one side of the wedge doesn't look as pretty as the other if you look real close.  Probably should have slowed the drill press down.


We'll see if this was a good technique when it comes to completing the flap.

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