Firewall Modification for Viking Steel Spring

Drilled out and added doubler to 7F7-1SP firewall upper channel to accept Viking "steel bungee". Installed upper nylon bearing into upper channel with 4 AN3-6A bolts.

Firewall (7F7-1) Layout for Viking Steel Nose-Wheel Spring

Firewall & Viking Steel Spring Nose Gear Components (Powder Coated)

Cold-snap. Worked in office on firewall components lay-out. Scribed firewall (7F7-1) reference lines. Scribed rivet lines on vertical lower channel (7F7-2C), vertical top channel (7F7-3) left & right firewall stiffeners (7F7-5), and top channel stiffener (7F7-7SP). Scribed rivet locations and bungee pin holes locations in left & right channel doublers (7f7-8C). Verified pre-drilled left & right gear gussets (7F7-9C). Since I am replacing the elastic bungee supplied with the Viking steel bungee, laid out locations for 9mm mounting holes for the upper viking gear assembly on the upper channel (7F7-1SP). The upper channel supplied with my kit came pre-drilled for the spring/gear-tube assembly. Dis-assembled the Viking spring assembly, primed, and painted mounting legs and spring.

Starboard Outboard Slat Construction

Installed ribs end ribs in stb outboard skin. 1st to #40 (silver) then to A4, Removed all ribs, deburred, and applied corrosion protection. Re-clecoed in place, and riveted. Ready to place on slat jig to drill/cleco top skin to ribs

Layout & start construction of Starbaord Slat Pair

Installed ribs end ribs in stb outboard skin. 1st to #40 (silver) then to A4, Removed all ribs, deburred, and applied corrosion protection. Re-clecoed in place, and riveted. Ready to place on slat jig to drill/cleco top skin to ribs

Completed Port Inboard Slat (7S1)

Port side Slat pair (inboard & outboard)

Completed installation of final (outboard slat rib (with flanges) onto bottom skin. Strapped assembly to underside of slat jig with flanges through slots in jig and strapped to position skin properly over the curve of the slat ribs. Drilled and clecoed (silver). Ready to drill out to A4

Underside Port Inboard Slat (7F0)

Completed installation of final (outboard slat rib (with flanges) onto bottom skin. Strapped assembly to underside of slat jig with flanges through slots in jig and strapped to position skin properly over the curve of the slat ribs. Drilled and clecoed (silver). Ready to drill out to A4

Port-Inboard Slat (7F1-2) Skinning

Port-Inboard Slat (7S1-2) Underside Skin

Laid out and inserted center slat rib into Port-inboard slat skin. Cut slots in skin end ribs with mounting flanges. Critical dimension 1204mm flange to flange - will match slat mounting flanges in wing. Drilling for center rib requires 2 sets of hands to hold bend while drilling. Thanks Brett

Port-Putboard Slat (7S1-3) Ribs Installed

Completed installation of final (outboard slat rib (with flange) onto bottom skin. Strapped assembly to underside of slat jig with flanges through slots in jig and strapped to position skin properly over the curve of the slat ribs. Drilled and clecoed (silver). Ready to drill out to A4.

Port-Inboard Slat Ribs installed (7S1-2)

Port-Inboard Slat (7S1-2) Ribs Installed

Completed remaining 6 slat rib assemblies and installed L-angle stiffeners into all 4 sections of the slat skins. Ready to build 1st slat (Port-inboard).

Layout & Preparation of Slat Ribs (7S1)

Slat Rib Assemblies (7S1)

Located, identified, and marked all slats parts for build of all 4 slat sections. 2 short inboard skins (port & starboard) and 2 longer outboard skins. 6 left and 6 right ribs, (3 each section). Center ribs for each section are unmodified. All others require left and right copies of slat mounting flanges and doublers from L-angle slotted and curved to match contour of inside of slat rib. Completed mods to 1 set of slat ribs.

Elevator Trim Tab

Installed the male-end of a 5-pin waterproof connector on length of 8-wire cable & matching female-end to the 4 wires of the elevator trim servo cable. Cable connector will be located in the aft fuselage (added to aid installation/removal of h. stab & elevator structure mating to fuselage). Added the male-end of a 2-pin waterproof connector to 2 of the remaining 3 wires in the 8-wire cable and matching female-end to the 2 wires of the tail-light assembly ready for mounting in the rudder. The last wire (8th, orange) of the cable is unused. These connectors work well in marine applications and I have several more 2-pin connectors to be used in installing the wing-tip navigation/position lights, angle-of-attack sensor, fuel level transmitters, and possibly a landing light

Install Elevator Control Horn to Complete H. Stab. & Elevator Mating

Elevator Horn (7H5) Mounting

H. Stab., Elevator, & Trim Tab with Controls & Hinges

Final placement of elevator control horn mating elevator to h. stab. Completed several bracing structures on top and bottom of both h. stab and elevator. All a5 rivets. Laid out positioning of outer hinge locations. Drilled hing pins (tough job: 1/16" dia, hole in 3/16" dia. pin). Primed and painted 4130 steel hinge pins, and installed on outer elevator ribs with A5 rivets. Outer hinge plates on h.stab will be drilled out and riveted (A5) at a later time to facilitate dis-assembly of the structure for mounting to aft fuselage.

Install the Electronic Trim Servo Option (ETO)

Installed the male-end of a 5-pin waterproof connector on length of 8-wire cable and matching female-end to the 4 wires of the elevator trim servo cable. Cable connector will be located in the aft fuselage (added to aid installation/removal of h. stab & elevator structure mating to fuselage). Added the male-end of a 2-pin waterproof connector to 2 of the remaining 3 wires in the 8-wire cable and matching female-end to the 2 wires of the tail-light assembly ready for mounting in the rudder. The last wire (8th, orange) of the cable is unused. These connectors work well in marine applications and I have several more 2-pin connectors to be used in installing the wing-tip navigation/position lights, angle-of-attack sensor, fuel level transmitters, and possibly a landing light

Mating the H. Stab. and Elevator Sections

H. Stab. & Elevator - Port/Pilot Side (inverted)

H. Stab. & Elevator - Starboard/Passenger Side (inverted)

Final placement of elevator control horn mating elevator to h. stab. Completed several bracing structures on top and bottom of both h. stab and elevator. All a5 rivets. Laid out positioning of outer hinge locations. Drilled hing pins (tough job: 1/16" dia. hole in 3/16" dia. pin). Primed and painted 4130 steel hinge pins, and installed on outer elevator ribs with A5 rivets. Outer hinge plates on h.stab will be drilled out and riveted (A5) at a later time to facilitate dis-assembly of the structure for mounting to aft fuselage

Elevator Controls Installation

Elevator Control Horn (7H5) Installation (top)

Elevator Control Horn (7H5) Installation (bottom)

Initial positioning & installation of elevator control horn. Drilled out to #30 - final assembly will be A5. (Note one AN3 bolt in horn mount to H.stab rear spar. Air drill slipped when drilling out A4 to A5 resulting in concentric A5 hole. Drilled out and replaced with AN3-4 bolt and celastic nut.)

Elevator Riveted & Ready for Horn Installation

Elevator Structure with Trim Tab

Drilled out for A4 rivets, dis-assembled, deburred, applied RustOx corrosion protection, Re-strapped and did final riveting on skinned elevator. Ready to make control horn and end hinge attachment to horiz. stab.

Elevator (7H5) Trim & Controls Installation

Elevator Controls Mount Area - Underside

Elevator Controls Mount Area - Topside

		Removed elevator straps and skin from structure. Installed elevator trim tab and servo. Laid out and cut away areas for control horn and rudder travel. Re-strapped and clecoed skin in preparation for drilling out to A4 and riveting.

Elevator Top Skin (7H5)

Elevator Top Skin Installation

Laid out rivet lines and positioned elevator top skin for strapping, drilling, and clecoing (silver).

Elevator Bottom Skin

Elevator Bottom Skin Initial Alignment

Elevator Bottom Skin Alignment - Note Offset Center-Line

Completed positioning and clecoing (silver) elevator bottom skin in place. Fit looks very good. Removed clecos to layout bottom skin rivet lines.

Install Elevator Center Spar (7H1-4)

Installed the elevator center spar (short, 7H1-4) and remaining ribs in preparation for skinning process

Elevator (7H4) Parts Preparation & Layout

Elevator Center Spar and Main Ribs Installation

Gathered elevator parts & laid out center-lines & rivet locations on spar and ribs. Installed (silver) end and outer-center ribs on spar

Pickup Powder Coated Steel Parts

Alex (A1 Powder Coating) did a great job of flat black on all the 4130 parts & the firewall.

H. Stab. Center Hinge Install (7H3)

H. Stab. Center Hings & Elevator Control Horn Placement

Located and installed H. Stab portion of the center hinge assembly. A5 rivets throughout

H. Stab Ready for Hinge Assemby Install

H. Stab. Assembly (7H5) Skinned (inverted)

Final riveting of H. Stab skin with A4 rivets and preparation of center hinge parts. Laid out locations for center hinge assembly (7-H-5).

Completed H. Stab. (7H3)

Removed copper clecos, deburred all holes, and applied RustOx. Sprayed on the diluted RstOx with the small Kobalt gravity-fed gun. Re-strapped, re-clecoed, and riveted the structure, which is now ready for center center hinge assembly and cutouts for control cables

H. Stab final assembly

H. Stab. Skinning - Note poor edge alignment)

H. Stab. Skin Alignment Repair - Note Doublers

Tough aligning top skin stb. It is either flat at trailing edge with bulge at the center of the end rib or nicely fitted at the end rib with dimple and small ripples at the trailing edge. Roger (Zenith ) and Jon (HomeBuiltHelp) suggest best fit. I added a doubler L-angle to help smooth the dimple. Added a non functional doubler on the port side for symmetry. Still has slight oil-can effect, but much better with the doubler. Drilled and clecoed (copper). Ready for removal, deburr, corrosion protection, re-strap, re-cleco, and riveting.