There were just too many things going wrong with the left aileron skin so I bit the bullet and ordered a new one, plus stiffeners, from Van’s. Chalk the $50 in parts up to experience and practicing patience…

Riveted ailerons to stiffeners today. I must be out of practice with the back-rivet set, because I had several drillers. Grrr…

Got the ailerons and stiffeners primed today…

Happy New Year! I celebrated the start of 2008 by doing something that I had managed to avoid in the last three and a half years – I missed a rivet hole while dimpling the aileron skins. Van’s said press on, so that’s what I’m doing for now.

When I built the elevators, I did the final trailing egde bends on Dave Rogers’s bending brake. I didn’t have access to Dave’s brake for the ailerons, so I built my own per Vans’ instructions, out of 2″x”8 lumber and a long piano hinge I found at Home Depot. The piano hinge turned out to be not such a great idea, it’s just a little too flexible – but more on that later.

After finishing the brake I started match-drilling the ailerons and stiffeners. Nothing new here, but I did take a picture anyway. And that’s all I have to say about that.

I decided to get started on the ailerons today during a lull in wing skin riveting. The first step on the ailerons is to trim and edge-finish stiffeners. I didn’t take any pictures, but if you go back and look at stiffener fab for the elevators and rudder, you’ll get the idea.