Getting both wings in the jig was a big hurdle. Now it’s time to start working on the skins, in this case trimming and match-drilling the wing-walk doublers.

The instructions are confusing in this area; they imply that the wing-walk doubler extends an inch past the rear spar. But that’s incompatible with the doubler dimensions as specified in the plans. A doubler fabricated per the plans and positioned the correct distance from the front spar isn’t long enough to overhang the rear spar by an inch. Other builders have had the same problem; some followed the dimensions in the plans, others altered the doubler to comply with the instructions. Also, some folks who had a 1″ overhang eventually had problems with the doubler getting bent down and interfering with flap retraction – not something I’d like to have happen.

Based on my observations of the wing walk structure, and some information I got from the VAF website, I chose to follow the plans dimensions rather than comply explicitly with the instructions. That results in a doubler that overhangs the rear spar by about 4/32-5/32″.

Match-drilling the wing walk

I was on a roll, so I pulled out the top left wing skins and clecoed them on. No problems here, and big visual progress to boot!

Match-drilling the wing walk