More incorrect parts

I've been working on the plane a few hours each day this week. I'm still waiting on the correct tank attach nut plates to ship from Vans so there isn't any big hurry. I spoke with them today about another issue and I was told that the nut plate manufacturer was between runs. They aren't sure when they will receive their order and can ship, hopefully not too long.

In the mean time I've gotten a few things done. All of the left wing main ribs are ready to rivet on. There are a ton of skin attach holes on the main spars that have to be countersunk to accept the skin dimples. Just countersinking all those holes took about 3 hours of work.

Countersunk skin attach holes in left wing spar.

  I also started on the rear spar prep work so it will be ready to attach once the ribs are on the main spar. There are three doubler plates that attach at high stress areas where the aileron and flap hinges attach, as well as a reinforcing fork and doubler at the fuselage attach point. All of these doubler plates are now final drilled, deburred, primed and ready to go. The fuselage attach point is a critical hole and requires a precise ream in a drill press. I don't have a drill press in the shop so I'll need to pick one up or take the parts to someone else's shop to drill.

The aileron hinge brackets that attach to the rear spar have also been constructed. One of the nice things about this kit is the fact that nearly all the moving parts run on bearings. This contributes to the light and smooth control surface movement that makes these planes such a joy to fly. A lot of kits, and even production aircraft, run everything on bushings. This contributes to the heavier feeling in the control surfaces of some aircraft.

Outboard aileron hinge bracket parts final drilled primed and ready to assemble.

Inboard aileron hinge bracket clecoed together and ready for rivets.

 

 

Inboard and outboard aileron hinge brackets riveted together and ready to install on rear spar.

With the rear spar prep pretty much complete I was at the limit of how far ahead I wanted to get on the main structure. I decided that I would go ahead and build the ailerons while I waited for the nut plates since they are stand alone components and would be easy to store out of the way. I flipped over to the aileron plan sheets and began to gather the parts I would need. When I pulled out the very first parts I noticed that my parts looked nothing like the  parts shown in the plans. I decided that I had got enough done for the day and would call builder support to find out what was going on. After speaking with them today I guess I got sent old versions of the parts and will have to wait for the correct pieces. At least these parts shouldn't be on back order.

Incorrect aileron hinges sent with my kit.

 I really don't want to stop the build for a week just to wait on parts, so I pulled down the right wing main spar and began to work on it. Depending on how long it takes to get the nut plates I may bring the right wing to the same readiness as the left. I still want to work on the main structure of one wing at a time due to space constraints, but I guess it won't be all bad to have all the right wing parts ready to go later on.