dle's Oz Build

[jiott]

On my bubble doors, I used the acorn/blind nuts that came with the kit. However, you must be very careful not to tighten them much beyond hand tight. To lock them in place (NEVER use a Loctite product-it will react with the acrylic and cause it to crack) I used a drop of Elmers Glue; haven't had a single one come loose in 4 years now.

[David47]

Yes Jim, I'm leaning more to using the kit supplied s/steel screws and cap nuts.

Question: does anyone know if the bubble transparency can be installed directly to the standard door frame or do you need a different door frame ?. Just looking at future options ...

[jiott]

I'm pretty sure its the standard door frame for the bubble doors. I really like the bubble doors for the extra shoulder room and the ability to lean your head to the side and look straight down.

[efwd]

I agree. likely the same frame. The bubble contacts the frame all the way around and the bubble extends out away from the center tube.
Eddie

[David47]

Thanks guys, I think that's a future option for a retrofit. I like the idea of extra shoulder room.

[David47]

Been doing more work on the starb’d wing this week. Finished installing the drag braces and then located all full ribs and bonded them in place. I’ve used blue painters tape liberally either side of the ribs to prevent too much adhesive spreading all over the place and instead of a siringe, I used a popsicle stick split down the middle for applying it, and then a finger for pushing the adhesive into a fillet. This works great but you need plenty of IPA to keep working it. Very happy with the final result.

At this point I wish I’d varnished the ribs before I bonded the upper false ribs in place. I’m just reinforcing what others have said already on this site when I say if you’re building your wings, varnish the full ribs before you bond any false ribs in place. With the false ribs in place it makes it difficult, but not impossible, to get to all parts of the full ribs without doing a few distortions with the hand and brush. An “S” bend in the hand would be good …. I’m just thankful I hadn’t bonded the lower ribs in place as well. Don't even want to think of that scenario ….

As with the full ribs, I used liberal amounts of blue tape to prevent adhesive from going every whichaway when bonding the upper false ribs. I found the best way of bonding was to lay a bead of adhesive down the front spar and then a dab on the supporting tube, and then just push the rib in place. This worked great - it’s quick, no mess, no extra finishing of the fillet required and the end result is neat and tidy. I was, however, a little concerned about how much adhesive (ie not a lot) was holding the rear end of the rib to the tube, so when the adhesive had set, I gripped it and pulled quite hard. Didn’t budge. You can probably see from the photos how little there is. It’s a little over 1/8” square contact area either side in some cases, but that’s enough. This Hysol is impressive.

Varnishing of the ribs is quite a performance. I laid down plastic under the wing because the varnish is runny. It probably took around 2 1/2 hours to do one coat. Needed a beer or three after that, and no better way to finish up a good couple of days work. Looking back at the build to date, this wing build is probably the most gratifying part so far.

[efwd]

Very nice David. Looks great.
I am one who put all the false ribs in before I primed the metal parts. Yes they definitely get in the way.
By the way, FWIW, you should consider the hysol double barrel syringe and the blue gun to match the syringe. I didn't do half the amount of hysol work that your doing and I don't regret it for a minute. You may be able to refill the syringe with the product you have to that doesn't go to waist. I waisted quite a bit of that stuff by mixing more than was needed.
Eddie

[David47]

Eddie, if you can point me to a supplier of these double barrel syringes and gun that'd be great. Working with cutdown popsicle sticks and manual mixing of adhesive is so old school, anything that makes life simpler is good.

[efwd]

Start with Kitfox. They are one supplier. It is in the online Catalog

[Av8r3400]

I got all of my Hysol (Loctite 9460) through RS Hughes.

The gun and the "double barrel" syringes.