Today was the last day that I could have Allen’s help before the heat goes away in October and it was very important to all of us (Scott came along too) to get the wings back on. To get to that we needed to install the grommets in the pilot wing and run the fuel line, pitot tubes and electrical wires, put the wing on the fuselage. Then we needed to do the same for the passenger wing AND do everything to install the root skins before putting it on the wing. Bottom line: we did it, it took us four and half hours flat out but we did it.
I had ordered new grommets from Zenith but for some reason they didn’t get sent to me amongst everything else I ordered. So we had to scurry around town trying to find a replacement. We found something for a Ford Zephyr that would do the job. Grommets installed, we ran the fuel line and the wires for nav lights and fuel sender.
Next up was to put the wing on, first connecting the fuel lines and then running the pitot tube lines and wires through the fuselage. Allen had already thought this through and made a temporary sling with which to hold the wing up while we worked, save our poor arms.
With the wing held securely in place, I could attach the fuel line, snap the plastic tubes in the fittings and push the electrical wires through the grommet on the fuselage.
We then put the wing all the way up to the fuselage and installed the bolts. That’s a small phrase for what was actually quite the game to get the bolts on and nuts installed. Allen and Scott worked hard on that. Once the bolts were in, we put the struts on and bolted them in place.
Time was running short, so there are no pictures, but we were able to get the root skins drilled and riveted. After running the wires through the grommets, we repeated the wing installation and for some reason this went a lot easier than with the other wing.
So all of a sudden we found ourselves with an airplane shell with two wings securely fastened so opened up the hangar and pushed it outside for a photo shoot.
Lastly, Scott got a bucket and ‘installed’ a bucket seat so I could be in the picture.
I’m out of town for the next three weekends and by then the heat will be on, but I intend to get to work on the instrument wiring, plus other little things like the seat belts, more work on the engine side etc.