Not entirely sure why the time was right now to do the gap seals, but they're all done now nonetheless.
By the time I got to doing the last aileron, I finally had the wing gap-seal technique down...
- pre-shrink the cloth to 120C. Its texture is mottled, but that's okay
- use a piece of blue painter's tape 6in in length for marking. Find the attachment 2" on the wing side, and locate using the TE adhesion point as the alignment feature.
- hold the 2" fixed side in place with a thumb and flex the surface through its range, which will pull the loose end of the tape to reveal the end of the 6" strip.
- figure out the end of the adhesion on the control surface
- mark the ends and the adhesive contact point ends.
- pull a string or a flexible long straight-edge to mark down the length of the whole wing.
- once marked, put adhesive on both fixed and control surface sides. Let dry.
- iron the fixed side on the wing.
- prop up the control surface at the angle of maximum stretch of the gap seal.
- pulling a 3" section at a time, iron the gap seal to the control surface side pulled taut. There will be some wrinkles still, but get it overall pretty close.
- iron the control surface side of the gap seal
- increase temperature and pull the gap seal itself taut across the gap. Flex the control surface occasionally to make sure you're not over-tightening. If so, the Stewart Systems method allows the gap seal to be pulled off without penalty.
- second gluing and wiping (only on the glue joint). Let dry.
- iron at quite a warm setting, including tightening the gap seal to its final stretch. Do this with the control surface propped up again.
- paint 2x coats of Glidden Gripper white primer diluted 3:1 paint to water ratio. I do one coat horizontally, then one coat vertically with a foam brush.
- lightly sand with 220 grit the pinked edges and remove any boogers to make the skin surface smooth
- final coat of paint
- accept imperfection
Marked for the gap seal, ready for adhesive:
Just starting the fixed side pre-placement before ironing:
Flap gap-seal done, showing how it looks, with the aileron (foreground) ready for the fabric.
Aileron gap seal done & painted:
No word from the DMV yet on the trailer title & tags. Based on previous timing, I'm not expecting anything in return until about November. (updated: it arrived the same day of this post!)
What else remains? I pondered this recently...
- DONE - Get trailer title & tag
- Modify trailer to safely haul Goat
- Find an appropriate airfield to do the maiden
- Mount GoPro(s) for maiden flight documentation
- Backyard final assembly and thorough pre-flight check, including weight & balance
- Go do the first flight!
Some other things on the eventual list...
- add leather patch to wing tips where will rub the ground
- install leather patch guides for elevator control lines
- replace the nose tube (because the holes are twisted)
- Trim color paint
- Wing root kiss seal
- Wing tip dolly
- Wing wheel
- Strut fairings (after flying to figure out the right angles)
- Emergency parachute
- Real variometer (LXNav with a TEK probe is my intention, if it is sensitive at low speed...)
- Drogue chute
- Motor mounting revisit (need guy-wires that means some un-covering and subsequent repairs)
- Finding a "real" field for flying more regularly
- Place to store goat at home and/or at the flying field
- USHGA "hang 3" rating so I can fly at cooler sites??
Super random ---- I made it by the US National Sailplane Museum in Elmira, NY and found two of Goat's cousins:
