Re: Aileron Hinge Attachment

["Brian K. Michalk" <michalk@awpi.com>]

> Has anyone come up with a better way to align the hinges on the
> ailerons.  I have tried the "foam wedge" method and found it somewhat
> lacking.
> 

Ahhh, I remember my first hinge alignment.  Took me about
10 hours.  Here is what i did:

First go buy a piece of thick walled aluminum square tubing.  About
two inches wide.  1.5 inches would do also.  Basically you want
a very rigid beam.  It should be a little shorter than your
aileron.

First, prepare your wing to accept the hinges making sure that
you have your edges beveled.

Once your hinges are located, drill and pop rivet them to the
aluminum tubing.  At this point they are all on a nice straight
line, and you can match drill your wings to perfectly match your
hinges.  Make a microslurry pad for your hinges, cleco and let cure.

Come back the next day and remove the hinges from the wing.
The hinges are still attached to the aluminum.  Go get another
piece of AL tubing like the first one.  Match drill and pop rivet
that one too.  Now you have two AL tubes attached with hinges.

Drill out the rivets on the first tube that you made.  Match
drill through the hinges into your aileron.  Micro your 
hinge pads, rivet and let cure.

This method worked excellent for me.  Your mileage may vary.
After my first rudder, I did everything like this with
minor variations.

The tricky part is locating everything correctly and making
sure your drilled holes go into the material they are supposed 
to.

-- 
Brian Michalk  <http://www.awpi.com/michalk>
Life is what you make of it ... never wish you had done something.
Aviator, experimental aircraft builder, motorcyclist, SCUBA diver
musician, home-brewer, entrepenuer and SINGLE!