Re: REFLECTOR: Attaching Winglets.

[DAlexan424@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/27/98 7:23:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
hoffman3@erols.com writes:

> But, there were black core alignment lines on the inboard and outboard
>  wing cores. They were used to align the cores to the spar. In neither
>  case did they coinside with the wing leading or trailing edge. The point
>  where they meet the edge of the core was used to draw level lines on the
>  surface of the wing to level and check wing alignment thru out wing
>  construction. Wing construction took me 6 weeks and 200 hours to a point
>  of lower winglet reattachment and aileron cutouts.


I simply placed the winglet to where the trailing edge aligned with the
trailing edge of the wing at 124". I then measured added 10" to the distance
and marked the outer wing attach hole at 134". The intersection of the front
leading edge of the winglet and the upper surface of the wing was then placed
at that point. It didn't quite mate up or match the template cut-out. As a
matter of fact, there was a 1/2" or better gap in some areas of the inner top
wing to winglet joint. But I don't think that this was a negative. Much has
been made about the proper formation of the "knee joint" in this area and
having 1/2" of contact between the "A" layup and the "B" lay-up would probably
go a long way to making this joint very strong as The extra gap allowed me to
use modeling clay to form a 1/4" radius in the gap. This then made the joint
for the "D" lay-up a much better affair as the "D" lay-up was able to get
glass-to-glass bonding over a large area with the A-B lay-up without the
filler as shown in the manual.It certainly seems that I don't seem to be
suffering from a "wiggley" winglet as others have noted in some Velocities.

Another suggestion I have for those who haven't joined the winglet yet. The
manual lists the order of the lay-ups as A-B-C-D. The "C" layup goes much
easier if the wing is turned over. For that reason, I applied the "D" lay-up
third. This made the wing strong enough to turn over and really helped with
the lay-out of the internal rudder horn mod as well as the "C" layer.

Hope this helps...

Dale Alexander
173 RGE