Aileron covering question

[8708]

Hi folks,
I am in the process of covering my ailerons. I have a couple of questions though:
1) Should I cover the exposed part of the spars with fabric and then put on the hinge and pushrod hardware or just leave them exposed with the epoxy varnish coating? My originals were exposed wood.

2) Should I put inspection rings on the underside of the ailerons to get to the backside of the fittings? The originals did not have any but it seems like they should be there. Rob Lees did a neat thing by installing nutplates on the back of the spars so you would not have to get back there for tightening. I am exploring that with my IA but he wanted to think about it.

Thanks in advance for your advice!
Jay

[Len Petterson]

Re: Aileron covering question

I would aslo like to know, as I am doing the same work this winter.
Len

[ricky]

Re: Aileron covering question

Hi there,me an my ame redid both wing,and aileron,we covered the fitting,to keep water away from the spars in the aileron,we didn't do the
inspection ring,I instaled cleveit pin in the bolt,so the nut won't unwind,I believe this is what came from factory in 46 , Rick

[mhorowit]

Re: Aileron covering question

When you covered the spar with fabric, did you treat that piece just like the rest of the fabric (shrinking and coatings)? - Mike

[8708]

Re: Aileron covering question

Hi Mike,
I talked with the folks at Poly Fiber about the covering of the spar.
-They said to first use two coats of the epoxy varnish on the spar. Let dry.
-Follow that with two coats of poly brush an hour apart. Let dry.
-To attach the fabric use poly tak around the edges (1" is the standard width of poly tak, which will just about cover the spar area). Let dry.
-Apply poly brush on the fabric. The poly brush will go through the weave and reactivate the poly brush underneath, completing the adhesion. Let dry.
-After that finish she same as the rest of the covering. I am using the lighter poly fiber fabric for this area and I have already preshrunk it with the iron so you may just have some smoothing to do to finish up the area. The heat tauting will not be necessary with the preshrunk fabric.
Have a good day!
Jay

[Ray36048]

Re: Aileron covering question

"Pre Shrunk" fabric, how can you get the correct fabric tension if you do not heat shrink it??

[8708]

Re: Aileron covering question

Hi Ray,
The Poly Fiber manual describes the process. You stretch the light fabric on a frame and heat shrink it with an iron. That way it is ready to apply without having to fret over heat shrinking once it is applied.
The technique is used for inspection ring covers and gussets as the light fabric fits around edges better. It works equally as well for this spar-covering application.
Jay

[Laz]

Re: Aileron covering question

after you shrink it on the frame give it a quick coat of poly brush. Dondi Miller gave me this tip and it make handeling and cutting the fabric a breeze.

[Ray36048]

Re: Aileron covering question

I have used Poly Fiber on several projects.

When I make patch for inspection rings, I stretch the fabric over a frame and shrink it at the low temperature, Just use enough heat to smooth the fabric. I then give the fabric a coat of very thin poly brush. After this drys, I cut patches for the material. I do not shrink the fabric to the full 350, as you do over the airframe, this gives you some shrink left to get rid of and area that is not smooth after aplication.

Maybe we are saying the same thing.

[8708]

Re: Aileron covering question

Hi Ray,
I think we are on the same page.
Thanks!
Jay

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Aileron covering question

We do the same thing and then cut out silver dollars patches with pinking shears. We use these for the inevitable little holes, Oops, and other goof ups, we need a small patch for. Of course we just make these up we never use them as we never goof anything up! We also shrink and paint about a 3 or 4sq. ft. piece for later. This gives us a perfect color match if we should need it. Thank God we have not needed that yet but who knows a couple of years from now. Larry

[ricky]

Re: Aileron covering question

Hey mike,sorry in my responce,what I did on spar,I put on 3 coats of expocsie
spar varnish from poly fabric,then cover the spar with frabic,3 coats of
poly spray,work ok for me,make sure the bracket on aileron have good
coats of primer( expoc on on it)