One final inspection is
made to the capacitive fuel sender wires. Spots of sealant are
applied to the wire loops to hold them in place.
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Other high-probablilty
leak areas are double-checked.
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Clear packaging tape is
applied on both sides of this open hole as a temporary barrier.
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The tank is ready to be
filled...
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.....and it doubles as a
Feng-shui fountain! ( Whoever said airplanes don't promote good "chi"?)
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So far so good...
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Inspecting for leaks...
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This tank, having passed
our test, stands outside to dry.
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Soon-to-be-attached
surfaces of the baffle are hit once more with a paint-stripping wheel to
get more "tooth".
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6 different kinds of
rivets are required for this last step. Soaking them in a dose of MEK
cleans off any residue.
"St Pauley O' Homebuilts!"
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By the way, here are
just a "few" of the bags of rivets used in the process of the wings. Note
the bag labeled "OOPS". These rivets have the same lengths as a normal
rivet, but are fatter to accomodate enlarged drill-holes from drilling out
bad rivets. Luckily we haven't had to use too many of these.
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Z-brackets (the
attachement mechanism between tank and main spar) are sealed and riveted
onto the baffle.
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The baffle is
successfully pushed (delicately!) into the tank along a thick bead of
sealant. Realisticly, you've got one shot to do this right before you
encounter problems with shifting this piece due to the very high viscosity
of the sealant.
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An hour or so later, the
rivets are in!! The sealant is workable for only an hour or so, so we
finished just in time.
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Fuel pickup tube plates
are also sealed where appropriate.
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One modification we made
to this part was to cut off the top of the anti-rotation bracket. This
made attaching this piece significantly easier without compromising safety.
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Prior to the tanks being
closed up, this is what this part looked like when positioned on the tank
(from the inside.)
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Plates are screwed on...
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And done!
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