Today I started on the Left wing root rib by sanding down the area around the aluminum extrusion LWA6. I floxed the edges around the newly attached LWA7 with fillets/ramps so the glass would contour nicely over & around it.
I then glassed a 1-ply BID layup on top & covering LWA7, overlapping onto the immediate glass around LWA7 by about 1 inch. I had some leftover epoxy so I went ahead & peel plied this layup. I then let it cure.
A little while later, after buying some more Dremel cutoff wheels, I finished removing the dead micro & foam from the Right wing root area.
I then positioned the Right wing along side the work bench, propped up on the wood step, and then prepped the wing root for glass (layup #7).
I used thick flox for the fillets/ramps around the LWA6 extrusion, micro paste for the corners, divots & dings, and microslurry for the remaining foam fields.
And just like I did for the Left wing root, I wet out 2 of the 3 plies of BID in a pre-preg setup.
I then glassed the 2-ply BID pre-pregged layup into the wing root.
This layup was a royal PITA! Much worse than the first. The glass just did not want to cooperate & was not laying into the wing root easily. I finally got the first 2 plies laid up, then I glassed the last single BID ply into the wing root. I finally got it, but it wasn’t a layup I’m overly proud of as far the weave orientation. It ain’t a pretty layup, but I think this dog will hunt! I have no doubts it meets specs, it was just a very frustrating time of it.
With the main 3-ply BID layup complete, I then glassed layup #8, the 3-plies of 2-1/2″ wide UNI strips that are stepped at the end furthest away from the extrusion. These UNI strips all extend 1 inch below LWA6, and are laid up in step fashion above LWA6 (on the interior side of the wing top). I then epoxied in & clamped the ACTUAL VERY LAST aluminum extrusion (LWA7) of all the ones I cut & prepped last year (I misspoke when I claimed that the Left wing’s LWA7 was the very last of the extrusions). I then peel plied the UNI layup around LWA7 & around the aileron control tube hole.
I then set the light & heater up on it and let it cure.