Today I pulled the peel ply from the Left winglet & took the TE clamps off.

The Right winglet still seemed just a tad tacky after a few hours.  But it was only a few hours after the layup & it turned really cold, so I turned on another heater to kick the heat back up over 70° for a few hours.

I rechecked the winglet later and it looked fine… I probably laid it up just slightly on the dry side, but not too bad.

I pulled the peel ply from the Right winglet and then Fien sawed both TEs & bottom edges. I then sanded the TEs… both winglets looked good.

Later on I removed the bondo blobs with a hammer & chisel… often just takes one sharp whack for them to come off (It was too late to use a sander at that point).

I brought the CS spar back out to the work shop and then measured & marked the lines for the spar cap trough depths.

I made the initial cuts for the spar cap troughs & removed the foam.

I marked the Butt Lines (BLs) where I will use 1 of the 4 corresponding spar cap templates.

I  then measured & marked out the locations for the aluminum extrusions.  The extrusions embedded into–and laid on top of–the foam will line up with both the extrusions glassed into the inside of the spar box and to the extrusions on the wings.

Before I started on the winglets today, I ginned up some 50/50 flox/micro mix to fill in some minor gaps between the foam joints on the CS spar.

I then resanded the TE & rudder on the right winglet.

I installed the COM antennas onto the winglets . . . in the proper position this time.  I of course had to drill a long channel at the LE of each winglet and then work the antenna cable lead down through it.  It took a little bit of time, but it wasn’t that difficult.

I did have a minor issue with the Left antenna when actually sticking it onto the surface of the winglet: the last 1/4″ of copper foil ripped off as I was setting it into place!  I simple reattached it with just a hair overlapping (maybe 0.5mm) & did a continuity check.  My multi-meter rang out loud & strong so the connection was good! As long as I didn’t disturb it when laying the glass up … so it was fine.

Once I got everything set up, I bagged the antenna cable leads & carefully vacuumed the entire surface of each winglet.

I micro’d the foam surfaces & joints, including the antenna leads & runs, and then glassed a 2-ply UNI layup crossing at approximately 30° & the 1-ply BID reinforcement for attaching the winglet to the wing.  I also peel plied the BID layup & the LE overlap.  This was of course on one winglet at a time.

Again, I used my lengths of aluminum angle to clamp down the TE edges so they cured straight & even.

Today I started out by removing the tape & the peel ply from the winglets’ edges… and of course I cleaned up a lot of peel ply gunk.

I removed the winglets from their mounts… everything looked good!

I then cut the UNI, BID and peel ply for glassing the second/last/other side of the winglets. The pic below is just a shot of some of my leftover glass scraps.  There’s a lot of glass that gets left over and I try to reuse as much as possible.  One thing about fiberglass is that if it gets wet, with virtually anything liquid including water, sweat, or especially epoxy, it’s done for & must be thrown out.  Also, if it’s physically damaged it can’t be reused.

Another couple shots of the winglets.

I weighed down the winglets, one at a time, and cut off the fishtail & removed the peel ply from the trailing edge.  I will say one good thing on the winglets is that when the glass & epoxy are this fresh the TE peel ply comes off A LOT easier! (whew…)

Glassing the final layups on the winglets were going to be a lot easier if I could use more of the work bench, so I removed the CS spar from its jig–since it had cured for ~3 days–and tore down the jig.

The pic above shows that the whole jig stayed fairly level during the course of the first major part of the CS spar build.

After tearing down the jig & getting all the jig pieces removed, I did a fairly thorough cleanup.

I remounted the winglets Inboard side up (bare blue foam), sanded down the LE & Dremeled the dead micro from the winglets.

I refilled my epoxy jug & hardener bottles . . . apparently all this building is gettin’ it done since I only have about 2 gallons of epoxy left.

After getting the consumables reloaded, I made 2 COM antennas with 17 ft leads.  I then took them out to the workshop & mocked them up on the winglets (albeit they are not in the correct location on the winglets in these pics).

Today I cleared some area off of the workbench next to the curing CS spar to set up the mounting boards for the Left & Right Upper Winglets.  I’ll be skinning the outside of the winglets by glassing 2-plies of UNI crossing each other at about 30° (or 60° I guess, depending on how you look at it!).

Once I have the mounting boards screwed down to the table, I put bits of duct tape over the screws so they don’t inadvertently get epoxied or floxed into place.  The mounting boards do 2 things:

1) They stabilize the winglets, making them much easier to glass.

2) With the winglets secured in place, they won’t warp as the glass cures on the one side of the winglet.  Making for a straighter, truer winglet.

Once I got the proper spacing down so the winglets laid true on the wood mounts, I floxed the winglets to the mounts by adding little dabs of flox along the wood surfaces & laid the winglets on the mounts (Before I removed the mocked up winglets, I marked the edge so I knew where to place them back down).   After I mounted the winglets to the floxed boards, I weighed them down to ensure a good seal.

Below are some good shots of the curing CS Spar.  I had weights all along the top of the spar for some 30+ hours to ensure a good seal between the front spar walls (top of jig as it sits here) & the spar box.  I removed the weights to keep them from somehow hurling themselves off the spar and onto–thus smashing into pieces–the unsuspecting TE edge of an innocent winglet (yep, with me it could happen…took no chances!).  The blue foam rectangular outline on top is to protect ME against the tacks protruding through the foam that hold the peel ply to the 5″ x 14″ center oval access that gets cut out later.

With the winglets weighed down & curing onto their respective mounts, I prepped for the upcoming layups.  I charged my Dritz scissors and soaked/cleaned some squeegees.

Also, my decorative top cap on the Left winglet was lacking at the tail end, so I cut & shaped a small foam wedge to add to the TE.  I micro’d it & held it in place with a thin nail.

I then went back to prepping for the upcoming layups.

I went to my cutting table in the downstairs shop to cut 2 pieces of 38″ x 54″ UNI and 2 pieces of 38″ x 64″ UNI.

I left the glass in the downstairs shop.  Since the flox on the winglet mounts had cured, I went back the garage to prep the winglets’ outside surfaces for glass.  I pulled all the weights off and then used the Dremel tool to remove all the dead micro in the seams & joints.  I then carefully sanded the leading edges smooth.  I also marked up where the rudders would be going (like the ailerons getting cut out of the wing structure, the rudders also simply get cut out of the glassed structure of the winglet).

Obviously the winglets get glassed to the wing, and just like the wing, they get a reinforcement piece of BID glassed onto the surface area that will get glassed to the wing. I made a cardboard template of the area where the BID piece will go.  After I cut the 2 pieces of BID–1 for each winglet–I then used the same template to cut the peel ply that would cover the BID.

I vacuumed the entire top surfaces of both winglets & then taped the LE halfway along the entire length.  I then tacked on a 1″ piece of peel ply down the TE trough that runs the TE length of the winglet, top to bottom.  Before I could do this though, I had to physically create that trough on both upper winglet caps that I added.

I also threw in peel ply down the center of the seam of where the rudder will get cut out of the winglet, since the foam & glass inside there will get removed with a glass-to-glass layup occurring where the peel ply gets removed (at least along a good portion of the peel ply… I’ll still have to prep some glass that has only foam attached to it).

Ready to do some layups, I grabbed my glass from downstairs & double checked my winglets’ surfaces.  As you can see in the pic above & below, I added angle marks to allow me to get my glass laid up in the correct orientation.

I dry micro’d the channels (where I had cut the dead glass out) & microslurried the fields.  I then started glassing like the wind!

Above pics shows second ply of UNI getting glassed on.  Below is the finished Left winglet.

The pic below shows my last minute top-cap add-on/repair result.

After the layup had cured for a little bit, I removed the tape from the LE.  The peel ply was having a hard time wrapping around the sharp bend of the LE & top, so I coaxed it a little by taping the dryer part of the peel ply and then wrapping it around the winglet LE & attaching it to the dry foam underneath.

After the winglets had cured for quite a while, but while still tacky, I micro’d in the TE trough with dry micro.

Today, as the CS spar cures, I started by spending around 2 hours at the Ramstein base wood hobby shop.  I finished cutting a bunch of templates, jigs & parts–mainly for the canard build.

I also bought stuff to restock the basic composite working supplies: duct tape, tacks, etc.

I then switched gears to focus on Chapter 20, the Upper Winglets.  I’ll knock these out as the CS spar cures completely for a few days.

The first thing I did was work on the cosmetics of the Long-EZ’s upper winglets.  I have noticed a lot of beautiful Long-EZ’s that seemed like the very top of each winglet was simply hacked off and stolen…. very square.  I would like my winglets to have a rounded look, swept back from the front and smooth all the away around.  So that, my dear friends, is what I worked on today.

I started out with a scrap strip of blue PVC foam.  Now blue PVC foam is not known for its ease of shaping, but I wanted something that could not be easily damaged with one swipe of the sanding block.  I slowly shaped the rounded blended top cap for the winglet.

I double-checked a ton, but finally got a good shape I could work with.

I refined just a tad more to get the finish & shape I was looking for….

And then, just to try out something different, I made the other side from the more porous blue wing foam.

I continued to mock them up on the tops of the winglets, and then continued to refine the shape of the top caps.

Once I was happy with the shape of each side, I micro’d the new tops onto the winglets & held them in place with nails.

Today I measured out and looked at different wiring & conduit options.  I decided to go with Marc Zeitlin’s method (I guess I should have checked my notes before yesterday’s post!).

I have to apologize ahead of time because I swore I took pictures of today’s progress, but currently I can’t find them.  I will keep looking though.  So, on with the build log:

I cut a 1″ hole half-way through the foam of the end bulkheads from the inside of the spar box.  I’ll cut a 7/8″ hole later on from the outside, going into & more closely matching the Inside Diameter of the 1″ tube on the inside of the bulkhead.  As I said before, the 1″ tube will simply run from the outside bulkhead to the interior bulkhead to serve as a conduit to get all the wing electrical wires and antenna cables cleanly from the wing, into the CS spar to be routed from there throughout the fuselage.  This will be on both sides of the CS spar, so one conduit on each side.  The hole I cut (drilled) on each end bulkhead is just above the bottom aluminum extrusion to keep as close to the bottom of spar & shear web as possible, but still allow clearance for the wing bolt.

I then drilled holes in the aft bottom corner of both interior bulkheads, opposite the exterior bulkheads.  I cut the ~1″ (technically 25mm) plastic tubing at a slight angle on each end to fit cleanly on both sides & into the recessed holes on the interior side of the Outboard bulkhead and the vice versa on the Inboard bulkhead.

I used a 3/16″ x 5″ scrap piece of blue foam to prop up the middle of the plastic tube–since it was suspended between each bulkhead–to cut on down on any possible vibration tendencies, rattling, etc.  I used micro to attach the blue foam block to the interior back wall of the spar.

I then micro’d both ends of the plastic tube in place into each of the recessed holes on the bulkheads (one tube on each side of CS spar).  I also micro’d the center of the tube to the blue foam block.  I then glassed a 1-ply BID 4″ x 8″ layup over the pipe & blue foam block.

Ok… Although I am both a convert & believer of Burt, I guess sometimes I doubt a little if something is as strong as it is… even though it would probably far exceed my expectations.  Thus was the case with attaching the front foam pieces to the rest of the spar box (remember, this is the “top” as it sits in the jig).  I measured out where the interior bulkheads would abut the interior front spar face, marked it and sanded it down for a future 1-ply BID corner tape just for a little reinforcement (mod… not per plans).  Not that I was doubting Burt in his design, I was merely “helping” him out . . . haha!

I then (per plans) prepped the front spar pieces for attachment to the rest of the spar box. I removed more peel ply boogers & sanded down some areas need extra attention.

I removed the front wood jig supports, thoroughly vacuumed the inside of the spar box, and wiped down the front (soon-to-be-mounted) spar wall pieces.

I taped the edges of any foam that would subject to any type of micro slop & mess.  I then micro’d, nailed and weighed down the front (yellow foam) spar wall pieces (top as far as the jig is set) to the rest of the spar box.

Clock start time for my “2-3 day cure time” was 0100 Saturday morning.

I checked the micro’d pieces ~2 hours later & put some more nails to hold some areas better into place & aligned.  I also removed a bunch of tape & gummy micro.

I marked up where the Outboard aluminum extrusions (LWA1) will go (on the inside of the spar box).

I then marked  up where the Inboard aluminum extrusions (LWA1) will go (on the inside of the spar box).

Below is a shot of all the aluminum extrusions on the Right-hand side of the CS spar.  The extrusions will sit at the back of spar box & align with the aluminum extrusions on the Right wing.  A 5/8″ hole will get drilled through all the extrusions at each of the 3 hard points, and 3 large 5/8″ wing bolts will hold each wing on.

I pulled the 1″ peel ply off the CS spar front face pieces (yellow foam/CS4) & then cut the edges smooth with the “Fein” saw.

Another mod I found somewhere, I don’t remember right now (It may have been a Marc Zeitlin or Vance Atkinson noted mod from the Cozy world … but don’t quote me), is installing a permanent plastic conduit between the outer end bulkhead and the interior bulkhead on each side, about 1″ round in diameter, as an electrical wire/antenna cable conduit.  So I cut & played around with some nice, thin lightweight conduit I picked up at the Aviation Dept at Praktiker (German Lowes).  You can see a bit of the grey thin-walled conduit–much thinner than PVC pipe–in the pic below at the bottom.

I made 4 each ~4-pound sandbags to use during the remaining build projects.

I cut BID for the spar box & individual pieces for all 4 bulkheads. I then sanded down the joints between middle blue foam pieces & the outer foam pieces to align them.

I vacuumed the inside of the spar & then taped off the front of the blue PVC foam.

I spread dry micro as a fillet in the corners & microslurry on the large foam “fields.”

I then glassed Layup #2, which is the whole interior of the spar box (technically 3 individual compartments with the 2 interior bulkheads) with 1-ply of BID.

I glassed Layup #3 which is a staggered 3-plies of UNI over the interior aluminum extrusions.  That then gets covered with 1-ply of BID.

I then glassed Layup #4 which is essentially the same as Layup #3, but since the aluminum extrusions are opposite sides of the back foam wall (top & bottom when on the plane, front & back as it lies on the jig), the 3-plies of UNI cover both extrusions with a 1-ply of BID covering as the last ply for reinforcement.

A significant mod that I’m making concerning the CS Spar is that I’m running the rudder cable conduits through the interior sidewalls of the fuselage & then through the front & back wall of the CS spar.  Note, this is not an afterthought action, so I won’t just be merely drilling holes through the inside & outside glass surfaces of each spar face.  What I will be doing, after much consultation with the old guard, is carefully separating the glass fibers so they stay intact and are simply rerouted about 0.04″ to 0.13″ to each side of the hole to make room for a small 3/16″ hole on the exterior spar walls, and a 1/4″ hole on the interior walls.  Inside the spar I will run a phenolic conduit for the Nylaflow rudder cable conduit to run through.  Thus, to cite an overused reference, there will be no glass harmed in the making of this CS spar.

That being said, I forgot about the 0.5″ wedge that gets cut off the top front & bottom edge of the spar, so I set up the 2 holes for the rudder cable conduit 0.3″ from the edge, but I set them up incorrectly on the original “un-wedged” edge of the front spar face.  No worries since this all gets removed when I sand down & remove the 0.5″ angle off the front corner edges.  Of course I realized this after I had laid up the BID glass!

One other slight change I made was more out of curiosity than any build mod.  I tacked a piece of peel ply under the BID on the very front spar piece where the 5″ x 14″ oval access hole will be cut out.  The plans don’t have you peel ply this, but I went 5/16″ beyond the edge of the hole since after the hole foam/glass gets removed, 0.25″ of the foam gets removed & the glass on the edge of the hole prepped so the outer front face glass will have a good glass-to-glass bond when that layup is complete (i.e. inside spar glass bonded to outside spar glass).

I prepped the foam for the spar’s front center face (interior side) with microslurry, then glassed the 1-ply BID layup.  I then peel plied 1″ along the edges, since the edges will be micro’d to the blue foam edges at the front (currently top as jig is configured) of the spar box.

I then did the same thing with both the Left side & Right side spar front face pieces: microslurried then glassed a 1-ply BID layup with 1″ peel ply around the edges.

Again, these layups were all on the interior side of the pieces that will make up the front of the spar.  The exterior front of the spar is pretty much the last thing that gets glassed on the spar (actually the 2 square end bulkheads are the last to get glassed, but who really counts those…?!)

After the front face pieces were glassed, I marked the foam inside the spar box with a Sharpie near the interior 2 bulkheads where the respective BID & UNI layups will be glassed.

I also marked the positions where the rudder cable conduit will exit on the aft CS spar wall (10.2″ L & R of CL & 1.8″ below the inside top wall of spar).

Tonight was a significant, but light, night build wise.

I climbed under the fuselage & took measurements for the rear CS spar mount & firewall area.  One specific measurement I was looking for was the difference in the placement of my 4 Spruce hard points/inserts, since my fuselage is slightly wider & the side walls exit the fire wall going forward at a slightly steeper angle than stock.  These 4 Spruce hard points will get embedded into the foam & become part of the CS spar’s upper & lower wall.  Then both fuselage & engine mount arms will be bolted to the CS spar via these wood hard points.

I cut the BID glass for the INSIDE of the 3 pieces that make up the front CS spar wall.

I cut the UNI & BID for Step #4, which is where the aluminum extrusions for the CS spar get installed.

I took the rest of the night off.

Well, the first major build stage for both wings is complete.  For now I’ll be focusing on the Centersection (CS) Spar, with a brief intermission for working on the upper winglets.  This intermission will be brought to us while the 3 front spar wall pieces cure (2-3 days as per plans) after they are micro’d in place on the spar box.

I finished cutting the top & bottom sides (remember, front & back in the jig) of the blue PVC foam.

I then routered out the end channels on the blue PVC foam to leave a 0.7″ wide tab for the top & a 0.4″ wide tab on the bottom.

I then had to micro some smaller pieces together (blue foam) to make up the full length pieces that would be assembled & make up the top & bottom walls (front & back on jig) of the spar.

I then micro’d 3 pieces (yellow foam) together to make up the back wall (lying on the flat center shelf) & then micro’d the Left & Right outer pieces (that lie flat but slope down) that make up the entire back wall of the spar.  Again, these foam pieces cover the entire duct taped shelf.

I then micro’d the the 3 blue PVC top spar pieces (back jig wall) both to each other & down onto the back wall (yellow foam lying flat on the shelf).  I held the blue foam into place with nails driven at an angle into the yellow foam & strapped it to the back wall with duct tape.

Most builders will recognize the scrap wood I used for the jig’s front wall support tabs as the same scrap that is used to protect foam shipments from Aircraft Spruce.  I screwed (not bondo’d!) these wood support tabs to the front of the jig to micro the bottom center spar piece in place (bottom spar = front jig).  I then added more front wood jig supports to micro the Left & Right side bottom spar blue foam pieces into place so that a 3-sided channel consisting of the top, back and bottom spar walls was created.  I used finish nails, duct tape & clamps to hold the bottom PVC foam spar wall in place.

I then micro’d on the CS spar’s yellow foam end caps–actually classified as bulkheads–with nails as well.

I double checked all the bonds, ensured the surfaces were all mated well together & removed all the excess micro.

With the initial stages of the spar box assembled & curing, I called it a night.