With the panel base, panel ribs, stack angles and other assorted bits riveted together, it was time to cleco the assembly to the firewall upper and then match-drill the longerons. The edges of the panel base, it was stressed in the build manual, should be parallel to and, I deduced, flush with the longerons.
Didn't happen. The guy doing the Homebuilt Help video had the same problem, and I did as he did: wedge a board between the longerons to spread them a wee bit. Anything that requires drilling the longerons strikes fear in my heart. I can't bear to contemplate what I would do if I trashed the longerons at this stage of the build. Probably melt the whole thing down and sell it for scrap aluminum.
The procedure I used was as follows: Starting with the aft-most edge of the panel base, spread longerons until alignment occurred. Match drill and cleco one hole. Press the forward edge of the longeron in until aligned, drill and cleco forward-most hole. Match-drill the holes between clecos. This worked well on the right side, not so much on the left. The forward, left edge misses being parallel by about 1/32 of an inch.
Yeah, yeah, I know. We're not building the space shuttle. Still, it's irratating.
I am pleased, however, to see these various pieces of aluminum continue to coalesce into something that resembles an airplane. I should be able to start the wings next week. Still don't know where I can store them when they're built. Where there's a will, there's a way.
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