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Attaching the Wing Skins The plans show that the rear spar is to be attached to a couple of brackets on the bottom of the wing stand. I went ahead and got the wing all lined up and fastened to the jig on the top and bottom only to discover that I was holding the wing slightly askew. I started to notice that something was wrong after I got the skin clecoed to the second rib from the root. The outboard part of that skin was off by over 1/4". After a little head scratching I took the clamps off of the rear spar and just let it hang there and everything started to line up. The more clecoes I got in the better things were aligned. The matched hole tooling is great! After I got all four main skins clecoed in place I droped the plumb bobs over the wing like the manual shows and discovered that my wing has about 0.040" of twist in it. This is with the wing just hanging there with the skins clecoed on. I don't know how Van gets those holes so close but I am impressed. I clamped the rear spar back to the brackets to take out some of that 0.040" twist (not that it needed it but hey) and drilled. The moral of the story is leave the rear spar unattached to the wing stand until you get the skins on, then take a measurement of the twist, adjust, clamp and drill. Disclaimer: This web site and the infomation contained within it are for entertainment purposes only. The opinions expressed on construction techniques are my opinions only and should not be confused with proper construction techniques. There is undoubtedly more than one way to build an airplane and some methods that I use may or may not work in any given circumstance. If there is any question please call the kit manufacturer. I love to help but I am not responsible for the misuse of any information contained on this web site.

 February 3, 2021
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