With the wing tanks installed I moved on to the wing tips. I used a small block of foam inside the wing tip faring so that the part would hold it's shape while I match drill the holes through the wing skins.
Right wing tip seated inside the wings skins
At this point the tip of the faring does not sit flush with the leading edge of the wing so you need to use a ratchet strap to properly align the parts.
This method is used by most builders and is even recommend in the build instructions.
With everything lined up I match drilled the wing tip top and bottom
I don't know how much aerodynamic efficiency these wings tips add but they look fantastic!
The process is exactly the same for the left side
The wing tips are removed to clean out the fiberglass material from match drilling.
There is a good amount of material on the these parts but I have been adding aluminum washers to the back of the parts for the rivets to grip without pulling through the fiberglass
I found these on Amazon and they worked great:
POP Rivet Washers for 1/8" Diameter Rivets
I use a flexible adhesive to secure the washers to the fiberglass before
riveting and hold them in place with Clecos until the glue has cured.
B-7000 Clear Glue
This glue needs to cure overnight which is a pain if you want to keep moving, but it dries very strong and you don't want these washers falling off when you are trying set and pull rivets.
Before permanently installing the wing tip, I need to install the NAV/Strobe lights and run the wire harness for the power out through the tip.
Two rivnuts were attached and secured with JB-Weld
I went with the Aveo Engineering PowerBurst NG DayLight 3-in-1 lights.
I purchased the lights through kestrel-air.com, they are a local company here in Washington state and their pricing is pretty competitive.
I liked that these were low profile and fit perfectly on the wing tip.
With the glue dry, the wing tip is Clecoed back into place and then riveted.
The inside edge of the wing tip needs to be sanded to align with the aileron using a small belt sander and flat file.
The last step on the wing tips is to match drill the trailing edge with the outer rib on the wing.
You need to use an extra long hole duplicator that captures the holes already pre-drilled in the top and bottom of the rib.
I thought this was going to be a quick task but this took almost an hour per side.
The holes near the trailing edge of wing were pain, but it all came together.
