Wednesday October 6, 2021
Left Wingtip Install, continued (Wing Tips)
1.5 Hours

Tonight I set out to see if I could do anything about the warping of the wingtips. Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

I used my wife's hairdrier and some manual pressure to mold the tip and managed to remove most of the warp temporarily (some of it came back after it had completely cooled and sat for a while, but I think I can slowly urge it back over time).

The good thing was that I was able to fit the wing tip with the foam rib in place. If I can get this thing drilled, I feel like the warp will mostly resolve on its own as the tip is held in the correct shape. And if not, I will continue to use heat to encourage it along.

Before I can drill the tip, though, I need to install the aluminum reinforcement strips on the inside of the tip so it doesn't crack when I rivet the nutplates on. The kit comes with these strips for this purpose. I cut them into pieces that each cover 4-5 holes.

I shaped them and smoothed the edges with the bench grinder and the polishing wheel.

Then I marked the eventual hole locations on the inside of the tip so I could see where to put the strips.

Then I epoxied one half of the strips in place and clamped them. I'll do the other side tomorrow.

It's good to have some hope that I'll be able to salvage these tips despite the warping.

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