Away for a week, so no progress until I return.  Until then, a couple of pictures.

A sweet Sling 4.

And, me and Crosby!

1 hr. yesterday cutting the vent tube to length and starting to set up the leak test of the left tank.

The cutter on the tube to cut it to the exact same length as the other tank.

Trying out a simplified setup vs. the franken-setup I had for the right tank.  I'm going to pressurize the tank (very carefully) with the compressor blowing into the rubber tube attached at the bottom of the photo.  I'll probably need a bigger rubber tube though to get over that fitting's threads.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Remove plastic and deburr fuselage parts while the tank is being tested (and any other spare time I have).
2. Test left tank for seal.
3. Mark all wing bolts.
4. Fuel tank on.  Just loosely bolted at this point.
5. Top skins riveted on (STRINGERS!).  Top skins of left wing need priming first.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
6. Leading edge riveted on (STRINGER!).  Fill rivets with Bondo.
7. Rivet fuel tank on.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
8. Install landing lights.
9. Wing tip assembly and light installation.
10. Finish sanding of left wing bottom rivet heads.
11. Finish right wing (4,5,6,7,8,9,10).
    
12. Finally finish one of the composite tips of the elevator.
13. Fill rivets of elevator with Bondo.
14. START ON FUSELAGE!

1 hr. sealing the fuel sender plates and bolts on both tanks.  Tomorrow I'll start the testing of the left tank.

Before.

After.

 

NEXT TASKS:

1. Remove plastic and deburr fuselage parts while the tank is being tested.
2. Test left tank for seal.  I do need to trim the fuel vent tube to proper length first.
3. Mark bolts.
4. Fuel tank on.  Just loosely bolted at this point.
5. Top skins riveted on (STRINGERS!).  Top skins of left wing need priming first.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
6. Leading edge riveted on (STRINGER!).  Fill rivets with Bondo.
7. Rivet fuel tank on.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
8. Wing tip assembly and light installation.
9. Finish sanding of left wing bottom rivet heads.
10. Finish right wing (5,6,7,8,9).
    
11. Finally finish one of the composite tips of the elevator.
12. Fill rivets of elevator with Bondo.
13. START ON FUSELAGE!

1 hr. taking the wing down off the 2x4's, removing the fuel tank and bolting down the wing.

Glad I put slick painter's tape down where you connect the fuel tank.  You can see the sealant that leaked out and if that attached to the spar it would have been hell trying to get the tank back off.  As it is it took me a good 15 minutes of separating and jiggling to detach it from the tape.  If that didn't work I could have peeled the tape, which wouldn't have been an option without the tape...

And the tank is back in the jig!  Before testing it I'm going to put sealant around the fuel sender plate and it's bolts.  My tech counselor strongly recommended doing that as he said the cork will eventually leak.  Once that's done I'll post a picture of what I'm talking about.

In order for the wing to just sit on the jigs I had to separate the tables and cut the carpet to make room for the pitot.

I certainly noticed that when the tank is hanging on the wing it twists the wing - Don't Want That while I'm riveting the wing skins!  So I drilled new holes in the table and tightened down the bolts while checking both jigs for the same exact angle.  It won't move now!!

NEXT TASKS:

1. Remove plastic and deburr fuselage parts while the tank is being tested.
2. Apply sealant on the fuel sender plates and bolts on both tanks.
3. Test left tank for seal.  I do need to trim the fuel vent tube to proper length first.
4. Mark bolts.
5. Fuel tank on.  Just bolted at this point.
6. Top skins riveted on (STRINGERS!).  Top skins of left wing need priming.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
7. Leading edge riveted on (STRINGER!).  Fill rivets with Bondo.
8. Rivet fuel tank on.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
9. Wing tip assembly and light installation.
10. Finish sanding of left wing bottom rivet heads.
11. Finish right wing (5,6,7,8,9).
    
12. Finally finish one of the composite tips of the elevator.
13. Fill rivets of elevator with Bondo.
14. START ON FUSELAGE!

Spent an hour today cleaning up the shop.  Don't like it when it gets too messy.

2 hrs. last night riveting the backplate for the left tank.  Now I leave it on the wing for two more days.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Remove plastic and deburr fuselage parts while the tank is setting.
2. Monday tank off and test for seal. After the tank is off I want to get the wing off the 2x4's I put under the jigs that I had put there for extra clearance for the pitot.  I want to make sure the jigs are perfectly level with each other before any more riveting.
3. Mark bolts.
4. Fuel tank on.  Just bolted at this point.
5. Top skins riveted on (STRINGERS!).  Top skins of left wing need priming.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
6. Leading edge riveted on (STRINGER!).  Fill rivets with Bondo.
7. Rivet fuel tank on.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
8. Wing tip assembly and light installation.
9. Finish sanding of left wing bottom rivet heads.
10. Finish right wing (4,5,6,7, 8).
    
11. Finally finish one of the composite tips of the elevator.
12. Fill rivets of elevator with Bondo.
13. START ON FUSELAGE!

4 hrs. sealing and hanging the left fuel tank on the wing.  With a little help from a friend.

Marvin and I getting ready to do the final sealing of the tank.

Marvin doing some sealing.

Riveting away...

With painter's tape keeping any stray sealant off the wing the tank is hanging!  I'll let the sealant set a bit overnight and I'll rivet the backplate tomorrow.  Then it will hang for another 2 days and then off for testing.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Rivet backplate tomorrow and then on Monday tank off and test for seal. (while it's hanging I'll continue prepping fuselage parts).
2. Mark bolts.
3. Fuel tank on.  Just bolted at this point.
4. Top skins riveted on (STRINGERS!).  Top skins of left wing need priming.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
5. Leading edge riveted on (STRINGER!).  Fill rivets with Bondo.
6. Rivet fuel tank on.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
7. Wing tip assembly and light installation.
8. Finish sanding of left wing bottom rivet heads.
9. Finish right wing (3,4,5,6,7).
   
10. Finally finish one of the composite tips of the elevator.
11. Fill rivets of elevator with Bondo.
12. START ON FUSELAGE!

1 hr of final testing of the pitot air lines and starting to prep the fuselage parts.

I retested the pitot air lines by pressurizing them and soaping up the fittings.  This time no bubbles at all.

A new friend is coming over on Thursday to help do the final closing of the left fuel tank, so as to not waste time I'm starting the prep of the fuselage parts.  For now I'm going through each bag of parts, and pulling the plastic and deburring the parts.  When I'm done with the wings I'll pull the parts again, and clean and prime them (then back into the bags).

NEXT TASKS:

1. Fitting and final sealing of left wing fuel tank.  Tank off and test for seal.
2. Mark bolts.
3. Fuel tank on.  Just bolted at this point.
4. Top skins riveted on (STRINGERS!).  Top skins of left wing need priming.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
5. Leading edge riveted on (STRINGER!).  Fill rivets with Bondo.
6. Rivet fuel tank on.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
7. Wing tip assembly and light installation.
8. Finish sanding of left wing bottom rivet heads.
9. Finish right wing (3,4,5,6,7).
   
10. Finally finish one of the composite tips of the elevator.
11. Fill rivets of elevator with Bondo.
12. START ON FUSELAGE!

2 hrs. re-cutting, re-flaring and reconnecting the pitot air line connectors.

Using the tube cutter I re-cut the tubes.  I then carefully filed down and deburred the new ends.

Setting up the flaring tool.

And reconnected!  I think this time it's good!

NEXT TASKS:

1. Fitting and final sealing of left wing fuel tank.  Tank off and test for seal.
2. Mark bolts.
3. Fuel tank on.  Just bolted at this point.
4. Top skins riveted on (STRINGERS!).  Top skins of left wing need priming.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
5. Leading edge riveted on (STRINGER!).  Fill rivets with Bondo.
6. Rivet fuel tank on.  Fill rivets with Bondo.
7. Wing tip assembly and light installation.
8. Finish sanding of left wing bottom rivet heads.
9. Finish right wing (3,4,5,6,7).
   
10. Finally finish one of the composite tips of the elevator.
11. Fill rivets of elevator with Bondo.
12. START ON FUSELAGE!

Well, the past 3 weeks have been the longest that I haven't been able to work on the plane with any focus.  Kind of a bummer...

With the ongoing crisis at work and work related travel it's been difficult to focus on anything else.  Off to Austin tomorrow and back Thursday night, so I hope to get back to the plane on Friday and the weekend.

My goal is to finally fix the pitot air lines and fit and seal the tank by the end of next weekend.