16 - Top Wing Skins (right side riveting started); 17 - Outboard Leading Edge (right side, riveted top skin-to-ribs); 21 - Flaps (Finished right flap)

It is amazing how a major deadline (pending fuselage kit delivery in a few weeks!) can help me focus and knock out tasks on multiple projects.  Lots of small but important tasks were accomplished this past week, in just about every available minute.  The kids and wife saw very little of me, because I completed the following:

- countersunk holes in right rear wing spar corresponding to doublers; deburred edges and holes; shaved wing skin mating areas on forward part of outboard and inboard skins; dimpled all holes in inboard and outboard top skins; primed shaved skin mating areas; clecoed wing walk doublers and inboard and outboard top skins to wing assembly; deburred & dimpled j-stiffeners
- Left and Right flaps: attached trailing edge with 3M VHB tape; clecoed trailing edge and ribs; riveted trailing edge (squeezed); riveted bottom skin to ribs; attached flap to wing (temporary, left side only)
- right leading edge:  7 leading-edge ribs: straightened flanges, fluted flanges, deburred edges and tips, final-drilled #40 and #30 holes; deburred holes in 7 leading-edge ribs; dimpled flange holes; deburred, final drilled and dimpled splice strip; clecoed 7 ribs into the leading edge skin; match-drilled, deburred, dimpled j-stiffener
- Riveted right top skins to 9 ribs (200 rivets, with wife using back-bucking bar)
- Dimpled right leading edge skin; masked and scuffed area for black matte paint (light well/bay)
scuffed, cleaned and primed 7 ribs, mounting bracket for landing light, and mounting wedges for light lens, and skin; primed and painted black all areas visible in landing light bay; riveted nutplates to splice strips, mounting bracket and mounting wedges. Note that Van's doesn't supply enough K1100-08D nutplates, but way too many K1100-08 nutplates ... I guess I just have to dimple the #40 holes in the latter (which I did, and which were not a big issue).
- clecoed 7 ribs and splice strip to leading edge skin (right); riveted all top rivets and aft 3-most bottom rivets on all ribs

Primed shaved skins on inboard top skins (forward overlapped parts):

Section 21 - Flaps (nearly finished right flap); Section 13 - Main Spar (finished right main spar); Section 14 - Wing Ribs (right wing ribs well underway)

Good progress was made this past week, even with taking a few days for a nice vacation and birthday celebration with my in-laws. A few details below (this post is short due to time constraints):

Riveted top skin to spar and ribs (right flap):

Section 21 - Flaps (almost finished left flap; midway through right flap)

It was all flaps, all week long. I nearly finished the left flap (waiting for a squeezer set from Cleaveland Tool for the trailing edge) and am midway through the right flap.  The hardest part of the flaps is riveting the bottom skin to the spar, but after I figured out how to position the tungsten bucking bar, it wasn't too bad. I checked and confirmed that the twist between the two brackets was <0.1deg using an iPhone digital leveling app.  If Paul Dye uses an iPhone to level parts, I figured it would be a safe way to do it.

Countersunk the inboard and outboard trailing edges for the left flap:

Section 20 - Bottom Wing Skins (riveted inboard lower skin); Section 21 - Flaps (prepped skins; drilled wedge, nose ribs, hinge brackets); Section 23 - Aileron Actuation (finished torque tube and pushrods)

Good progress this week, especially considering I spent much of it slowly riveting the inboard lower skin to the wing (and did that entire skin without assistance from a bucking partner). I bought a new 1.5lb tungsten bar that fits in tight spaces far better than my larger tungsten bar, which aided the process considerably.  Of course, there was a learning curve - for example, if the bucking bar doesn't feel right, don't just pull the trigger (i.e., I made a couple slight dings). Likewise, I started this process with the gun air pressure way too high, and soon dialed it back down after a few rivets. Overall, the lower skins are a real pain in the ass - you work for every rivet by stretching, figuring out how to bend the skin some (but not too much) in order to reach ... not a fun process, but a decent learning experience.  The rest of the week included finishing the left torque tube, the left bellcrank-to-aileron pushrod, and making good progress on the left flap. Details follow:

Riveted the threaded rod end to the internally primed steel tube by sloooowly squeezing the -11 (!) rivets with the Cleaveland Tool Main Squeeze manual squeezer.  These long rivets wanted to lean over, so I had to adjust the angle several times:

Section 20 - Bottom Wing Skins (prepped lower skins; wired/plumbed pitot/AOA); Section 21 - Flaps (both skeletons/assemblies); Section 23 - Aileron Actuation (2 pushrods, left bellcrank, torque tube subs)

I got a ton accomplished this past ~week:

1) riveted nutplates to Gretz mount; started and finished tubing and wiring Garmin GAP-26 heated Pitot/AOA (had to enlarge 8 holes to fit SB500-6 snap bushings)
2) Fabricated left torque tube to bellcrank pushrod; installed left aileron bellcrank upside down)
3) reinstalled left aileron bellcrank correctly; fabricated torque tube subassemblies (CS-00009 and WD-1014)
4) BOTH sides - fabricated flap/aileron cradle; drilled hinge brackets; rod-end rib subassembly (drilled, deburred); hinge pair rib subassembly (drilled, deburred); cut tabs on ribs
5) BOTH sides - deburred all ribs (edges/holes); deburred spars; attached main and nose ribs and hinge assemblies to spars; fabricated trailing edge wedges (VA-140); assembled flap skeletons
6) used new die grinder and cutoff wheel to cut aileron to bellcrank pushrod and torque tube collar; drilled pushrod, match-drilled threaded rod ends, deburred pushrod and rod ends, primed inside of pushrod.

Importantly, Ken B., a fellow RV-14A builder and experienced RV mentor, was kind enough to drive an hour each way to visit my project and check my work ... and (as always) he let me ask him a bunch of questions.  Thanks again, Ken!!!  It's nice to know that I can "build on" rather than have to redo anything major :)

Finished fabricating the Gretz pitot mount (riveted nutplates, and checked install on wing):