The fiberglass composite wingtips are needing a lot of rework. I don’t really believe it was intended be this way. What’s a simple amateur home-builder supposed to think?
The biggest area needing attention seems to be where the inside trailing edge of the wingtip is supposed to fit into the narrow skin at the tip of the wing. Several issues are being dealt with. Overall length is too long – by about 2cm (almost 1/2 inch). And, the fiberglass structure doesn’t match the contour of the wing profile near the TE. The taper of the fiberglass needs to become quite narrow. Plus – it’s all got to look pleasing and with and both wingtips ending up to be nicely matched – both aesthetically and aerodynamically.
I’ve decided that some sort of struts are needed to help the wingtips fit the contour of the wing. The kit instructions indicate that the wingtips are just match drilled and riveted. But, just letting the rivets pull the fiberglass shape seems like it’s going to lead to unwanted waviness from dips between the rivets. I fabricated simple struts to take some of the tension load off of the rivets. We’ll see how that goes.
I’m making progress, little by little – but it’s slow. Rework involves epoxy and with winter temperatures, each cycle needs a full 24 hours or more to cure. There’s plenty of sanding and shaping to do. Check fit. Then repeat.
I expect building an airplane to take some work, so I’m not going to complain too loudly. I fill terrifically privileged to be doing this project.