The next step was running the aileron cables and pulleys.  There was no information in the plans as to the location of the pulleys on the front spar; only limited drawings of the rear spar pulley.  Gathering info for the pulleys proved to be very frustrating.  I tried many locations and gathered pictures from other builders before finally coming up with this set up.  I used 3/16″ poly rope to simulate the 1/4″ cable that will be used in the final installation.  The difficulty was making sure the cables did not very more than 5 degrees off the plane of the pulley.  I fabricated a bracket with a slight bend to angle the upper pulley and that achieved the correct angle so the cables would run correctly.  The picture below shows the final set up followed by close ups and different angles.

The next two shots are of the bracket I made to angle the upper pulley on the front spar.  I used .090 4130 to make sure the cable tension would not deflect the bracket.

 

 

The following are some other shots showing various angles of the pulleys and the run of the cables.

   

This next picture is a view from the top of the front spar looking down.

 

Side view from inside the wing next to the “N” compression strut.

This shot shows the rear pulley over the rear spar; the cable clears the spar through the full range of the aileron.

The next step was to make the aileron stop bracket.  I first made a stock aileron stop but that didn’t work with the aileron horn that I made for the wood aileron.  I decided to make one that was easily removed with two AN3 bonts and flat brackets rather than the 1/2″ tubes as shown in the plans.  The new design worked out well to establish the 17 degrees of travel up and down for the aileron.

 

Finished aileron stop without the aileron installed:

View from the underside with the aileron installed and the lower stop ground to match aileron horn.

 

Top side view of the stop with the aileron installed:

This brings me up to date on my wings.  The next step will be to build up the second wing to this same point.  The second wing is currently hanging from the ceiling.  I will need to build the second flap and aileron (parts all ready to assemble) and to install the hangers and other hardware.  This should go pretty quickly as all the parts are made but more importantly I don’t have any R&D to do on the second wing.  My next new step will be to fabricate the fuel tank and mounting hardware so I can then cover the leading edge of the wing with ply to finish out the wings.  Getting closer every day!  

 

The next logical step on my wing was the false spar/aileron cove.  I first test fitted a piece of metal cove and realized it would not fit well so I decided to make a wood cove by laminating two pieces of 1/16″ ply to match the end profile of the ribs.  I made a jig using particle board to laminate the cove.  Laminating was very easy using epoxy resin to bond the surfaces together.  When removed from the jig there was no spring back and the cove fit perfectly.  I was concerned about how the cove would react under the pressure of the covering material so I made a test box representing the wing aft of the rear spar between two ribs.  My first covering showed a lot of bowing on the cove so I removed the cover and added a top edge of 1/16″ ply to the cove and re-covered the test box.  The results were much better.  I still had some scalloping of the edge so I decided to make reinforcements for the cove similar to the ones used by Piper.  I used the Piper drawing to fabricate a similar part out of wood and installed after the cove was glued in place.  I followed that with a edge blocking for the final top ply edge.  The cove came out very nice.  I still have to add the bottom edge but will wait until the wing is flipped over when working on the fuel tank bay.

Below is a picture of the trial fit of the metal false spar/cove.  Not a very good fit at all.

Next, the jig and fabrication of the coves.  This step was surprisingly easy.

 

Here is a test fit of the finished cove.

            

Next is the test box I used to see how the cove reacted under pressure from covering without any top edge.  It did not turn out well with out the top edge.

  

The second time around I added a rig across the middle so I can practice rib stitching after I cover the box a second time.

I decided to make a wood reinforcement as per the Piper drawings to help with distortion of the cove.  I installed the pieces between each rib bay.

 

 

Lastly I glued on a blocking edge of spruce along the top edge of the cove followed by the 1/16″ top ply edge.  All in all I am very pleased with the outcome of the cove.  I tested the wood cove against the metal to compare weight and the wood was lighter by about 20%.  Cost for the wood cove for both wings was about $40 compared to about $300 for metal. 

       

Next step is installing the cables and pulleys; a major head ache for sure!

 

 

Wow!  I didn’t realize I hadn’t updated since last April; way too long.  I’ll try to make some sense out of what I have done over the last 6 months.  I have had a lot of stops and starts and frustrations with the recient steps but am moving forward again.  So here we go.

First I completed the hardware for the flap actuator.  Second, I purchased pulleys with bearing for the for the aileron cables and made cages and guards. Third I made a wood cove for the false spar.  Next I worked on the proper location for the aileron pulleys and cables; nothing in the plans for this.  In the middle of all this I found a set of lift struts for my wings and figured out how to inspect the inside for any corrosion.

Flap Hardware:  I thought the flaps would be difficult to add to the wing as they are not “stock” on the 2+2.  As it turned out, I simply followed the Super Cub drawings and used or made stock parts.  I did locate the hinges different so the bell crank would not have to mount where the wing attachment plates are fitted to the spar.  Basically I used a left flap on the right wing and a right flap on the left wing.  The correct hardware is located appropriately.  To make this work custom flaps need to be made.  My wood flaps were made to fit this mod.  Below is the drawing that I used to locate all the parts for the flaps.

 

As I laid out the parts on the spar I realized I had to redesign the hanger to clear the bell crank.  Not a big deal; I redrew the hanger using cad and adjusted the jig and rewelded the hanger as per the new design.  The new design is below.

 

After installing the new hanger I installed the stock bell crank and hanger along with the push rod made to stock specifications.  The spring I used to test everything came from Home Depot but was latter replaced by the stock spring for the Super Cub.

The next picture shows the details of the flap bell crank stop.  This keeps the bell crank from hitting the spar.  The stop is shown on the first drawing but is hard to see at first glance.

The picture below is the finished hardware installed after painting.  The flap moves down very smoothly and retracts and stops in the full up position.   Final adjustment is made bu changing the length of the push rod.

 

Next is fabrication of the pulley hangers and cages.  If I were to do this over again I would purchase them rather than make them.  The time spent making all the parts was way too much.  The cost is rather high for each part but I have realized that to finish the plane I need to start moving forward at a faster pace and not fabricate every part.  Below are some pictures of the fabrication of the parts:

 

 

 

 

I spent about 40 hours making all the pulley hangers and cages.  Cost would have been about $400.  Don’t make them your self!  Buy the darn things!!!!

Next I’ll show the wood cove false spar build up.