Friday, July 22, 2016

Brake Fitting Replaced & Instillation Of W-1222 Wingtip Extensions Begins

Despite getting a late start at the hangar yesterday, was able to get a couple of things done. The new brake 90 degree brake fittings arrived so the first task of the work session was to install the fitting onto the co-pilot’s master cylinder. I’m pretty sure I could have used the old fitting but because I was really torqueing on it to attempt to get the last 180 degrees necessary decided it best to just try another fitting. Along with the new fitting decided to use a medium bodied thread sealant that has been recommended as being a good product for this task called TiteSeal. It is available in both a light weight and medium weight formulation … for this task the medium weight formulation was chosen.
TiteSeal medium weight sealant compound. Far as I know, this 1 lb can is the smallest quantity that can be purchased … enough for the entire RV-12 fleet many times over.


Between replacing the fitting and using the TiteSeal, hopefully the leaking at the master cylinder will be cured … time will tell. Moving on, went to work on fitting the W-1222 wingtip extensions onto the RV-12’s wings. The fitting process for the W-1222 extensions begins with drilling four #30 holes through the fiberglass and into the W-1204E wingtip ribs. The W-1222 wingtip extensions were placed on the outboard edges of the wings and the two forward and two aft holes for the extensions are #30 drilled into the F-1204E wingtip ribs. The hole locations are marked on the fiberglass as tiny dimples to set the drill bit on. After the four holes are drilled, the extension is removed for deburring and then Clecoed back in place so the lower flange on the W-1222 extension can be drilled into the W-1204D closeout skin.
After positioning the F-1222-R wingtip extension on the right wing and securing it with tape, the two leasing and two aft hole locations marked on the F-1222 extensions are #30 drilled into the W-1204E wingtip ribs.
Completed drilling of the F-1222R wingtip extension.


Looking at the above photo where the flat mounting surface is one can see there a large span with no rivet holes drilled at this time … this is because there is a void behind the fiberglass that will require filling with a resin/flox mixture. After the flox hardens the remaining two rivet holes will be drilled but the process requires flipping the wings over so will need some ground crew assistance for that.