Wing: Ribs, Leading and Trailing Edges

The weather has driven the project indoors, so the work tables have been placed and leveled, and work continues on the lower center wing section.

Wide-angle view of the shop area.

The ribs are temporarily removed while the trailing edge framework is fabricated.

After the ribs are bound in place with epoxy resin and fiberglass, the leading edge foam panels are fitted and epoxied. Some cutouts are made to accommodate strut channels.

Some epoxy and micro-balloon filler on the underside helps reinforce the panels.

A Surform plane makes quick work of the foam, matching the contour of the ribs.

Next, the trailing edge foam is fitted and epoxied into place.

The wing section is flipped over now, elevated, and the epoxy resin and fiberglass strips applied.

Vinyl spackling is applied to fill in voids then sanded with an open mesh cloth - typically used by drywallers for smoothing dried joint compound. The center third is coated with epoxy resin. The resin should resist any potential fuel spill, since the tank will be sitting on the top of the wing (near the cross bracing seen above). If a solvent-based wing covering adhesive is to be used, the entire length would be coated. In this case, water-based Stewart Systems is anticipated, so Zinsser 1-2-3 was used on the outboard sections.