It’s the annual again and time flies when you’re having fun. Chica Chiquita celebrated her second anniversary with us having logged 75hrs flight time since last March and some 280 landings since I first met her March 2014. Last year we did major improvements firewall forward and the outcome was very satisfactory.
Two access holes in the lower right wing allowed tightening the anti-drag rods in that wing. This year I found the left lower wing inboard anti-drag wire a bit loose and had the foresight to make four covers last year so the process went quickly.
Now I’m saving the most problematic till last and here it is. The idler arm on the left wing for the aileron interconnect is slightly loose and in order to gain access to the rear of the spar and the nuts, I’ll have to cut a hole. I’m planning on using a small flat screwdriver to wedge in between the idler arm housing and bolt head and then using a long ¼”X 6” extension and a swivel with a socket to tighten the nuts. I’ll place the hole aft of the rear spar face about four inches and figure that way I can insert the socket and extended drive sideways through the hole. With the ¼” driver outside the hole, the extension should be in direct line with the nuts and the tightening action will not be dependent on hole size. Before I determine the size of the hole I’ll make a rudimentary mockup of the trailing edge out of cardboard and see if all this theory works J
I’ll patch the hole using the Poly-fiber system since that’s what was used on this Pitts.
Any suggestions that would eliminate making a hole or make this process easier would be welcome.
Cheers, Hans
Two access holes in the lower right wing allowed tightening the anti-drag rods in that wing. This year I found the left lower wing inboard anti-drag wire a bit loose and had the foresight to make four covers last year so the process went quickly.
Now I’m saving the most problematic till last and here it is. The idler arm on the left wing for the aileron interconnect is slightly loose and in order to gain access to the rear of the spar and the nuts, I’ll have to cut a hole. I’m planning on using a small flat screwdriver to wedge in between the idler arm housing and bolt head and then using a long ¼”X 6” extension and a swivel with a socket to tighten the nuts. I’ll place the hole aft of the rear spar face about four inches and figure that way I can insert the socket and extended drive sideways through the hole. With the ¼” driver outside the hole, the extension should be in direct line with the nuts and the tightening action will not be dependent on hole size. Before I determine the size of the hole I’ll make a rudimentary mockup of the trailing edge out of cardboard and see if all this theory works J
I’ll patch the hole using the Poly-fiber system since that’s what was used on this Pitts.
Any suggestions that would eliminate making a hole or make this process easier would be welcome.
Cheers, Hans
