October 1, 2006 - Stuff in Wings

I haven't worked on the wing in over a year.   I hadn't riveted the bottom skins on because I wanted to install a wing leveler.  The wing leveler servo is now installed so I'm working on finishing up the wings so I can rivet the bottom skins, so I can mount the wings to the fuse. 

First I installed the aluminum tubing in the left wing for the pitot system.  I borrowed a flaring tool from Bruce, practiced a bit with it, then flared the end of the tube below.  It came out fine.  I removed the bellcrank assembly beforehand so I could get the flaring tool in there.
Using a tube bending tool, I bent the tube 90 degrees so I could attach the tube end to the fitting mounted on the spar flange.  My bend was in the wrong spot because the tube end was short of the fitting. I didn't want to bend the thing back so I cut the tube, flared the new end, and bent it again.  It came out OK the second time. 
I then turned my attention to the resistance (float) senders.  Because I my fuel tanks were pre-built, I didn't have the option to buy the capacitive senders.  With the float senders, I had to bend and cut the float wire according to the drawing that came with the senders.  No big deal. 
The wire just snaps into the sender unit.  Then I trial-fitted the sender unit into the tank and made sure the float could swing freely.  Everything seemed OK and correlated to the drawing.  We'll see what happens when the wires are attached and fuel is in the tank.  It's got to work better than the pathetic fuel gauge we have in the Citabria. 

I ordered some ProSeal from Vans.  Once I get that, I'll proseal the sender unit to the tank plate, and the plate to the tank, and then do a pressure check.
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