Both the clip wing and long wing with fiberglass tips will come from QC with the aileron unfinished at the outer end. Measuring and finishing the outer end of both Ailerons will be required. Further, the fiberglass tips are only available for the CII plane right now. If you order a CI kit it will come with standard factory bow tips, fabric covered, for either clip wing or long wing, and finished ailerons.
Ernie will be installing the four (4) hinges per Aileron as specified by the factory.
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With the wing on a flat surface, bottom down, cut and fit the aileron. Start by setting the inner end of the aileron torque tube 1.5" in from the wing spar end. Allow the unfinished outer aileron ends to rest on top of the fiberglass tip trailing edge. Double check that the aileron tube, control horn end, is sitting at the 1.5" setback spot, then mark the outer ends for where you will cut them off. Try for 1/8" clearance with the fiberglass tip. Note: you can always cut or grind more off the outer ends, but you can't add anything back if you cut them with a lot of clearance. |
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The cutoff aileron section will now lay down flat behind the wing spar. If you are satisfied, rivet the outer last rib in position. With the aileron just sitting there, decide where you will place the 4 hinges so as not to interfere with anything on the wing spar or the aileron ribs, and mark those locations for the hinges on the wing spar, but don't mark the aileron tube yet. |
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According to the manual, the pins through the two halves of the piano hinges should lie on a line slightly above the center of the trailing edge spar of the wing. A line is drawn 1/8" above center or even with the top of the of the 1/4" mounting hole for the Rony bracket, located at the inboard end of the wing spar. |
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The drawing to the LEFT is from the Challenger Builders Manual, page #13. This shows the factory recommendation for mounting the aileron hinges. |
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Prop up the rear edge of the aileron with a wedge and check the surface alignment with a straightedge placed on the wing ribs at various locations. Adjust the aileron position at the clamped hinges until the straight edge coming down off the wing shows the aileron top surface to be almost level with it. Then mark the aileron hinges on the the aileron torque tube for drilling.
SPECIAL NOTE: When drilling for the rivets, make sure you arrange the rivets on each side of the hinge so that they don't hit each other when the hinge is folded upward. There is not all that much travel available on those hinges to start with, and if you put the rivets directly opposite each other, the rivet heads on one side of the hinge will hit the rivet heads on the other side of the hinge, which will result in less hinge travel.
The instructions mention this, but it needs to be emphasized. Making an error with those hinge rivets is not correctable after the holes are drilled in the spar and aileron tube. All you can do then is "dope slap" yourself for not paying attention.
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Put one aluminum rivet in each end of the hinge on the aileron tube now. You can then check the aileron for up and down movement, and drill all the rest of the hinge holes at this time, but don't place any more rivets in the holes. The aileron can be removed by just drilling out the 2 aluminum rivets you had placed on each hinge side. |
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NOTE: The inboard hinge next to the aileron horn gets 8 rivets per side, for a total of 16 per hinge. The 3 outboard hinges only get 4 rivets per side, total of 8 per hinge.
Once you have finished drilling all the remaining rivet holes in all four (4) hinges, mark each hinge with an identifying letter or number you will remember later when you eventually rivet the hinges on permanently. Now, remove all the temporary rivets and put your hinges away till they are needed later.
Repeat this process for the other wing.
That's it; you are finished setting the hinges for the ailerons.
NOTE: For the removal of rivets, see our web page on, Removing a Rivet. Also available at the bottom of our "FEATURED BUILD PROJECT" drop down menu.
When you put the aileron back in position for final mounting, after covering, you will use short stainless steel rivets on the aileron tube, and long stainless steel rivets on the wing spar side.
We will now move onto "Fuel Tank Holder & Placement in Fuselage".
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