Wing Tapes Done

It was a beautiful day today.  I finished pruning the fruit trees in the morning and then spent the rest of the day working on the last tapes on the wings.

 The aileron push rods on the lower wings have simple metal covers screwed to the wing.  The screw plates were made form .025" aluminum and glued to the fabric with Poly-Tak cement.  I covered them with 2" tapes.

 For the sharp curves on the wing tips I needed some 3" bias cut tapes.  Because they are cut on the bias, 45 degrees to the warp and weft, they stretch when you pull on them so that they fit tight around a curve.

I have a large cutting board with a nice bias cut line.  I used my 1 meter straight edge and Fiskars pinking cutter to make the strips of tape.  The straight edge is, conveniently, 3" wide.

 On the upper wings I started with the aft corner.  I stuck it to a straight section of the tip tube with Poly-Brush and let it dry so I could pull it tight to fit the curve.  I started where I did because it's easier to clamp it to the trailing edge while the rest of it dries after pulling it.

 While the aft corner dries I used a piece of regular 3" tape to cover the straight section of the tube.  I could have heat formed the tape to a smooth fit on the lower surface but it's quicker and easier to snip it about every 3" with the pinking shears.  I'm after a WWI look not an Oshkosh award winner.

 Once the center tape dried the forward corner was done with 3" bias tape.  I started on the tip tube again, let it dry, and the pulled it around the leading edge.   One disadvantage of bias tapes is that when you pull them to fit the curve they get narrower, oh well.

All the tapes and patches are on.  The next task is to glue on all the drain grommets.  After that some more Poly-Brush and then they'll be ready for Poly-Spray.  The aluminum powder in the Poly-Spray blocks the sun's ultra-violet ray to protect the fabric.

They really look like wings and the next several days are forecast to be perfect to keep working.