Section: 24
Hours: 5

I spend some time researching how to install the nav antenna in the wing tip. It should be strongly electrically bonded to the wing skin. I decided to rivet it to the piano hinge which will provide a good connection to the skin. Apparently it is best to place the antenna further forward, but I was worried about getting it too close to the nav and strobe lights at the front.

Here is the wing tip with the piano hinge riveted in place. I had some trouble getting the hinge to seat flat to the fiberglass which I solved by using the rubber washer trick- I put the rubber washer on the back of the rivet before squeezing it. The washer pushes the piano hinge into the fiberglass as the squeezer closes the rivet.

Section: 24
Hours: 4

I trial fitted the wing tip and adjusted and labeled the piano wire hinges.

Then I riveted the piano hinges to the wing tip. Here it is mounted on the wing- fit looks great!

Section: 24
Hours: 4

I counter sank the holes for the flush rivets in the wing tip. Lots of holes...

Then I fabricated a keeper for the piano hinge wires using 2 small sections of hinge double flush riveted together. I added a nut plate to the back of the wing tip rib for the screw to hold the keeper in place.

Here are the wing ends with the piano hinges riveted in place.

Section: 19
Hours: 2

I pulled out the 22 ga wiring I had installed for the tip lights and replaced it with a 3 wire 18 ga shielded pair and wired in the connector. Now all the wires for the tip lights are included in this bundle with shielding and I won't be using any part of the factory supplied wire harness for the tip lights. Much cleaner and hopefully this will cut down on any electrical noise interfering with the magnetometer which is located further in on the wing.

Section: 20
Hours: 2

I finished up the bottom wing skin riveting. One of the more difficult parts of doing all the blind riveting in these skins is holding the bucking bar at the correct angle to get a good shop head. Since you can't see the bucking bar inside the wing, everything must be done by feel. I found the easiest to use bar is the one in the picture below. I has a nice foot that can be placed on the adjacent structure to help hold the face 90 degrees to the rivet. It was easy to feel when the foot is flat against the structure thus ensuring a good alignment on the rivet.  For riveting the line of rivets to the main spar flange, I added a wood spacer to raise the face above the bottom line of rivets which had already been set.

I also used my tungsten bar. I taped on a spacer shim to the end of the bar (top right edge of bar in picture) to help keep it level against the rivets. I rested the shim on the wing skin and placed the opposite end over the rivet. When the shim was resting flat on the skin I knew the bar was perpendicular to the rivet. The thickness of the shim is about the height to the top of the finished rivet shop head from the skin.

Woody was moral support through the last couple days and he is really glad I'm done with this task.

Section: 24
Hours: 4

I spent the remainder of the day riveting the wing tip piano hinges to the wing.

Section: 24
Hours 5

The rib that is inserted in the fiberglass wing tips must be reversed to make the hinge pins accessible. Also, the top flange has to be modified to accommodate the overlap with the hinge. I cut off a section of the flange and riveted on an offset flange as shown below.

Here are the 1/8 inch spacers and the new flange angle. I dimpled the rib and counter sank the top spacer. The new flange angle is also offset by the thickness of the hinge from the rest of the rib flange.

Section: smoke tank
Hours: 1

I am looking forward to formation flying with the RV-14. Of course you need a smoke oil system if you are serious about formation flying. I ordered a smoke oil tank from Merv at smoke system helper I figured it would take several weeks to build and ship out, but it appeared on my door step today less than a week after ordering it! The kit seems very complete including plumbing and wiring supplies.

Section: 24
Hours: 5

I decided to attach the wing tips using the hinge method. The advantages of this method are that it makes it easy to detach the wing tips for inspection and maintenance. I also like the cleaner look. The downside is that it is a lot of work to drill all the holes, detach the flange and rivet it all together. Here is an article detailing the method: wing tip hinges and here: attaching wingtips