Starboard Wing Nearly Ready for Closeout

I am at a good point to pause on building the starboard wing so that I can finish the fuel tank. I completed a quick task before switching gears though – I wanted to add some protection to the wire running through the lower stringer so that it doesn’t have the possibility of being frayed where it passes through the ribs. I bought some fancy edge grommet from Aircraft Spruce called Spring-Fast® Composite Grommet Edging. It’s much more expensive than nylon caterpillar edging, but it’s a better design that can stay in place without glue.

Adding in a small length of edging to the rib to protect the wire running through the channel
This is the other place I wanted the grommet to protect the wires for the landing lights
Front of the Kuntzleman LTR landing light

I did some of the preliminary work a few months ago so I am ready to start the stinky job of sealing the tank. I started with closing the tooling holes on the end ribs and adding the rivnuts to rib 101, which holds the cover for the fuel level sender. The instructions say to put on the AN-style fittings for the fuel pickup and return at this step, but they were a pain to work around when shooting the rivets into the ribs on the other fuel tank so I’ll install and seal the fittings later.

Lightly sanded the areas where sealant will be applied. I also had to enlarge the holes for the fuel pickup and return fittings – 9/16” and 7/16”, respectively. The SEM Solve stuff I use for cleaning the metal before priming is also a great degreaser to use before sealing
Everything I will need is within reach
Mixing up a small batch (33g) of sealant, which is more than enough to fill a 10mL syringe
This stuff is really stinky – respirator needed!
I applied a small bead of sealant to go between the rib and this flange plate. The holes in the plate were not drilled to the proper size for the 4mm rivnuts, so I used a step drill to open them up to 7/32”, and then a 6mm drill to get the final size.
Finished product

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