N247BR

Final Painting - Wings

The fuselage is finally painted and it's time to move on to the wings and control surfaces.  The wings needed to be hung by their leading edge to provide a flag surface and access to both top and bottom at the same time.  I needed something that would hold the wings in position without getting in the way.  It had to hold the wing high enough to clear the floor with the wing tips extending down a couple of feet.  The answer was two sets of stands constructed from 4x4 posts, 2x4 base plate, some additional 2x4's and galvanized pipe fittings.  I originally thought I would have room to paint both wings and the other control surfaces in a single session but there just wasn't enough room to get everything in and have any kind of room to paint.
The paint stands are shown below with the wings hanging.  On the one end the stands were higher and I put a galvanized rod through the post and extended it into the running lights hole in the wing.  I was really worried about rather the stand would be sturdy enough and not tip over but the base leg extended far enough to eliminate any problems. The spar end used a 2x4 attached to the top which extended into the spar opening in the wing.  The wings proved to be very steady once mounted on the stands but it was a great deal of fun to get them up on the stands by myself.  Getting them down off the stands was also fun but easier than lifting them up.
	I also had room to paint the cowling top during the wing process but opted to waing for the lower cowling until the painting of the other control surfaces.  There just wasn't enough room to move around and handle the hoses with it in the way.
	One of the issues I encounterd during painting of the fuselage was the air filters that I was using were clogging before we could finish painting a single coat.  Even with 4 fans and double filters we were having problems.  So...I got online to McMaster Carr and order a box fulls of paint filters.  That stack of filters all fit in the short box they are in.  I used a double filter on each fan and we were able to complete the full painting session without clogging and without replacing the filters.  They seem to be as effective as the other filters but because of the expanded structure they didn't clog up.
	The final results of the wings and upper cowling can bee seen below.  The wings game out very well with only one minor problem between the landing light and the position lights.  A bubble formed under the paint about the size of a quarter.  I opened it up with a pin and it seemed to seal up.  Other than that, there were only minor flaws that I can live with.