Fuel Tank Sealing

Up until now, I have been approaching the fuel tanks in small bites, hoping that they would just magically construct themselves.

I am happy to announce:  I officially jumped into the pool this weekend. I had decided to use the individual proseal canisters (3.5 OZ available at Aircraft Spruce).  Tom Martin on the VAF divided the job up nicely into seven sessions. That was great for me, because it clearly identified the work, and defined the milestones.

The problem is: You need to work fast once you mix the canister. It gives you around two hours of time before the proseal starts to get more difficult to work with.  I ended session#1 with only the stiffeners done on the left tank, and the fittings done on the end ribs. Some of the rivets are not the best on the fittings and I am debating drilling them out but for now they will stay the way they are. So it looks like this will be eight sessions at the minimum.

But I am getting ahead of myself here.

The fuel tank sealant in my opinion is as bad as everyone says, and in a sense easier. It gets everywhere you don't want it to get. That is not because it flows, but because it sticks to your glove, or your person, and then transfers on to another surface. I also made the rookie mistake of putting too much on, so when I put the parts together it squeezes out and gets everywhere.

I chose not to use the partial cure method that I see on the forums. I think that wet riveting will bring the parts together while the seal is still wet and get the parts as close as possible. I can see that this will be a mess once I start the ribs.

While it is a messy situation, one relief is that once you put the sealant on, it does not drip or move anywhere. It is the consistency of molasses, maybe even thicker.

More updates as I work through the tanks. The replacement parts for the aileron arrived as well. I am going to build a third one as the removal of the rivets in the trailing edge did not go well.