It was going to be a few days before Tim was available to help with more Proseal fun on the Right Tank, so I decided to leap ahead to Section 20 and get the Flap & Aileron Gap Fairings done. Got to keep this project moving! : )

After all the Proseal it was a pleasure to deburr! Well alright, nearly a pleasure.

After the usual scuffing and degreasing I sprayed the components in an afternoon. I actually prepared and sprayed the Fuselage Service Bulletin 18-09-17 parts as well, but I’ll write a separate post about that when the parts are riveted in place.

The inboard end of the Flap Fairing has a stiffener attached prior to installation. It’s not that obvious from the manual which way round this fits, but after zooming in on a PDF version of the manual I decided this was the way to go.

As always, some JC5A on the faying surfaces.

I squeezed the -4 rivets with the wing resting on its top surface. To save time reseting the squeezer gap, I did all similar size rivets on each wing.

Then I flipped the wings over to squeeze the 426-3 rivets on the top skin.

Tricky Rivet!

There are 2 rivets per wing which need a rivet gun due to restricted access near the inboard aileron hinge … see the two unset shop heads in this picture.

One of them, adjacent to the Wing Service Bulletin, is very awkward indeed … I’ve not decided yet how to set this fellow!

It’s very impressive how well Vans make all the parts fit … look at the fairing contour around the aileron hinge : )