Covering the top

First thing of the day; attach the bottom fabric at the wing root to the butt rib. Then, trim excess fabric, clean up excess dope, add more dope where there wasn't enough before and rework the fabric til it becomes flexible and lays down.




Then, we flipped the wing over once the dope was all dry. Checking the aileron clearance again, as there's one more layer of fabric, then the paint still to go. Found one problem issue by outer hinge bracket, fixed it.



Once that was done, I snapped a chalk line and rolled out the fabric. Manipulating a 17-1/2 foot by 5 foot peice of fabric to be exactly right was hard enough I settled for being within 1/4inch of aligned all the way down the wing. By the end of the day, the leading edge & trailing edge were done. The aileron cove, bow, and butt rib are still to go, with the aileron cove fabric cut and trimmed for doping tomorrow.



While you do not need a respirator in a well-ventilated hangar to trace edges, mark allowances, cut and trim fabric, position clothespins, and inspect prior doping, this doesn't mean that the residual fumes don't get to you. Or maybe they won't to you, Dear Reader, but they do to me. It was a short day, all told, and I still feel utterly exhausted.