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Larry Winger's 601XL Project
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Date: 10-29-2007
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Number of Hours: 4.25
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Manual Reference: 6-LLO-1-2 and 6
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Brief Description: Made landing light lenses and riblets
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Last night I tried to make my landing light lenses with .093" Lexan and had an extended "learning experience" with polycarbonates. I started out trying to get it to follow the shape of my wing, but it was just too thick. I ended up bending it free-form, which meant that at the end of the day I had two barely passable lenses. Today I took a different approach by changing materials and methods. I shifted over to .080" plexiglass (acrylic) and decided to make a form out of two old nose rib forms that got replaced. While the form was crudely made, it indeed followed the contour of the rib forms, giving me the basic shape I needed. I marked the middle of the bend line on the edges of the plexiglass, propped it in place, and applied over 800 degree heat to the material. Within a few minutes of constantly moving the heat gun, the material began to sag. When I needed to put pressure on the plexiglass, I used a large sheet of felt that was perfect for the task. I'm quite pleased with the results, and the good news is that I have the form so I can make more at any time if these get scratched or broken. I also made the landing light filler riblets. The plans are none to specific on the angle and placement of the back line, but I was able to figure it out through a series of measurements on the leading edge. The came out very well. At the end of the eveing, I couldn't resist testing my new lens with my AeroLEDs AeroSun 1600 landing/recognition lights. I'm putting one in each wing, hence the need for two lenses, two riblets, etc.
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Acrylic landing light lens
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My "lunch box" lens form and supplies
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The riblets and lenses
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