This morning I started out by marking and cutting the wing spar slots in the side skins. The directions are very clear as to how to mark the skins so there is a left and a right skin. The old adage of "measure twice and cut once" certainly applies here. I placed the skins on a work table in the orientation shown on the drawings. I proceeded to mark the side skins and cut out the spar slots.I attached the right skin to the fuselage and everything fit just as it should.
I then attached the other skin to the left side and discovered it was cut exactly like the previous skin. It was cut for the right wing spar. Much to my chagrin, I discovered I cut 2-right skins. On the left skin I had cut on the wrong side of the factory layout opening. Bummer!!!
I took the skin off and laid out the cut correctly. Now the opening on the left side is twice as wide as it should be. I have determined that after the left longeron has been drilled and everything fits properly I will install a patch on the inside of the left skin to reduce the size of the opening. I will use a back-up piece of aluminum and install the piece of skin that was cut our originally. I will fill the gap with Bondo so when the airplane is painted the patch will disappear. What a huge disappointment!
All was not lost however. I did manage to prep, prime and install 2-corner gussets on the forward bulkhead channels. I guess I am not totally useless.
