Left flap pulley fix

Many hours were spent fixing the alignment problem with the left flap pulley.  We originally planned on building all new parts, and even carefully bent some steel in order to have the new base match the radius of the spar (see picture below).  However, after more thought on the matter, we decided to salvage the base from the original pulley bracket because it had already been drilled (as it was previously riveted) to the spar.  So by reusing that piece of the bracket, we didn't have to worry about precisely lining up 4 new holes with the ones already in the spar.

Michael is bending some steel around a pipe to set the radius

We created two new bracket arms (twice, because we cut the first set just a little too short).  Holes were drilled and reamed for the pulley bolt, and the parts were deburred.  Using a straight wire that has a 90 degree bend, we determined the correct alignment by lining up the pulley with the holes in the rib and the flap horn.

Ed cutting pulley bracket arms using a cut-off wheel

For the purposes of welding, a couple spacers were made out of steel to maintain the spacing between the arms, and then the pulley was replaced with the spacers.  We clamped the arm assembly to the base, and I then welded the bracket arms to the base with TIG, using ER80SD2 welding rod.

After everything cooled off, we tested alignment by putting it back on the spar (See image below).  It's a thing of beauty.  The bent rod shows that we now have good alignment from the hole in the rib, to the pulley, and then up to the flap horn.  Hours: 10

Bent rod showing good alignment of the newly welded pulley bracket