After work, I finished up on the W-423 joint plate (leading edge side) and drilled the inboard leading edge rib, the joint plate, and the skin all to size #40.  Working on this left wing joint plate was so much easier than I remember it being on the right wing.  I set this puppy in there, took numerous measurements, drilled, checked new hole on rib, and drilled again.  Wham, bam, thank-you maam...  The joint plate was drilled and clecoed in place in about 15 minutes.

Just an view of the inboard side of the leading edge.  I think that the joint plate and inboard rib turned out better on this second wing than on the first.  It definitely went faster....  WooHoo!!!

Now, the first of the dreaded tank fabrication tasks.  The "Z-BRACKETS".  I reviewed my log entries I made for the right wing so I remember what I did and what I WISHED I DID.  The one thing I did differently is that when I measured the center of the z-bracket, I measured from the inboard side of the bracket in order to account for the thickness of the bracket web.

Detailed Log Entry on Fabricating Z-Brackets: http://homepage.mac.com/tamoell/airplane/wings/wings04_18_04.htm

My drill press has a tendency to "wander" and results in inconsistent location of the holes drilled in aluminum.  Yeah, this cheap drill press is okay for wood working, but not for drilling plane parts.  In order to get a more consistent drilling location, I clamped blocks to the drill press table.  I wished I had a 'X - Y' adjustable clamp (next time I go to Harbor Freight).  To further enhance the accuracy of the drill press, I used a spring loaded center punch to start the hole.

Yeah, I know, this is some basic stuff.  For the life of me, I don't remember doing this on the first wing and I couldn't find any mention of it in my log entries for the other wing.  Anyway.... the holes on the z-brackets this time around came out great.

After drilling the one #12 hole on one side of the z-bracket flange, I used some scrap bolts and nuts I used on the right wing to secure the z-brackets to the main spar.

I am going to start flying again to work towards my PPL.  The one thing I don't want to do is have this RV-7 done and not be qualified to fly it when I get my airworthiness certificate.  Therefore, I bought some pilot supplies from Sporty's the other day using my AOPA benefits/credit card (gotta get that 5% discount you know).  I ordered up to date sectional charts and current regional airport / facility directory.  The fun thing I ordered was a set of Lightspeed Aviation 30-3G ANR headsets.  Taking lessons from a rented airplane, I never have had a chance to use a good headset.  Usually it is some run down headset that I can't hear anything with or the mike won't stay in place.  This combination makes it real hard to hear or talk to anyone.

I can't begin to tell you how much I wanted to spring for the BOSE headsets, but at a $1,000 a set they were out of the question this time around.  The Lighspeed headsets are fairly expensive and are still only half the price of the BOSE headsets.

The one thing I noted on the headset is that they are mainly plastic.  I had done a lot of reading on headsets before deciding to go with these.  Since I am pretty careful with my stuff, I am not to concerned about breaking anything.  The reviews said that they felt cheap, but held up AND worked well.

The Lightspeed headsets have an auxiliary input where you can plug in a external audio source (iPod) or a cell phone.  So tonight I spent a good part of the night running around the house listening to the iPod and checking to see if my cell phone would work with the headset.  (I am not going to go into the FCC violations you would incur if you used your cell phone in flight.  Hey, in an emergency, screw the FCC rules).  Anyway, they don't sound to bad when listening to music or talking on the phone.  The audio quality is not as good as what you would get from a set of real audio headphones, but regular headphones don't have active noise reduction.  HeHe!!!

Sidebar>>  Today the heat index was over 100 degrees out.  The garage was a cool 72 degrees and very comfortable to work in.  By getting the Lightspeed headsets, the $500 I saved by not going with the Bose, paid for 1/3 of that air conditioner.  That air conditioner (heat pump) has been the best money I have spent on the project so far and is only slightly behind the value of the pneumatic squeezer.