Since I have one of the older Ziptip versions, Aveo has offered to replace my module with one that won't cause interference with the GTN's radio, so I removed those modules (which was pretty simple, but involved removing a pretty hard-to-reach screw) and shipped them to Aveo - we'll see how long they take to return those:
Position of the light module attachment screws, in a tight corner
Ziptip light modules after removal
For actually attaching the wingtips, I decided to use the hinge method, which is also described in Tim and Laura's, Mark's family part 1 / part 2, Justin's and Mouser's blogs, as well as a Kitplanes article, using the extruded hinges (MS20001P4) from Spruce. I match-drilled the wingtips into the hinges:
Hinge match-drilled in place
I had to make a small relief/notch on the hinges because one of the J stiffeners was sticking out slightly:
J stiffener that just slightly sticks out beyond the wing tip rib
Also, since the original holes for screws are pretty far apart, I added intermediate holes for the rivets:
Intermediate holes drilled into wingtips and hinges
I also started trimming the wingtips by cutting the flange down to 1/2", which is the width of the skin that sticks out:
Wingtip flange marked for trimming
After this cut, the tips fit nicely on the wings, except that the light module attachment screws were hitting the rib - I used some torque seal to give me the exact interference points, then opened up holes on the ribs to accommodate them (apparently Vans is ok with that):
Torque seal on the light module protrusions
Torque seal markings where the light module protrusions hit the rib
Holes for the light module protrusions
With that, the tips actually fit all the way in, so I match-drilled them as well (which gave me matching holes on the hinges and on the tips:
Wingtip match-drilled into place
Fitting the hinges inside the tips (to match-drill the outboard hinge halves) required a bit of trimming:
Trimming the bottom inboard hinge to fit in the wingtip
Cutout to fit the top inboard hinge
It was also clear that the flange/job was about 0.05" taller than the inner surface of the tips, so to keep the hinges laying flat, I extended that by laying some fiber:
Fiber to extend the top wingtip flange
Fiber laid up to extend the top wingtip flange
Fiber layers for the bottom wingtip flange
With this, I finally clecoed and match-drilled the hinges:
Bottom hinge match-drilled into the wingtip
The next stripping step was to remove most of the flange where the inboard half of the hinges will sit (I had only kept it to have a reference for drilling). I didn't want the hinge showing up, so to keep a small bit of the jog I added some space beyond the edge, and made spacers for the inboard hinge that are slightly smaller than the 0.5" skin, leaving a small slot that the tip can fit into:
Trim lines giving some space to fit into the slot under the hinges
Spacers match-drilled to the hinges and machine-countersunk
Hinges with spacers in place on the wingtip
Next I have to add the same spacer to the other side of the right wingtip, and repeat the whole thing for the left (while also including the Bob Archer antenna).
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