Cleaning the Empennage Parts 3 hours.
What is it about doing cool stuff only happens after long, dragged out eons of dull boring tedious drudgery? Riveting parts together with our Milwaukee electric riveter is what we are all about! Instead, we got to do a whole lot of workhouse prep work. I mean, it’s like Middle School shop class. They make you drudge through endless hand tool dawdling before the real fun-filled electric power tool mayhem can start. But suffer through it, we must.
We begin with our account of our cleaning of the inner gizzardy parts that hopefully will never see the light of day once everything is put together. As we get started, its worth mentioning that If you have ever washed dishes, you would be well qualified for this part, and have figured it all out. If not, this will help you make your way up to a nice plum of a dish washing position. So, we will get right to it.
Stuff List:
Simple Green Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner from Aircraft Spruce
Scrub Brushes from Cash Hardware in Mystic, CT
Mixing tubs from Tractor supply in Griswold CT
Safety wire from Aircraft Spruce
Goggles Cash Hardware in Mystic, CT
Neoprene gloves Cash Hardware in Mystic, CT
Something to sit on. Cash Hardware in Mystic, CT
Sling Parts Drying Rack (SPDR)
At the center of all this was Simple green Aircraft cleaner, which is recommended by everyone that matters. It should be noted that Simple Green is neither simple nor green. It has Diethanolamine, which along with coffee and aloe vera, causes cancer in the state of California. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to cause cancer in anywhere else in the universe, and its biodegradable. There is one disappointing thing though. it was clear, NOT green. They must have forgotten to put the FDC Yellow Dye number 40 and The Blue #1 in it. Maybe they thought that they had done enough with adding the Diethanolamine, which is NOT green.
For parts washing, it is recommended to dilute the Simple Green, trouble is by how much?
Luckily, there was a nice guide on the jug to help with how to dilute. The guide is biased to dealing with completed Slings, however, buried in the details is what was important to us.
The guide says that for Slingers that keep their Sling clean all the time, a ratio of 1:13 is supposed to keep it sparkling. It says it will not corrode as per the ASM1526B test, whatever secret Government conspiracy that is. Fascinating but irrelevant stuff.
For a thoroughly Hog Pen Icky Sling, Slingers should use a ratio of 1:3. In the same blurb, it says that this same ratio should be used for cleaning parts and concrete. Not sure what Sling components use concrete, but when we encounter them, we sure will give them a right good scrub.
So, a 1:3 dilution it is. Right. We went to work.
We donned our full, fashionable cleanroom bunny suits. Then we cladded our feet with full foot coverings and our heads with those sexy Hazmat hoods. We rounded out the ensemble with full positive pressure breathing regalia. Properly attired, we ventured into the positive pressure ISO Class 7 cleanroom (as defined in ISO 14644-1) via a double airlock. There, awaiting us on our freshly sanitized and derouged 316L stainless steel table, were the NIST traceable Class II graduated cylinders on ……wait Wait WAIT! Stop the Tape!!!!!!
That’s NOT how it really happened, though it would have been nice and cool.
Instead, in our un painted, home built garage, on the cold concrete floor, we glugged a whole bottle out into a mixing tub. We refilled the same jug from the kitchen sink and dumped it into the tub three times, and called it a good 1:3 dilution Next, A rinse tub was filled with water and we were in Business!
Next, we peeled off the plastic film from the smaller empennage gizzards and placed them in the Simple Green for a good soak. We kept in mind that each and every part may have been glanced at by nonother than James Pitman, Esq, or even, just maybe, Mike Blyth himself, and thus rendered hallowed. So, we lovingly scrubbed off all the plastic and oil residue from being cut to shape, bent and coifed. Next came a slosh in the rinse water and placement on the SPDR to dry. Dead cat slingin’ easy.
The process got even stupefying easier from there. Grab a part out of Simple Green tub. Scrub, with brush, being sure to get around the prickly parts if they have any. Then rinse off in the rinse tub. Then place it on the SPDR tray to dry. For hour after hour, we scrubbed and sloshed through this Workhouse job until the last of the parts were finally drying on the trays on the SPDR.
The tubs were too small for the long parts to soak, so we just rested an end in the tub and scrubbed top to bottom, and then rinsed by scooping water from the rinse tub and pouring it over the top. it’s like washing your hair. Wet, lather, rinse, repeat, repeat repeat four hours on end.
After reading thus far, and the last three sentences in particular, you, dearest reader must be thinking, “What a dribbling Captain Obvious the one who wrote this screed is”.
Well, Just keep in mind, this is serving as part of our build record we have to give to Captain Dickson, who is in charge of the FAA at the moment. With the government involved, we have to spell it all out.
We held off on doing the skins. We would do those after we finished deburring, allodining and priming the gizzards which would take would take a while.
Next up: Scrape and poke. What fun.