Myrsky's wing root walkway

Lauantai 26.9.2020 - Tuesday Club member


At the wing root of VL Myrsky II, on both sides of the fuselage, on the wing’s plywood covering there is a strengthening strip of plywood. This makes it possible to walk on the wing when doing maintenance work. Very often these strengthened strips, which allow stepping on the wing, are clearly visible from the wing surface or painted black at least. However, this is not the case in the Myrsky, where these plywood strips have the same black and green paint scheme as the upper side of the wing.

Blogi_2020-17-01-02.jpg

Upper photo: The photo archive of the Finnish Air Force Museum.

On the Myrsky drawings these strengthening plywood strips are called “step plates”. They are fastened on the wing’s plywood covering with glue and screws. The aluminium wing root fairings, which protect the connection of the fuselage and the wing, are fastened onto the fuselage side edge of the step plates with flange nuts and screws.

Blogi_2020-17-04-05.jpg

The step plates for the Myrsky’s wings are being made at the Tuesday Club. The semi-finished plates were cut from 2 mm thick plywood according to the original drawing. The actual plywood covering of the wing is 4 mm thick at the wing root. The step plates for the port and starboard wing are mirror images. The position of the fastening screws and wing root fairing flange nuts were marked on one of the step plates, following the original drawing. The pencil marks were highlighted with a metal punch. The punch markings will make it easier to drill the holes into their exact positions.

Blogi_2020-17-07-08.jpg

After this the mirror image step plates were placed accurately on top of each other and fastened with pieces of double-sided tape. In this way the holes for the screws can be drilled simultaneously on both plates and exactly in the same position on the plates. The holes for the fastening screws were drilled with a 3 mm drill bit.

Blogi_2020-17-10-11.jpg

Blogi_2020-17-13-14.jpg

For the flange nuts on the wing root fairings, holes for the nuts had to be made on the edge of the step plate. These holes must match the shape and size of the flange nut and be slightly oval-shaped because the nut is sunk through the step plate, all the way to the level of the wing surface.

Blogi_2020-17-16-17.jpg

First three holes were drilled into the plywood with a 3 mm drill bit, these holes help when the oval hole is made into the step plate. The small holes were used when making the holes larger with a column-type drill, using drill bits of two different sizes. The work continued by shaping the holes into their correct size and shape with a chisel and a file.

Blogi_2020-17-19-20.jpg

Blogi_2020-17-21.jpg

The following phase will be to fit the step plates into their places on the top surface of the port and starboard wing and to fasten them with glue and screws. The step plate has already been preliminarily fitted to the root of the starboard wing.

Photos: Except separately otherwise mentioned, Lassi Karivalo.

Translation: Erja Reinikainen.

Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, VL Myrsky, MY-14