Working with molded, open sided fiberglass parts, like wing tips and nosebowls, is a little frustrating: they are never exactly the same because they move a little while they cure. This is especially when they are as lightweight as airplane parts. So, you may have to do a little creative messing around to get the tips to fit the way you want. Or they may be perfect and will slip right into place.

Lap the fiberglass over the outboard rib, and attach them with screws and tinnerman nuts or nut plates and machine screws. Bob has been known to pop-rivet them in place, but we don’t recommend this because of the great maintenance utility of removing the tips during condition inspections.

The best, although most laborious, approach to this is to install nut plates. Then use #6 countersunk machine screws. Use countersunk washers under them to protect the fiberglass. Space the screws frequently enough to prevent the tips from scalloping. This will probably be something like on every third rivet. Use a marker to label each rivet that will be removed, then drill out the rivets. Enlarge the holes to match the pilot pin on your nutplate gauge, then install nutplates at each hole. Don’t be concerned about losing strength by removing rivets; each hole is going to get two more rivets when you install the nutplates.

Position (Nav) Lights
The tips in the kit have no provisions for either navigation lights or landing lights. Builders who want navigation lights will need to create a platform on the tip to mount the light/strobe unit. This usually entails making a 1/4” plywood base the shape of the light to be used. It is bonded and screwed in place, then faired in with the lightest material available, which is usually balsa or foam covered with a layer of epoxy/microbaloons or Polyfil. Don’t use automotive body filler like Bondo because it is really heavy. Most builders use a combination position light unit that includes the aft-facing white light in the tips, which saves the trouble of routing a wire back to the tail and creating a light mount on the rudder.

This builder epoxied and fiberglassed a plywood mount in place and faired it in with foam and microballoons.

Landing Lights
If you don’t want to put the lights in the nosebowl, the wing tips are a good place for them, although several builders have cut their leading edges for them. Install between ribs #11 and#12 using a one piece, .032 doubler that looks similar to the frames used for mounting the inspection panels.
It should be 1 1/2” wide, all the way around the light cutout and attached with MS20426AD3-3 rivets on approximately 1” centers. Be aware that cutting the leading edge is not to be taken lightly since it has a large impact on the strength of the wing, especially as you move inboard from the tip. Putting the lights in the tips involves fabricating a lens, though there is at least one report of successfully modifying an RV-10 lens.