Now that the balance of the ailerons has been determined, before the weights are permanently attached, the torque tubes need to be attached. There is a tube embedded in the aileron that extends about 3 inches. This tube needs to be connected to the six foot long aileron torque tube. This is accomplished by joining them using a short steel tube that is inserted into the aileron tube and torque tube. It is then drilled and bolted.

Drilling the hole in the torque tube and joining tube is relatively easy. A centering jig is used with a drill press.

Here’s the torque tube with the joining tube bolted in place.

But the hole in the aileron tube is tough. It’s not long enough to use with the jig. So it has to be done by hand.

We will drill a slightly undersized hole from each side and then redrill with the correct sized bit all the way through. But first the location of the hole is marked.

Marking a spot on exact opposite sides of a tube can be a bit tricky. But as usual, Malcolm’s got a trick. A simple drafting template used for drawing circles.

Then the holes are drilled and bolted together.