Sunday, August 23, 2015

Section: 9
Hours: 8.5

The elevator trailing edge skins are supported by a set of pvc foam ribs that are glued to the structure. The kit provides several blocks of foam that must be shaped into the final rib shapes using templates printed in the instruction manual. I used a light mist of 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to attach the paper templates to the foam blocks. Then I used the band saw to rough cut the shapes and the stacked the ribs and used the belt sander, several sanding blocks and files to achieve the final shapes.



I trial assembled and match drilled the elevator ribs, spars and skins. I also fitted and match drilled the trim tab hinge to the rear spar.

 I spent a bit of time carefully bending the close-out tabs of the left top and bottom skins. Several builders had reported problems getting these bends to match up between the upper and lower skin so I was extra careful. Measured 3 times before bending. The fit came out very good.


I've observed several RV's that had problems with the alignment of the elevator tab hinge so I was especially careful with the hinge match drilling step. I aligned the hinge material with the pilot hole per the plans, but I also used cleco clamps to attach the hinge at multiple points along the rear spar. I used my micrometer to ensure the hinge edge was parallel to the the whole length of the spar before drilling any match holes. Rather than drill from one end and progress to the other end as the plans suggest, I drilled four locations equally spaced along the length and clecoed the hinge in place. Once the parallel alignment of the hinge edge was assured, I then drilled the remaining holes. I used the same procedure for match drilling the tab spar. Afterwards I was able to insert the hinge pin and the parts freely moved without binding.






Saturday, August 22, 2015

Section: 9
Hours: 8

Next up is the elevators. First up is separating, deburring and polishing the edges of the elevator ribs. Then I fitted the tip ribs to the counterbalance skins.


Friday, August 21, 2015

Section: 8
Hours: 8

Next up is attaching the horizontal stabilizer rear spar. I was able to use the rivet squeezer to set the flush rivets along the whole length.










The last step was to blind rivet the internal ribs to the rear spar.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Section: 8
Hours: 8

I spent the day riveting the horizontal stab skins to the inspar ribs.




Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Section: 8
Hours: 8

Today I clecoed the horizontal stab skins to the forward spar / rib assembly and began riveting them together. Initially you have to pull some rivets deep inside the structure to attach the nose ribs to the forward spar. I had a hard time getting a grip on the rivet puller so I added some handle extensions made out of pvc pipe.




Next I riveted the skins to the forward spar.




Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Section: 8
Hours: 8

I attached the inboard hinge bracket assembly to the rear spar using the AN3-5A bolt washer and nuts called out in the plans. I torqued the nuts to 28in/pounds and marked the nuts with torque shellac.



Then I inserted the nose ribs and riveted them to the skins. I finished up the day inserting the forward spar and rib assembly. I added enough clecos to bring the structure into alignment in the cradles. It's beginning to look like an airplane part!


Monday, August 17, 2015

Section: 8
Hours: 8

Another GREAT day- more riveting. Today I completed riveting together the spar and ribs for the horizontal stabilizer. The center of the spar has some flush rivets that I set using the mushroom set in the rivet gun. I clamped the spar to the work table so it wouldn't move while setting the rivets.


 Next I assembled the center webbing and ribs to the sub spars. I used the squeezer and the rivet gun. Not all the rivets were reachable with the squeezer.










The spar is slightly bowed at this point due to dimpling the flanges. When the spar is attached to the skins, the bow is pulled out.
 By the end of the day I was able to set up the cradle and mount the skins. Tomorrow I'll rivet the ribs and spar to the skins.