Worked on triming and fitting the Empenage fairing. There was a lot of trial and error in this exercise. There were also a number of nut plates to install.
I spent a good part of the day working on the rudder bottom. You really have to take it slow to avoid messing this up. It was great until I test mounted it and it would not clear the tail wheel. So, I had to trim all over again and re-drill some of the holes. I saved the piece but just barely.
Terry worked on the VS fiberglass tip and set it aside to dry. We also hung the rudder and I trimmed a bit off of the left aft VS skin. At full left rudder there was a bit of rubbing. All is good now....
Spent the day reading up on landing gear, Terry Daily came up and we finished up the HS tips, drilled and blind riveted them on. After he left I trimed, drilled and blind riveted the rudder top on.
Today I edged and deburred the trim tab skin for the left elevator. Next I bent all the tabs on the inboard and outboard ends of the trim tab skin. This is always a lot of fun but they turned out pretty good. Then I matched drilled all the holes for the trim tab spar, skin and hinge. Most of the work was in getting the tabs bent properly. I also spent time reconfiguring the workshop since the QB Wings and fuse will be arriving in a few days.
Began construction on the left elevator. I'm installing the electric elevator trim on my RV-7. I fabricated the stiffeners, primed and dimpled the skin then riveted them on.
Okay, I spent the day riveting the horizontal stablizer and got it finished. (See photos). Personally, the HS is the first sub-assembly Van's has you build but I found it to be the most difficult. The VS was much easier in my opinion. Next time I would build the VS first then the rudder and then the HS. Anyway, its finally done. Next stop, the left elevator and I need to make my decision on the next kit order. I'd planned to go QB on Wings, slow build on fuse but my skills are improving and I'm toying with the idea of slow building the wings. I'll have to noodle on that one.
Today I began riveting the Horiz. stab. starting with the rear spar. Once that was done I riveted the forward spar... that was a real trip. Then I moved on to the Left side skin.
Today I spent the majority of time retracing my steps with the horz. stab., match drilling and double checking the replacement components I ordered from Vans. Everything worked out great. I re-drilled the HS-702's, 404's and 405s. Lastly I drilled the 405,405,702,710,714's and got it right this time! Then I dimpled all the parts, except skins which I will do tommorrow along with priming everything. With a bit of luck I'll be riveting the HS by Friday and done with it by Sunday!. Then on to the elevators!
Today I finished squeezing the other side of the rudder and began prepping the trailing edge. Again, I went with the standard Van's instructions and purchased a piece of 90 deg. angle aluminum, match drilled the holes to #40 and used an off the shelf epoxy to cement the edges together. This was another time conusming process but the edge is perfectly straight now. I'm going to let it cure for a few days then double flush rivet the edge together. Now I can return to the horiz. stabilizer!!
I spent the afternoon riveting the rudder together. Most of these rivets can be hand squeezed. I bought a pnuematic squeezer and it's great but I find I prefer the hand squeezer because you have great control of how the shop head forms on the rivet. The pnuematic squeezer is good for the bigger rivets as well.
I worked another abreviated session today riveting the rudder. I've slowed down quite a bit in order to understand every step and avoid making a mistake. Also, to always always always double check the alignment of things to make sure everything is lining up properly.... which it does. Once again, a credit to Van's and the pre-drilled precsion components.
Today's session was spent preping and priming all the parts for the rudder assembly. After messing around with the sprayer (and having to clean it in the middle of a priming session) I was able to get everything primed and then start a bit of riveting.
No Pics
9/12/2006
6
Most of the time spent today was disassembling, deburring and dimpling the rudder components. Tomorrow I'll prime everything and begin riveting the rudder together.
No Pics
9/10/2006
9
Today was rudder skeleton, clecoing the skin, match drill and rudder horn brace fabrication.
Today I completed the priming of the stiffeners. They required some touch up work. Sorry, I'm anal about this kind of stuff. Anyway, I began riveting the stiffeners on and got 4 one on the first rudder skin when I realized the stiffeners had not been tapered low enough on the aft section of the rudder. I freaked for a moment till I realized I could work it down with my die grinder and a scotch bright wheel. Dodging bullets baby! I completed the stiffener riveting and moved on to the rudder skeleton assembly.
Working on the rudder. I spent most of the day prepping the stiffeners, priming, deburing and dimpling. Tomorrow I should be able to rivet the ruder skin and stiffeners together.
After a bit of hedge triming in the a.m. and a suprise boiler drain faucet leak on my hot water tank (picked one up at Lowe's for $4.39) I had the afternoon to work on the plane. Since spare parts for the HS are still not here I decided to begin the rudder construction. With the exception of getting the trailing edge very very straight I think things should go fairly smooth.
Began riveting the vertical stablizer together.... finally! (Video short - Vertical Stablaizer Construct) It took most of the afternoon because I went slow and improved my "riveting" skills as I went along. TIP: The Avery hand squeezer requires firm strength but affords the most "control" over "shaping" the rivet. See, all those push-ups you did this summer will pay off. They're usually very pretty after being squeezed this way. The pnuematic squeezer is fast, a little less control and is picky about the amount of air pressure used vs. rivet size. RIVET GUN: Driving rivets with a rivet gun (really it's more like forming rivets) is sort of like riding a roller coaster with your hands in the air. You're bashed around along the way and always get to the bottom but you're never quite sure what shape everything will be in when you get there. Conclusion: SQUEEZE rivets wherever you can.
Today I primed all the parts for the Vert. Stab. I previously primed part of the Horiz. Stab. using two spray cans of Tempo self-etching primer I bought from Aircraft Spruce. It was very easy to work with but the cans run out quickly. Its also much more expensive doing it that way. Last week I purchased some Sherwin-Williams P60 G2 and the catalyst. So today I had to build a frame to hold parts while spraying, setup the sprayer and get the respirator and all the working. Oh yes, and rebuild a motor in my cage fan to use as a ventilator aid.... which worked great by the way once it was all in place. Only about 4hrs. were actually spent on the Emp. though.
Another full day in the workshop. I tried to slow down some today and be methodical, understand every step and why. I think it really helps. Today I finished deburring the vert. stab. ribs and spars. Did the machine countersinking of the spar doubler... it turned out great. The countersinking cage I got from Avery really rocks. Next I dimpled everything to get it ready for priming and riveting tomorrow. It will actually be my first real day of riveting on the entire airplane (other than the HS hinge bracket). So far everything has been cutting, drilling, deburring and dimpling. Geesh.... :o/
Today was spent deburring and preping the vertical stablizer spar and stiffener. The stiffener is quite thick and took most of the time with the pneumatic die grinder. I also elected to drill the "lightening" holes to reduce stiffener weight. Consequently, MORE die grinding was needed to radius hole edges (a total of seven holes)
Work continues on the horriblezontal stablizer. Actually things were going swimingly perfect right up until one of the last steps. The pictures will tell the story. I searched the web and found that many (and I do mean many) builders faulter right here. I measured 4 times and took a half day making sure it was right and it still wasn't. Van's should re-write the instructions for Sec. D-D , DWG 3. It would be easy to do, why not?
Work continues on the front spar for the horiz. stab. I had to really slow down today and think things through. There are a few places where the diagrams and instructions are really ambigous (like SEC D-D, more on that later). But I was able to (slowly) work through it. More deburring (constant chore). I did advance to some of the skin work on the HS. Very good day.
Today I worked on the horizontal stab. rear spar some more. I finished the few remaining items and moved on to the front spar. I deburred the edges on the front spars and then began the fabrication tasks (partial) on the stiffners. The edges required smoothing and tapering and then bent to a 6 degree angle. The Scotch Bright wheels and my die grinder did the trick. All the ribs required deburring as well. It was an easy task but rather time consuming.
I started construction on the horizontal stablizer today. Lots of deburring and "edge breaking". I got the two stiffeners clecoed along with the elevator brackets and the main hinge bearing and bracket. The hand squeezer worked pretty good when I riveted the bearing. Not sure if I want to hand squeeze the whole plane however. Yikes!
The Empennage kit arrived from Van's today... a day early. I spent an hour or so doing an inventory of the components and hardware. I wrote a parts inventory application a few weeks ago to manage the parts etc. I was able to "receive" all of the inventory and count it. After that, let the games begin..... :o)
Well, today was a good day. I ordered the Empennage. Cool. I guess that means I'm officially under way. I also finalized my decision on a tool set. Like most of the builders I've read about online, I'm ordering the Avery RV kit. It really does seem to be the best overall kit for an RV and way less time consuming (and cheaper) than trying to buy the pieces individually. Time compression is important for my project and I'm willing to pay a bit for the speed. I also ordered a drill press (Central machinery 12 speed) from Harbor Freight as well as a combination 1 inch belt\5 inch disc sander. They don't seem to have the type of band saw I'm looking for at the right price point. I hit Lowes, Sears and Home Depot today looking at compressors and band saws and I'm still not satisfied with the quality and features of the price point for which I'm looking. Maybe I should try Ebay. I also ordered the tool box kit from Vans since my riveting experience is novice at best. I'm a quick study but I think the practice will be very good and reduce the number of (serious) mistakes while working on the actual project.