Riveted Aft Spars to Skins

Began riveting the bottom top left skin to the aft spar.

Everything was going great until I got to the part with the trim tab hinge. My bucking bar won’t reach around the hinge eyelets.

Side note: after all of this, I realized that the shear clip was supposed to be on the outside of the closeout tabs in the picture below. So ended up drilling it out and re-attaching it properly. Funny thing is that last week I mentioned to Jared and Wes that I thought it would look better on the inside. Subconscious got the better of me i guess.

I thought of using the squeezer on these rivets but I only have two flush sets. One is too long and the other is two short. I hit up Jared and he’s got a flush set that’s halfway between the two. He volunteered to swing by tomorrow morning and do some building with me. So I set the left elevator aside until tomorrow.

I moved on to the right side and riveted the bottom skin to the aft spar. I taped all of the rivets in place to back rivet the ribs. I shot one row but it’s really load and it’s getting late so decided to call it quits for the night.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.0
Empennage Time (hours):	108.0
Total Time (hours):	108.0

Riveted the Forward Spar Assemblies

Riveted the gusset to the left root rib and riveted the inboard and outboard halves of the tip ribs together. Spent a bit of time with a square and hand seamers tweaking to ensure everything is straight.

Riveted the tip ribs to the spars. Riveted the hinge reinforcement plates and nut plates to the spars.

Clecoed and riveted the counterweight skins to the tip ribs.

Riveted the elevator horns to the spars.

Bruins vs. Blackhawks in the winter classic on tv… taking a break to watch a little hockey.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.5
Empennage Time (hours):	106.0
Total Time (hours):	106.0

Assembled Trim Tab

Bought a 3/4″ MDF panel at Home Depot. Leveled it out on the bench and shimmed the dead spaces with sheets of paper to create a flat surface.

Prepped the skins, spar, and trailing edge with isopropyl. Mixed up a small batch of fuel tank sealant and put a thin layer on each side of the trim tab ribs and set them in place. I used the 3M VHB tape on both sides of the trailing edge. Used clecos to align it with the bottom skin and set it in place. Then I clecoed the top skin in place along the spar and trailing edge. I peeled the paper from the VHB tape between the top of the trailing edge and the top skin removing clecos as I went to avoid tearing the paper. I replace the clecos to clamp the whole sandwich together while the tape sets up.

The sealant is ridiculously sticky and smells like ass.

I riveted the top skin and hinge to the spar.

All done!

Weighted down the skin with a board and some 2×4’s to ensure contact between the skins and the ribs until the sealant sets up. The spec sheet says there is a 6 hour cure time for the B 1/2 sealant I used.

Today’s Time (hours):	1.5
Empennage Time (hours):	101.5
Total Time (hours):	101.5

Primed, Dimpled, and Started Assembly

Busy day of building today! Started off with a Home Depot run to pick up some paint pots and gloves. Then I got set up and shot all of the elevator part and skins with primer.

That was a lot of stuff to prime. Didn’t mix enough and had to make a second batch to finish the skins.

Once the primer was dry, I brought everything in the house and dimpled the skins and all the ribs, spars, and other miscellaneous parts. Clecoed the forward half of the trim tab hinge to the aft spar and machine countersunk the portion of the aft spar that attaches to the hinge. Did a similar job on the trim tab spar later.

Modified my female #40 dimple die to enable dimpling of the nut plates needed for the trim tab servo doubler. I just ground off a bit of the edge on the bench grinder.

Here’s the modified die in action squeezing a dimple into a nut plate.

And here are the nut plates installed in the doubler.

I machine countersunk the parts of the trim tab pushrod and double flush riveted it together. The plans called out AN426-3-3.5 rivets but those were too short. I used -4.5’s and they came out perfect.

Clecoed together the trim tab with the spar and trailing rdge and final drilled the holes in the closeout tabs.

I machine countersunk the the trailing edges for the trim tab and left elevator using the tapered-pilot countersink cutter. I’m still waiting for the right trailing edge from Van’s to replace the one a screwed up.

I riveted the trim tab horns and spar to the bottom trim tab skin.

Taped off the places on the skins and spar where I’ll bond the ribs and trailing edge in order to prep for the ProSeal and trailing edge tape. I removed the primer with isopropyl. I scuffed with 150 grit sandpaper. Then cleaned the scuffed areas with acetone. Then I removed the tape.

Tomorrow will be my first experience with ProSeal. I’ll be using it to glue the trim tab ribs in place. Plans call for a “well and truly flat” work surface on which to weight down the trim tab while the ProSeal sets up. I don’t consider my workbenches to be “well and truly flat.” So I’ll be off to Home Depot again tomorrow to come up with something. Maybe a steel plate or a 3/4″ MDF panel?

Today’s Time (hours):	9.0
Empennage Time (hours):	100.0
Total Time (hours):	100.0

Horizontal Stabilizer Complete

Riveted the skin to the forward spar and all the ribs. Did all of these rivets with the gun and small tungsten bucking bar. It was a long day. Only had to drill out a couple of duds, though.

Then clecoed the rear spar to the ribs and skins and riveted in place. The inboard and outboard ribs are riveted with AN470-4 rivets while all the others are blind-riveted with LP4’s. I used the squeezer to rivet the skins to the rear spar flanges.

Et Viola…

Merry Christmas!

Today’s Time (hours):	7.0
Empennage Time (hours):	76.0
Total Time (hours):	76.0

Primed and Assembled Horizontal Stabilizer

Scuffed and primed the skins, ribs, stringers and center web.

Riveted together the inboard ribs, web, and stringers.

Clecoed and riveted the ribs to the front spar

Clecoed and riveted four nose ribs to the skins. Special thanks to Jared Solomon for lending me his HS cradles. Also for the awesome flight flight yesterday in his RV-14. Makes me want to build faster.

Clecoed the forward spar and associated substructure to the skins. Ready for final riveting. Should have the HS buttoned up tomorrow!

A very satisfying day of progress!

Today’s Time (hours):	5.0
Empennage Time (hours):	69.0
Total Time (hours):	69.0

Forward Spar Assembly Complete

Riveted the doubler and spar caps to the forward spar.

I received the torque wrench I ordered from Amazon and torqued the nuts securing the inboard hinge bracket to the rear spar.

Both forward and rear spar assemblies completed. On to the ribs…

Today’s Time (hours):	2.0
Empennage Time (hours):	58.0
Total Time (hours):	58.0

Rear spar assembly complete

Scuffed the forward spar and primed all of the forward and rear spar parts.

Riveted the front spar doubler. Used the squeezer for most of these.

Riveted all of the hinge brackets. Used the gun for these. My riveting skills have improved markedly. I haven’t had to drill any rivets since working on the rudder.

I bolted the inboard hinge bracket to the spar per the plans and realized I don’t have an in/lb torque wrench. So I ordered one from Amazon along with some tamperproof marker paint so I can keep track of which nuts have been torqued and easily inspect them later.

Off to FLL for work for the next few days. So no further progress expected until later in the week.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.5
Empennage Time (hours):	56.0
Total Time (hours):	56.0

Horizontal Stabilizer Rear Spar

Started work on the horizontal stabilizer today. The first part involves preparing the rear spar.

Screen Shot 2019-05-27 at 9.59.23 AM

Deburred the rear spar and the rear spar doubler with the Scotch Brite wheel, files, a deburring tool and god old fashioned sandpaper. Got all the edges and lightening holes nice and smooth. Clecoed the rear spar doubler to the rear spar. Final drilled all the holes.

Clecoed the 8 outboard hinge brackets to the spar and final drilled.

Machine countersunk the two holes in the center of the spar.

Fit, clecoed, drilled, disassembled, deburred, reassembled, and riveted the inboard hinge bracket assembly with the flange bearing in the middle.

Deburred and scuffed everything. Ready for primer. I’m only going to prime the inside of the spar. the outside will be painted when I paint the airplane. I neglected to account for this when I built the VS and rudder. I’m assuming the primer can be stripped from the outside of those spars in preparation for painting.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.5
Empennage Time (hours):	48.5
Total Time (hours):	48.5

Vertical Stabilizer Complete!

Scuffed and prepped the new parts. Then sprayed them with primer.

Riveted the doubler and ribs to the forward spar.

Clecoed the skin to the forward spar and ribs and started riveting.

Finished riveting the skin to the forward spar and ribs.

Clecoed and riveted the rear spar to the skin and ribs.

VS Complete! Very pleased with how well it turned out. Once I replaced the parts I messed up, everything went smoothly. I’m much happier with my workmanship than the first attempt. A little experience makes a world of difference.

Rearranged the work benches and started picking parts for the horizontal stabilizer.

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Empennage Time (hours):	46.0
Total Time (hours):	46.0