Rudder – Day 5 – 1 hour
Another small chunk done today. Prepped stiffeners for priming.
Rudder – Day 4 – 2 Hours
De-burred all match drilled holes in the stiffeners and skins. Dimpled stiffeners with pneumatic squeezer:
Rudder – Day 3 – 2 hours
Things are coming along slowly but surely. Had another run of concert performances the past couple of weeks. Today I smoothed the edges of the stiffeners and match drilled them to the rudder skins. The builder’s manual instructs you to use a table you can drill into (So you can cleco the skin and stiffener…
Rudder – Day 2 – 1 hour
Not a lot to report. Finished trimming stiffeners today:
Rudder – Day 1 – 1.5 hours
I took quite a long hiatus from the project after finishing the Vertical Stabilizer. Quite a few music gigs and a lot of holiday plans kept me away. I’m slowly getting back into and started on the rudder today. Here are all the parts: I didn’t get much done but, was able to finish “rough cutting”…
Vertical Stabilizer – Day 7 – 3.5 Hours
Today was another great milestone day. Finished the Vertical Stabilizer. The Vertical Stabilizer was much easier than the Horizontal Stabilizer. I’m surprised they don’t start you off with this one. Nothing needed to be fabricated. All the holes were pre-drilled and just needed to be final drilled to the proper size. Riveting was much like the HS,…
Vertical Stabilizer – Day 6 – 5 Hours
Got a lot done today. My friend, John Wagner came over to help a bit. First we got the rear spar riveted together: Notice the flush rivets near the bottom of the front spar. Then, we also riveted the front spar and ribs together… Afterwards, we spent the rest of the time deburring…
Vertical Stabilizer – Day 5 – 2 Hours
No pictures today. I just prepped and primed the ribs and spars.
Vertical Stabilizer – Day 4 – 1 hour
Didn’t have much time today so I just finished dimpling the rear spar and countersinking the reinforcement plate. Below the line I drew, the rivets used are flush rivets. This is because the forward side of the spar attaches to the rear of the fuselage. You’ll see in later pictures (about 5 years from now…
Vertical Stabilizer – Day 3 – 2 Hours
Got back to work on the Vertical Stabilizer after a bit of a hiatus due to Thanksgiving and the holiday rush. Today, I deburred and dimpled all the ribs and spars. Before and After dimpling:
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