Elevator – Day 10 – 3 hours

Today, I built a bending brake out of a 2×8 and some hinges and put the final bends in the trailing edges. It was a pretty uneventful process. I had to push a lot harder than I though I would. The Brake: The goal is to have no taper in the bend prior to the…

Elevator – Day 9 – 1.5 hours

I managed to get all the stiffeners and trim servo access panel/stiffener riveted onto the left skin. The aft most rivets were a pain. You can get to them with the rivet gun, but you really need 3 hands. One extra to peel the skin back. I clamped the skin to the table, put both…

Rudder #2 – Day 17 – 2 hours

Wrapped up the rudder today (except the fiberglass tips and bearings to connect to Vertical Stab). All that was left today was to roll leading edge skins. This was done by taking a 5′ steel 3/4″ pipe and duct taping it along the edge and rolling it. A lot of force is applied down and…

Rudder #2 – Day 16 – 2 hours

I have reached the point where I totally screwed up rudder #1. I’m determined to do this right. Riveted trailing edge today. Took my time a lot more. Went very slow and checked straightness constantly. The result, a very straight trailing edge and no cracked rivets. Van’s gives a tolerance of 0.1″ deviation from straight.…

Rudder #2 – Day 13 – 6 hours

I had a nice busy day in the shop today. I riveted on the counterbalance skin and rib, installed the counterbalance, countersunk the trailing edge, clecoed the skins on, and riveted on the top rib. The counterbalance all prepped and ready. Got all the rivets with a squeezer thanks to my new thin nosed 4″…

Rudder #2 – Day 11 – 2 hours

Received my replacement counterbalance rib today. Fluted, drilled, and deburred it. Then, I match drilled the new counterbalance weight to it. This time I managed to dimple the holes without cracks. Fit it to the counterbalance skin and it fits perfectly. Then I decided to rivet the rudder skeleton together, with exception of the counterbalance…