Other Stuff-NEW!
August 2005 Empennage Horizontal Stabilizer
8/1/2005
Started August with edge finishing of the HS skeleton, skins, and started scotchbriting (is that a word??) the surfaces of the skeleton. I finished the left side, and the right side will be done tomorrow, along with starting the priming on the HS skeleton. Nothing worth taking pics of tonight, but there will be pics tomorrow night!
1.25 hours
8/2/2005
Today I finished up scotchbriting the right side HS skeleton in preparation for priming. With that done, I started the cleaning process before the primer is applied. I used a 50/50 mix of solvent and isopropyl alcohol (99%) to clean the parts, then pure 99% isopropyl alcohol to rinse. I didn't want to use water to rinse. It just doesn't seem right to use water, since it's a natural enemy to aluminum-especially with the alclad surface roughed up. There will be those that argue with me that it doesn't hurt it to rinse it with water, but it's not for me. Well, I finished priming the HS skeleton, and have it sitting aside until tomorrow to get a good, dry surface. I used NAPA 7220 self-etching primer in a rattle can for the priming. I don't live in an environment that necessitates the use of epoxy based primer. I will probably spray a shot of primer on the mating surfaces of the inside skins, but that's about it. Here's how it turned out. The pic on the right is the HS skins after being dimpled the other night.
1.75 hours
8/3/2005
I had a little extra time over lunch today, so I cleaned the inside of the skins, 601PP, in preperation for priming the mating surfaces.
.5 hours
8/5/2005
Tonight I started out by masking the skins (601) for priming. I did this to have a nice clean look without over spray. Priming the entire surface could have been done, but it's all weight added. Not much, and it probably won't matter, but it can add up. So with the mating surfaces masked off, I scotchbrited the area to be primed, and moved the skins outside for the spraying. With that out of the way, I cleco'd the rear spar and spar channels together to prepare for riveting. I did get to start riveting tonight, and set the first five rivets on each end, top and bottom. I had to do a little work with the wheel on my yoke to get it to fit over the spar flange when I got to the sixth rivet. I didn't set any more rivets this evening, so I'll be riveting tomorrow.
Here's the skins after being primed, and the rear spar cleco'd back together for the final time.
2.5 hours
8/6/2005
I squeezed in one hour today doing what else...squeezing! I finished the right side riveting. I am unhappy with a couple of them, and will drill those out tomorrow, but otherwise everything looks really good.
1.0 hour
8/7/2005
Well today I realized my LARGE mistake. All of the rivets I set yesterday, were not set correctly. They all had "clubbed" shop heads. So I drill them all out.
Time consuming, but necessary. So, I did some investigating as to the cause. First of all, I was at fault for rushing to set the two rows, and not checking 'til done. Stupid. Secondly, the yoke was off a little, and setting all of them to the outside of the spar channel.
Hard to see, but you can tell the shop heads are pretty bad. These are after being drill out.
So I ended up with the HS spar being completed, and looking great, including the rivets! I did not torque down the center bearing yet. I also made the trim notch on the bottom of the spar channel to allow the elevator horns to move to the stop.
4.5 hours
8/8/2005
Just a quick note for today's entry. I torqued down the main center bearing tonite to 22 in-lbs. The plans call for 20-25, and talked with my buddy Captain John about it, and 22 will work good. Also cleco'd 710 and 714 in place for riveting tomorrow.
.5 hours
8/9/2005
Today was a pretty productive day, though I didn't work too terribly long. I started by drilling out a hole on the HS spar 609-603 to a #21. I had a slip of the drill that produced an oblong hole, so I just made it a little bigger to accept a 470 5-6 rivet. Then moved on to riveting the angle brackets 710 and 714 to 702, and the first real use of my rivet gun (works great!). That all went very well, only having to drill out one rivet because I let the gun dance on the head of a rivet. No biggie. Then moved on to riveting the first couple of ribs 404 and 405 to the front spar, and those turned out beautifully! To finish up my night, I cleco'd the small forward rib 707 to the upper surface of 601PP, left side. So, that's ready to rivet on, and now I need some help to do this part. So, since no one was around, I had to call it a night.
Here's a couple of pics from tonight. The second one shows the properly aligned 405 rib to the spar, with plenty of edge distance.
1.75 hours
8/11/2005
Tonight was a BIG night! My dad came over to help me set the rivets on the HS left side skin 601PP. I started off by finishing the HS spar 404/405/702 rivets. When my dad got here, we were off to the races. We set both top and bottom skins, and we had one heck of thunderstorm roll through while working. We had a 70mph hour gust at the airport tonight! I did have to drill out a few rivets on the 707 to 601 line. For some reason, maybe because it's not a flat surface, I couldn't get those to sit flush. Well, they turned out ok, not great, but definitely acceptable. Now, it's on to repeating everything I did tonight for the right side.
3.25 hours
8/12/2005
I just got a quick fifteen minutes in tonite. All I did was get the right skin 601PP on the table, and cleco'd the 707 nose rib in to place. My dad and I will be riveting in the morning.
.25 hours
8/13/2005
Today started off great! My dad came over again to rivet the right side HS skin to the HS skeleton. We started at 8am, and didn't even wake up my wife! It turned out great!
1.75 hours
**This next part has nothing to do with the airplane.**
Then we received the bad news. We got a call from Brit's aunt to give us news that my wife's grandparents are going to have to put down a horse today, Dinky. Dinky suffered a broken leg while playing in the mud this morning. We were there to say goodbye. He was a great horse, and will be missed by us all, but will be shared for many years to come though memories with the family. See you soon Dink!! God Bless.
Dinky,
8/13/2005. He was 23 years old.
8/14/2005
I love Sundays! Especially a rainy Sunday such as today. I finished the horizontal stabilizer today by riveting 404/405/706 to 601. Then came the rear HS spar to 601, and finally blind riveted the spar to 708. Here's a couple of pics.
So, I have two saw horses that look as though they may take to the air!
3.0 hours
Horizontal Stabilizer Done
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