November 2005 Elevators
11/1/2005
No building tonight, but I did take a couple of pictures! I am still waiting on the replacement 702 spar from Van's. According to FedEx tracking, it will be here tomorrow. So, tonight I just brought the parts that will be needed for the left elevator out to the shop.
Here's what I have left in the emp box! It's almost emp-ty! HA!! I need to order another box...
The stuff wrapped up in the brown packing paper is not airplane related, so that doesn't count!
11/2/2005Well, I got a slow start going on the left side. It's been almost a week since I've even had a chance to get out there. Didn't really matter that I had other stuff to do, since I was waiting for my replacement spar 702. It came today, and after a quick (if a Cessna 172XP can be quick!!) trip down to Evansville, IN this afternoon to get a Malibu, I did get started. It was almost 8pm though, so it was not a long work night.
I cleco'd the reinforcement plates 610PP and 611PP and the platenuts to 702 and drilled 'em. Fluted the ribs 703 and 704, cleco'd and drilled 'em. Cleco'd those to 702, drilled 'em. Fitted the counterbalance weight 714 and skin 713 to the ribs and cleco'd them in place. Drilled the #12 holes through the weight.
No pics tonight, as the work here is identical to the right side, so look here for that and scroll to 10/12-10/16 for pics. If there is something different that comes up on these parts, I'll post a pic.
0.75 hours
11/3/2005
Tonight, I got a lot done in a short amount of time. I started by taking apart the c-weight assembly to remove the weight 714, and recleco'd the c-skin 713 to the end ribs, and cleco'd the assembly to the spar 702. Then came the inboard rib 705 to 702, cleco'd and drilled that. Next was the skin 701L cleco'd to the skeleton, and the horn WD-605-L-1 cleco'd and drilled. The difference between the right and left elevators was next. I cleco'd the rear spar 606PP to the skeleton/skin. This is where the piano hinge will connect the trim tab. Drilled that to 705. Then the skin was drilled to the skeleton, and everything was disassembled for deburring, dimpling, and priming.
I like this pic below because of the contrast between the plastic and primer. Just an extra shot...
1.25 hours
11/4/2005
No pics tonight. Just boring deburring. I did get all of the deburring done for the left elevator...man, this part sucks! I hate deburring. Ok, that's enough. It's really not that bad, it's just tedious. I also scuffed the skeleton parts, and I should be priming over the weekend, as long as it doesn't rain.
2.0 hours
11/6/2005
Today was a great day in the shop. It was cool out, and the heat worked great! Anyway, I started off by dimpling the skeleton parts and doing the countersinking required on the rear spar 606PP on the top flange.
Then I dimpled the skin, and began cleaning the parts for priming. Then guess what I did!! That's right, I primed the skeleton.
I then worked on the trim cable cover. I haven't been able to find this part in the manual anywhere, so I just followed the drawings, and did it. There is some dimpling to be done here, including the nutplates, 615PP, and the cover 616PP. Had to get the hand squeezer out to get in to some tighter spots, but they all turned out nice. I did muck up the forward flange of 615PP with the pneu squeezer, but it was more or less bent back straight. It's not a critical part, and won't be seen, so I'm not worried about it. Then I riveted the nutplates in place, and loosely installed the screws that hold the cover on.
I then started working on bending the tabs on the elevator skin. Like many people who have done this before me, I am not happy with the bends, and will be researching how to fix them, or cut them off and go with a little homemade rib. You can see from the pic that the bends are not sharp, but rounded. It probably doesn't matter, but I don't like it.
4.5 hours
11/7/2005
I started tonight by getting rid of those stupid elevator tabs. Cut 'em right off with the Dremel tool. I love that thing!
Then just a quick shot of re-dimpling the trim access cover to a #6 for the screw. I realized last night that they weren't dimpled right. Then I riveted 703 to 704 after trying for about 20 minutes to figure out how I did the other side. Couldn't remember, so I bucked 'em. Had to drill one out 'cuz the gun danced for me! Then on to the reinforcement plates and platenuts to 702 spar. Then the left inner rib 705 to 702, and 703/704 ribs to 702, then WD-605-1-L horn to 702/705. Did ya get all that??? Well here's what I got done tonight-
2.0 hours
11/8/2005
I wasn't planning on working in the shop tonight, but sometimes, I just can't leave this thing alone! I started by beveling the c-weight skin, and setting the four inner rivets for 713 to the 701L skin. And, I did take a pic of it this time!
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Then I cleco'd the skin 701L to the skeleton, and inserted the 714 counterweight. For some reason that I cannot explain, the skin fit really weird, and was sort of "bulgy", but it all smoothed out when all cleco'd. Then came the rivets. I did mess one up, so it got drilled out. Then I cleco'd and riveted the bottom flange of 606PP to the skin, and finished tightening down the screws for the 714 counterweight.
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Finished for now...on to the trim tab.
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2.25 hours
11/9/2005
Tonight I fabricated the little rib that will go in place of the elevator tabs that were not bent correctly and cut off. I used a piece of scrap AL sheet .025, and cut out the rough shape with the band saw. I marked it for the bend to be made, and deburred the edges, then bent it. It turned out really nice!
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I think it's gonna look really nice in there when it's done. I'm gonna wait to fit it until after I finish the trim tab so I can make the gap as small as possible.
I started on the trim tab tonight as well. I started off with the bend of the trailing edge, and that's as far as I got because I had to build the blocks to bend the tabs on it. I also marked the lines for the bends to be made. This is as far as I could go 'cuz I need to get some bigger C-clamps.
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1.5 hours
11/12/2005
Trim tab bending day! I bought some larger C clamps to hold the trim tab in place while I made the bends. You use a hammer and a small block of wood to begin the bend. Once it's bent to maybe 75 degrees or so, I used the rivet gun and a flush set to really make it a nice sharp bend. The rivet gun was turned down to about 25psi so as not to damage the tabs or skin. They actually came out very well, and I am happy with them!
So, with that stressor out of the way, I cleco'd the tab spar 607PP to the tab skin 619PP on the bottom flange/skin only. Then the trim cable connector horns 717 & 718 were trimmed. Vans sends these so that they can be used for either the manual trim or electric trim, and the area not used gets the axe. I am using manual trim. With 718 cleco'd to 717, 717 gets cleco'd to the skin, and the holes in 718 are used to drill the skin. All holes were final drilled to #40.
Then, using the dimensions provided in the drawing, I clamped the hinge to the tab skin and the spar. The remaining holes in the bottom get drilled to final size at this point, then the top. The top takes some care in doing since the holes are not drilled in the hinge yet.
Then, of course, it's time to take it all apart again. The spar 607 gets countersunk on the top flange, and bottom flange gets dimpled.
For some reason, the photo gives the illusion that the bottom flange is badly warped and bent out of shape. Strange, 'cuz its' perfectly straight!
2.25 hours
11/13/2005
Well, I'm gettin' pretty close to finishing these elevators up, except for the fiberglass. Today, I started by trimming the hinge 721 to match the lines of the skin. Then I deburred and dimpled everything, and reassembled the trim tab. After I got it all back together, I read the next step (riveting the bottom tab skin to the spar), and I realized that the only way to do this, would've been to read ahead, and made plans to backrivet these parts BEFORE the trailing edge was bent. Well, I didn't do that, and I don't have a longeron yoke to set these with that several other builders have used. So, I decided to use blind rivets. It's the bottom of the skin, and there won't be a whole lot of stress on the tab. I decided to use CS4-4 blind rivets, so I had to disassemble the parts again to re-drill and re-dimple the holes for these. So, I did that, and reassembled, again, then riveted the bottom skin and trim cable horn.
Next comes the fitting of the hinge to the skin. With this clamped in place, I marked and drill the holes using the skin/spar as a guide.
With that lined up, and in place, I decided to mark and drill the riblet in place. This turned out pretty good, but will require a little trimming with the Dremel to make it look nicer.
I'll rivet that when I get my MK-319BS rivets in from Vans this week. Now it's time to set some rivets. I messed up a couple of 'em buy "clubbing" them. No biggie, drilled out three and reset them. Still a little on the "clubby" side, but passable since there are so many others there. I didn't want to drill 'em again and risk enlargening the hole.
The gap between the tab and skin looks nice and straight! Next up, is to make the leading edge rolls, and get started on that lovely fiberglass crap.
4.0 hours
11/15/2005
No pics tonight. It was a really quick night out there. All I did was finish blind riveting the riblet and TE spar.
0.25
11/16/2005
Well, tonight was just PEACHY!! Sounded sarcastic, didn't it?? Leading edge rolling night...I don't like rolling the leading edges...it hurts my hands, and it's just a royal pain in the #$%. They turned out ok, but not great. I have 'em cleco'd in place, and I'm hoping that the rivets will make it look better. We'll see...I must say thanks to my wife for coming out and helping me tonight! Brit has been a great support in this project so far.
1.75 hours
11/18/2005
I more or less finished the elevators tonight! All I really have left to do, other than the fiberglass, is to install the rod end bearings. I'll get to that over the weekend sometime. I started by drilling the holes to #30, and clecoing. When all the holes where drilled, I removed all the cleco's and deburred the holes using the .125 Burraway by hand. Then recleco'd and riveted with blind AD-41 rivets.
With the rivets in place, the leading edges look pretty nice. Much more so than when the cleco's were holding them together. They are not as perfect as I would like, but they really won't be seen, and it's not structural, and I'm probably being overly conscious of perfection...
1.5 hours
11/20/2005
I'm left scratching my head after today. I started by installing the rod end bearings on the elevators and rudder. These connect the elevators to the horizontal stabilizer, and provide the movement of the control surface.
I bought that special rod end bearing tool from Avery, and it works great! They are not torqued yet, but they are in place at the proper height above the spar.
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Then I fitted the elevators in place using some large diameter blind rivets. These worked great to hold it loosely while I marked the HS skins for some clearance trims. You can see in the pics below the overlap of the skin over the elevator arm.
I trimmed the skin with the Dremel tool. Then I fitted elevators again to mark the 603PP HS spar for some additional trimming. I trimmed it initially when I built that part, but it turns out to be not enough. So, I removed the elevators again to make those trims.
Refitted the elevators for a third time, but this time they were fit with the bolts that will hold them in place.
This is the part where I became confused. You're supposed to fabricate a drill bushing to make the pilot holes in the elevator horns. The right elevator is held in place with the clamp to make that hole. Not sure how to make that bushing, so I'll have to research this before I move on...
Quick update from late tonight...I found what I needed on Dan's website. I ordered a drill bushing from McMaster Carr online tonight. It's being shipped out of Chicago, so should be here in a day or so.
2.75 hours
11/21/2005
I didn't do any building today, but had to make an entry 'cuz I ordered my wings today!!
11/22/2005
Big night tonight! I finished the elevators! I started by drilling the holes in the elevator horns using the drill bushing that came from McMaster Carr today.
That's the bushing on the left sticking out of the bearing. The right pic shows the bearing in place with the drill bit going through it.
After that, I removed the elevators to drill the holes to full size using the Unibit, and deburred them.
The elevators go back on the HS, and get fitted again to check to make sure there's no binding in the hinges. They fit great, and there's no binding. The center bolt fits perfect, and the elevators are done!
Elevators done!
1.5 hours
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