Hours 75
Total Hours 1591
I made progress during my two weeks off but I can't believe how much time it takes to finish up these last few items. I had other things going on so I was only able to work on the plane but about 7 days. First I needed to complete the SB 14-01-31 on the horizontal stabilizer.
I had done quite a lot of reading while at the rig about performing this operation. First I finished drilling out the rivets holding the aft edge of the top and bottom skin to gain better access to spar.
My relief notches in the spar were not as deep and the instructions called for so I honed them out. I drew a target using the measurements provided.
Then trimmed the flanges and sanded them smooth.
Fitting and back drilling the doublers.
Every thing is back drilled and de burred. I started worrying about a few of the holes on the ends of the angles that I may have got off drilling out the rivets. I had a very sinking feeling as a few of them were a little over sized. Some could have been from the original rivets being over driven but a few were from my drill bit wondering a small amount. I had drilled these out before I did extensive reading on how to remove rivets. I just knew I was going to have to rebuild the stabilizer! As I was I pulled up the SB instructions from the Vans site and they had added Tech notes at the end describing what could be done if this happened. The instructions said you can use a 5/32 rivet if the holes would clean up with a #20 bit! I cant tell you how relieved I was! I hate to admit it, but I didn't even know they made a 5/32 rivet! I got on ACS and ordered a variety of 5/32 rivets and a #20 angle drill bit. I rushed the order to two day delivery and was back in business before I knew it!
I used a 5/32" rivet anywhere a hole was oversize. The main places were the last two rivets on the end of the angles. I am very pleased. The fix was not printed on the original instructions so I thought I was in for replacing the angles and maybe the spar also! This is something you cant take chances with!
The back side of the doublers installed. Also riveted up the ribs and rib angles. Riveted up the aft skins. I'm glad I did this as I can see, it would be more difficult after painting. Now it was time to attack the empennage tips!
I was foolish for riveting the tips on after I finished building the empennage so the first thing I did was drill them all off. The pulled rivets were a piece of cake though after drilling those solid rivets in the spar earlier! I cut an end piece out of thin aluminum sheet and shaped them to fit. Then I super glued them in the tips. Then I mixed up a batch of flox and layed up a good fillet on the inside and a smaller on on the outside.
After the flox set up a bit, I mixed some micro and finished filling the recessed end. The micro buildup is about 3/8" deep. You don't want these things coming loose as they could bind your elevator!
I cleaned up the elevator tips and layed up a layer of light FG cloth over the joint.
This is the stab tip after I sanded down the micro. I riveted it back on and layed the light cloth up over the joint.
I frosted the tips with micro to fill in the joints and allow me to shape the end to match up with the stab tip.
Same for the stab tip.
I sanded it all down and clamped the two together and shaped them to match up.
I was sure to allow a 1/8" gap between the tips. Don't want anything getting caught in here later!
I set the vertical stab and rudder up on a 2x6 and plywood stand and re attached and formed them to match.
After glassing the joints and basic shaping was done. I ground down two sides of a 1/4" carriage head bolt so it would fit in the gap and used it to hold the rudder in the neutral position while I sanded and shaped the tips to match.
I bet I worked on the tips 10 times at least getting them shaped and filled! Every time I thought I was finished, I would find something else that needed to be filled or re shaped. I've been thru a mountain of sandpaper. I used to worry about the cost of new sand paper but I got over it!
Every time I would put on a new layer of micro or filler on the tips, I would work on something else while they cured. Here I am installing the center cabin cover after configuring them to allow my throttle and mixture cable to pass thru. I re installed the empennage on the plane as I want to do more engine test runs.
I had two 2.5" x 5/16" grade 8 bolts holding my throttle and mixture bracket on the bottom of my engine sump. I wanted to safety wire them. I tried to find and order drilled ones but could not find any this long! So, I drilled them myself after much trial and error! The small bit would finally bite and then twist off! I went thru several bits doing this. These bolts are hard! Finally learned, you have to go very slow and have very much patience!
Anyway, you cant see them here, but they secure the bracket that holds the throttle and mixture cable. Thats about it for this session. I'm pretty sure I may be the slowest builder in history but I am moving forward. I want to do some more test runs with the engine before dismantling the plane for paint. At this point, other than paint and final assembly, all that remains is the wing root fairing, and the canopy lock but I'm sure there will be plenty of small things to iron out . I really hope that I can get the paint booth constructed and the plane disassembled during my next session. maybe even PAINT something!
