RV-9A, SoCal - Page 8

rightrudder · #71 05-05-2014, 12:25 PM

I buttoned up the HS over the weekend.

So nice to have a significant chunk done. It's tucked safely away in the spare bedroom.

Working on the VS skeleton now, and it's good to give my hands a rest from riveting. I've got a little numbness in my fingertips, and some left forearm pain from holding the bucking bar at strange angles, but I suppose this is par for the course.

rightrudder · #72 05-06-2014, 10:23 PM

Everything is going so much faster now that the workbench, dimpling table, etc. are built and I'm up to about 30 cpm (clecoes per minute

). Got the rest of the VS parts deburred, skeleton assembled, skin on and match-drilled the whole shebang.

Quick question: the gauge of the front VS spar is a little thin…did you guys use dimple dies here, or machine countersinking? It seems to be that in-between thickness.

rightrudder · #73 05-12-2014, 10:48 AM

Progress! Got the vertical stab buttoned up, and I'm breaking in the new bandsaw cutting the stiffeners for the rudder skins. Feels good to clean up the work area and get reorganized after finishing another chunk.

My riveting is getting a lot better. I only had to drill out two skin rivets on the VS, and I'm fully up to speed using the pneumatic squeezer for all the edge rivets. Got the "RV rash" in the crook of my elbow from reaching over the skin with bucking bar to get to the forward spar rivets. I'm fortunate to have long arms?this would be VERY difficult to do with a few inches less reach.

rightrudder · #74 05-12-2014, 10:40 PM

My strobes from Ztron Labs came in, so I finished up the stiffeners for the rudder and switched gears to mounting the tail strobe. I cut down some blind nuts and epoxied 'em in place…hardest part was getting them into position in the tight confines.

The wingtip strobes are really low profile, so I'll have plenty of width in the wingtip cutout for a landing light. I want to avoid cutting into the wings' leading edges if possible.

rightrudder · #75 05-27-2014, 09:40 AM

The rudder is nearing completion?Day 2 of waiting for FlameMaster to set up on the trailing edge. In the meantime, I prepped all 26 stiffeners for the elevators. I'm glad that's over!! And I received some epoxy, cloth and SuperFil from Aircraft Spruce, as I really want to complete the empennage fiberglass work before the fuselage and wings show up.

rightrudder · #76 06-03-2014, 09:59 AM

Some more progress. Very exciting to hang the finished rudder on the vertical stab! The trailing edge turned out nice and straight, and I didn't have to drill out a single rivet. I had a lot of apprehension about this step, but I re-read instructions about 14 times and followed them to the letter, and it worked perfectly.

Rolling the leading edges wasn't too difficult, but it was a bear to bring the rolled surfaces together to cleco & rivet. Took a lot of grip strength and yards of Gorilla tape.

On to the next step!

Jimbot · #77 06-04-2014, 10:36 AM

Hi Doug,

Wow, you made the VAF front page!

Rudder looking good. FYI - I may shoot a question or two to you when I re-skin my RV-7A projects rudder.

Keep up the great work. At this rate, I think you'll meet your completion date target with time to spare.

rightrudder · #78 06-04-2014, 02:27 PM

Thanks, Jim! Woohoo, front page.

Most weekdays I'm putting in 3 to 3.5 hours a night. Funny how you never sense any real progress on any single night, but toil along faithfully and one day--BAM!--the rudder is done. Let's hope that happens with the rest of the plane.

Vlad · #79 06-04-2014, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rightrudder

Thanks, Jim! Woohoo, front page.

Most weekdays I'm putting in 3 to 3.5 hours a night. Funny how you never sense any real progress on any single night, but toil along faithfully and one day--BAM!--the rudder is done. Let's hope that happens with the rest of the plane.

It feels good Doug. The empennage is probably the most memorable kit in all airplane. There will be the wings and fuse and a lot of fiberglass parts but this picture would be remembered forever. Keep pressure on!

rightrudder · #80 06-05-2014, 09:58 AM

I appreciate the pep talk, Vlad! So much of the build seems to be making fixtures and prepping parts. Dremel'd up a nutplate holder last night for countersinking, and set up the work table with a 90-degree piece of plywood to hold the elevator skins open for dimpling. Finished the stiffener plate/cover that holds the elevator trim servo.

I need to make a Lowes run to buy a bunch more clamps.

Maybe most important, I organized my tools and cleaned the workspace. Being able to quickly find the right tool eases the frustration, and increases the fun of the build. I've got to take a "time out" and do this more often!