Jan 18, 2020     Close it up, finished with tail kit. - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage

Finished with the tail kit. Had a brain fart at first today...said to myself "this thing (elevator) has just sat too long and needs to be closed up". So I started taking care of the A5 rivets....then I stopped and looooked at it. Crapzilla! I forgot to insert the elevator-to-stabilizer hinge first! Well, so I drilled out the 13 A5 rivets that I had place already. One of them spun when drilled, so I got to employ my new Dremel it with a grinder/cutting blade and worked my way through it. Had to pull all of the cleco's out so I could dump the silly rivet heads that are knocked inside when removing the rivet.

Anyhow, got the hinge installed and closed the sucker up. I assembled the entire assembly and low and behold it actually LOOKS like an airplane tail (minus the rudder since it's stored in the shelves atm). I went ahead and trimmed the fiberglass horizontal stabilizer tips by first using the dremel took, then resorting to my table belt sander in order to get the cut straight'n'long. Clears well.

Done again!

I counted up my rivets pulled thus far (I kept every rivet stud). Added up to 730. Interesting thing is that there isn't enough to install the horizontal stabilizer side of the elevator hinge or the tips. Is this done by design? Hmmm.. Donno. Maybe get those in the fuselage kit.

  Jan 12, 2020     Elevator Trim actuator mount - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Was trying to figure out how to get the elevator trim actuator mounted with the optional stiffener. They designed it so one side of the actuator actually mounts to the stiffener but plans show the bent-up part of the 'L' angle on the side of the mounts. I inquired of Zenith with the thought that if i were to just flip the 'L' angle it'd be fine. They said "flip it". Thumbs up, flipped it.

Also, in order to level the actuator on the skin since one part is on the stiffener, I built a riser on the other side, and wrapped it like a sleeve so the A5 rivets (I had drilled out the actuator) have a metal part to press onto instead of plastic. I also put a metal rail on the top of the stiffener side of the actuator.

Installed with no issues.

  Dec 26, 2019     Rivet the bottom of the elevator - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Had my first drilled rivet. Did great! Annnnndddddd then I had to do 5 more because when i did my first fit for the horn tower, I had to move the 6T3-7 brace's holes. I decided to back it with a brace/doubler instead. So I widened the holes on the original and cut an 'L' channel to fit and A5 riveted it on. After a test fit, it all looks good to go.

Instead of riveting the elevator trim actuator in place, I decided that I wanted to bolt it instead. A nice pan headed machine screw of 4mm x 10mm looked right, so I drilled the pre-drilled holes on the actuator (T2-7A-TS) out to A5 size and final bolted it on to the elevator skin. I used nylon lock nuts to ensure that it doesn't vibrate loose over time. I just felt that riveting an electronic device was folly because all electronic devices eventually die and I didn't want to have to drill it out when I could just pull the access panel and remove it. Popped the rubber grommet into place (RP452-ND 3/16" ID)

Riveted the trim hinge into place on the trim skin piece (6T6-1) and attached the actuator push rod to the trim tab horn angle (6T6-6) but left the elevator side unriveted yet because I need to open the top all the way up one more time to clean out the chaff from drilling out all of those rivets. :)

  Dec 25, 2019     Corteced the inside of the elevator skin - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Brushed on the cortec (cut 50/50 with water) on all of the interior joint locations of the elevator skin.

NOTE: Gads I think I must need a 'minder'. At one point I dumped my paint reservoir on my pants...so the wife gave me a pair of sweatpants and said "Don't get anything on this" to which I pointedly said "Dahh". I then immediately ran a swipe down the elevator cutout channel (6T6-3), turned it over, and swiped down the other side, rubbing it on my pants leg (DOH!!). So I changed again (needed to toss those in the wash before the water-soluble primer dried). All good...working along, leaned down to look at a hard to see area and promply dipped my hair in the paint reservoir (see pic of paint reservoir)!

  Dec 19, 2019     Debur elevator internal - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Using my nifty new Dremel with green attachment. I tried the red one and it didn't seem to do much to burrs whereas the green did a fairly good job at smoothing down the chaff.

Issue: Trying to figure out how to deburr the 6T6-1 trim piece on the inside. When looking down it it has some pretty nasty chaff. I'll put a question out to the builders forum (Zenith).

Annnnd I got several answers that said "put a vixen file on a yard stick". ;) Done and done.

  Dec 09, 2019     Elevator deburring - (2 hours) Category: Empennage

Happy Birthday to my lovely and patient wife! Soooo, I'm down here in the shop. Got all of the exterior holes deburred on the elevator. Now for the ribs and inside.

Couldn't find my Dremel tool. Haven't found it since moving a little of a year ago (darnit). So I ordered a new one on order to help me debur the inside of the ribs. I'm just having too much trouble with a vixen file trying to debur the inside of the elevator ribs without scratching them all up, thereby introducing scratches that could invite corrosion. So, Dremel tool on the way.

  Dec 07, 2019     Back to work on the elevator - (1 hour) Category: Empennage

Well, heck. After having everything moved off the table for Thanksgiving, I got everything back on the table again and decided I needed to ensure I remembered where everything goes (center spar assembly and proper placement of each rib). So I spent a little time re-putting together my 'puzzle'.

  Nov 23, 2019     6T3 Left Inboard - Added stiffener help with bunged up rivet holes. - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

So it looks like when I was pullijng clecos, I got stuck and pulled some corners out of the rivet holes. So I flattened them back with my duckbill pliers (sheet metal pliers) and filed them smooth. Unfortunately they don't look as nice and sturdy as they should. So, after some calling around, found out this is a nice way to fix it. Build a backing/stiffener/doubler/brace/whatchamacallit. Did it...it looks like it's supposed to be there. ;) Moving on.

  Nov 17, 2019     Disassemble and Debug - (3 hours) Category: Empennage

Went through all holes, checking each one with the appropriate rivet and re-drilled to clean up on any that binds.

Disassembed elevator. Deburred all ribs.

Ran the red scotchbrite pad on all ribs and horns and their doubles on joining survaces.

Next I'll debur and scotchbrite elevator skin and hit it with cortec.

  Nov 16, 2019     6T6 - Trim and Trim Actuator - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Working from my experiance of the horizontal stab hinge, I backed off the trim hinge just a little. Basically lined it up with the interior groove cut in the hinge. Works great with no rubbing so no filing on the elevator skin.

Had to file a little bit on the inner side of the Elevator Cutout Channel to get it to fit properly in the inner elevator rib. Just a schmidge.

Cut the trim actuator rod (threaded) to length, (about 89mm or so) to properly fit the midpoint of the trim actuator to center the trim trab. So that I wouldn't have issues with screwing up threading, I just used a file to 'cut' the bolt.

  Oct 26, 2019     65T3-8 - Issues with Bent Strip - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Bent Strip that was sent with the kit doesn't fit! It's too short...as you can see, it's about 57ish mm instead of the plans directed 62. So it won't go over the upper and low elevator horns.

I emailed Zenith about it, and they said "The bent strip has been changed to fit under the horns and on top of them." And he sent me the new sheet that indeed showed the bent strip snugging up under the horns. I'm not a fan of this method because it leaves a little offset gap under the horns between the elevator skin and the horns. However Zenith directed it, so.........

Anyhow, I called and thanked Zenith and said "Err, can you give me the web link that I can download these sorts of updates because my plans do not match the kit. Zenith said "Look at this link, ummm, now that i look at them, it doesn't do you any good does it?" I stated that he was indeed correct, the updates link tells nothing of this change and any other change since 2012. So he said "We'll just send you a new set of plans". GREAT!. Well, the new plans came, and they were the exact....same....edition, every page. After inquiring, Zenith and I deduced that the updates just weren't released into the plans yet and they will get back to me.

  Oct 19, 2019     65T3-4,5,6,7 - Elevator Horns and doublers - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Drilling the doublers and horns.

  Oct 12, 2019     65T6-4 - Elevator Hinge - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Lining everything up for the elevator hinge

Elevator Hinge cleco'd in place

  Oct 04, 2019     6T3-1, 2 - Assembling Elevator Center Channel and Ribs - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Building up the elevator support structure.

Elevator Center Channel and Ribs
Clecoing ribs in Elevator Skin
I noticed that some of the predrilled holes were rounded.

  Sep 29, 2019     65T2-5 - Horitozontal side of Elevator Hinge - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Working on the hinge, horizontal stabilizer side.

I had this thing off and on a bazillion times trying to clean up the action. When I drilled the hinge, the instructions show (at least how I interpretted them) to push the hinge all the way in, which, obviously in hinde sight, makes it rub on the hing motion so upon rotation, the hinge would stutter against the skin. It seemed more predominent when i had every hole cleco'd (seemed ok with just a few clecos). So i determined to get it right as if every hole was riveted. Anyhow, I'd put it together, check for rub spots, then take it off and file the horizontal skin edge a bit, then put it back on, rinse and repeat.

I'm going to have monster forearm muscles for using the cleco pliers. ;)

  Sep 28, 2019     Sealed up Horizontal Stab - (2 hours) Category: Empennage

Final rivet and closure of Horizontal Stablizer. Used center punch to begin prepping the piano hinge for the elevator-to-stab.

  Sep 25, 2019     Cortec upper side of horizontal - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Reopened after a long time stored (while working on my pilot's license). Decided to use Cortec. Therefore I can paint while in the house. I picked up a quart from Zenith factory open hanger days last weekend.
Also got out elevator skin and cleaned off elevator hinge (label) using paint thinner.

  Dec 29, 2017     6T1-1 - Level and final drill horizontal stab top - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

After strap-down and leveling, final hole (A4) drilled out top of horizontal stab.
Also placed end ribs (6T1-1) an final drilled them (both top and bottom of stab).
Un-cleco'd and re-opened the top so I can debur and apply zinc chromate (corrosion control).

  Dec 27, 2017     Final Horizontal Stab bottom riveting - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got the new level, rechecked my leveling of the frame, and then the applied skin, and then riveted it down, assisted by one of my helpers. :)
We then proceeded to flip the horz stab over and prep for skinning.
Strapped it down and hit it with some initial cleco's.

  Dec 24, 2017     Stab skin part 2 - (2.5 hours) Category: Empennage

Went through all holes on skin and frame for burrs. Overlayed the skin back on to the frame, cleco'd, and inserted rivots. Turns out that there were about 6 rivots that wouldn't fit in the holes....Then I remembered to re-level. Well, heck, the spiffy digital level has gone bad while sitting on the shelf over the last couple of days. Batteries were dead, and when replacing them, it reads 10deg off. Well, Seeing how this is Christmas Eve, it'll be a couple of days before anything is open again for me to replace the level and continue.

  Dec 17, 2017     Started Stab skin - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Leveled up the frame front to back.
Alicia then helped me fit the skin onto the riveted stab frame.
Releveled and cleco'd. Thought I was gonna get lucky because all of the hole accepted cleco's pretty well, however when I attempted to drop in the A4 rivets, they offered resisistance, so I guess I'll have to still final-hole-size drill them out.
Drilled all holes on bottom of stab to final hole size.

Next:
Next will have to take skin back off and debur.

  Dec 17, 2017     Finished stab spars riveting - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Finally finished off riveting the stab spar frame.

Got my first taste of drilling out a rivet. Accidently put a A4 where a A5 should be. Resolved.

  Dec 02, 2017     Some rivet practice - (.5 hour)       Category: Empennage

Kids got to do some riveting today...They helped me work on the horizontal stab some more.

  Nov 30, 2017     First day of rivets!!!! - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Wahoo! Besides the ones done on the rudder at the workshop, this is my first rivets pulled on the plane horizontal stabilizer (basically on my own in my own shop). I did the first 4 or so with the manual puller then said "Hey, what the heck, this give this here new pneumatic puller a whirl!" And it was goooood. Hehe. All kidding aside, it went well thus far. My only wonder is how to get the head of either of the pneumatic or manual riveter up against the upper rear of the rear spar in order to get those rivets seated. The heads of the riveters are pretty thick and the upper flange on the rear spar is in the way....hmmm....

  Nov 29, 2017     6T2-1,2,3,6 - Final up-drilling to open up some of the holes to - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Drilled out 6T1-1 end pieces to A4 size (was at A3).
Drilled out rib ends to A5 (was A4).
Drilled out 6T2-1, 6T2-2, 6T2-3, 6T2-6 holes to A5.

A3 = silver cleco (#40 drill bit)
A4 = gold cleco (#30 drill bit)
A5 = black cleco (#20 drill bit)

Yes, I checked for burrs and took appropriate action.

  Nov 28, 2017     Cleco'd back together after corrosion control appl - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Noticed that I still need to updrill the outer holes on ribs 2 through 5 and for each of the five holes of 6T2-1 to match the plans for use of A5 rivets (size #20). Will do that on next visit to the basement.

  Nov 26, 2017     More deburring - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

When I was removing labels earlier, I noticed that there was some of the cloth/paper-towel (box of rags, fairly rugged papertowel) getting caught on the edges of the holes. This told me that I hadn't gotten them quite as deburred as I had thought. So I finally decided to break one of my older files so that I could make a file-block. This worked better than I had anticipated. I had fiugred that I'd use the spinny deburring tool pretty much the whole time, but the driver deburring tool doesn't seem to get all of the raised edges as I had hoped. This file-block works wonderfully. I'd check each hole by dragging my fingernail over the hole and if my nail would get caught on the start of the hole then I knew that it needed some tending.

  Nov 26, 2017     Applying my first Zinc Chromate to horizontal stab       Category: Empennage

Since this was my first time applying this, I really took my time getting prepared, but got faster and less worrisome as I went along in application. I followed some advice from the Zenith builder's forums and used a spoon to take some Zinc Chromate out of the can and put it in a cut-in-half soup can, then poured some acitone in it to thin it way out. I think that I still applied it a little thick. It's kind of hard to get it spread out before it dries (fast!). Plus it'd kinda seep through the holes and leave a quick-dried drip on the other side. Seeing that I'm probably never gonna make it really pretty, I opted for expediancey and just brushed it on without too much ado.

Anyhow, this finally gets me to the point that I can start popping my first rivets. Yah!

  Nov 24, 2017     Cleaning off labels - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Using Acetone to soak into the label, then a wedge shaped stick, the labels scrape right off, then use the acetone on rag to wipe the adhesive off.

  Oct 26, 2017     6T2-3 - Rear Spar Attachment - (.3 hour)       Category: Empennage

Cut out 6T2-3, Rear Spar Attachment.

  Oct 25, 2017     6T2-3 - Drew some lines, trimmed some corners - (.5 hour)       Category: Empennage

Outlined on the inside and darkened the lines for cutting the Rear Spar Attachment for cutting on the band saw (when the saw noise won't wake up the house).

Also trimmed the corners on the front of the spar end 'L' channel pieces.

  Oct 08, 2017     L-Angle on front of Front and Rear spar - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Cut, filed edges (rounded off), placed, and drilled for end of elevator spars. This Sioux Air Drill very nice!

  Oct 01, 2017     Working on spars and ribs - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Cleco'd front and rear spars tot he ribs.

  Jul 10, 2017     Starting on the Front Spar (6T1-3) - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Clecoing the doublers to the front spar

  Jul 07, 2017     Full layout of kit, OFFICIAL start date - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Today I am counting as my official start date. I have some prior time, but this is when I decided to actually say "ok, I'm done building tools/tables/boxes and stuff and really get busy"

  Jun 21, 2017     Practicing some fabrication - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

I decided to see how my scratch building technique is. Basically, now that I have a kit with factory parts, I wanted to see how well I can fabricate, from plans only (without looking first at the factory part), and then compare it to see how close I am. Well, I think that I did initially ok, though I came across a problem. The part that I attempted first (due to the sheet metal thickness, that I got a spare sheet for, just for this purpose) and it's ease (I didn't have a pair of fluting pliers yet) was the Elevator Center Channel (65T3-2). My cut lengths were pretty spot on, however, when I compared them to the factory parts, oh geez, the factory parts were wayyyyy shorter than I'd expect. Developed length was supposed to be 305mm, mine was about 305.5mm, the factory cut was 299mm. That's 6mm short of the plans! Plans also say 55mm wide base. Mine is about 55mm-56mm. Factory was about 52mm...only 3mm different from plans, so not so bad, but is significant when held up against mine..ewww. I sent an email to Zenith to see if there is something I need to know of....such as a plans update.

  Jan 20, 2017     Picked up tail kit at Mexico MO - (8 hours) Category: Empennage

My brother (Lorin, who is a builder himself, he finished and flies his Sonex Waiex) and I drove down to Mexico, MO to pick up the tail kit. 4 hour drive each way. Not terribly far, all things considered.

Some of Lorin's pics:
https://www.sonexaircraft.com/news/images/L_Miller-1.jpg
https://www.sonexaircraft.com/news/images/L_Miller-3.jpg

  Jan 13, 2017     Pick up tail kit Category: Empennage

Wow, this was a big step for me. Up until this point I was still on the fence whether or not I was going to scratch build or kit build. Opted to start out with a component kit.

1750.00 CH 650 B Component Kit (CH 650 B Tail Kit)
49.50 HRIV (Hand Riveter with Custom Machined Heads)
99.85 PRIV (Pneumatic Riveter with Custom Machined Head
2.25 30DB (Drill Bit #30)
2.25 20DB (Drill Bit #20)
12.95 MTM (Metric Tape Measure)

  Dec 11, 2015     Rudder workshop - day 2 - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Overlaid the skin on the spar and ribs, cleco'd and riveted the skin on. Finished the rudder and the workshop! This is definitely something that I can handle!

  Dec 10, 2015     Day 1 of Rudder Workshop - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Day 1 of the rudder workshop. Today we (my wife, oldest daughter, and I) started to learn the shop environment, and the rudder kit. We then measured everything out, and started drilling holes in the spar and ribs. Got everything cleco'd and ready to rivet.

  Oct 20, 2015     Rudder Workshop purchase Category: Empennage

Rudder workshop to introduce use to sheet metal working technique.