Jan 02, 2021     RD Tip Epoxy - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

The front seven holes of the rudder tip need to be countersunk. The thickness is very thin, added a couple of layers of one inch fiberglass tap to the front 7 holes to reinforce.

  Dec 10, 2020     EL Riveting Complete - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Riveted the end tips, with extra time taken to ensure the metal backing strips stayed in correct place and even. Riveted front of skins.

  Dec 08, 2020     EL Riveting - (2 hours) Category: Empennage

Finished riveting of upper and lower skins. Front and tips only remaining to rivet.

  Dec 05, 2020     EL Riveting - (7.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Riveted approximately 70% of the elevator. Per instructions, leaving the tips to last to rivet.

Had to shorten a handful of rivets to fit in a few tight spaces at trailing edge and two middle hinge brackets.

  Dec 04, 2020     EL Final Prep - (3.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Due to updated factory instructions, had to un-cleco left side skin to reposition the three tabs 18,19,20. In previous instruction versions these tabs were clearly depicted on the lower flange of the ribs and trim tab mounting channel although not specifically mentioned in text. After noticing the recent instructions version now calls these three parts out in the text and requires they be on the upper flange of the ribs/mounting channel.

Put everything back together, including the tips and rechecked alignment with horizontal stabilizer.

  Dec 03, 2020     EL Rivet Prep - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Had to do a little rework to drill out the end counter weights and change from 4.0 to 4.8 size rivets. The holes in the rib have to be upsized and the counter weight slightly drilled out to accept the 4.8 x 15mm rivets.

Attached the elevator the the horiz stab with bolts temporarily to check alignment and fit. Prepared elevator with all clecos for riveting as next step.

For the elevator composite tips, created some aluminum straps for inside to reduce the chance of a rivet pulling through the composite hole (especially the front ones which are countersinked).

  Nov 14, 2020     RD Skin Rivet - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Rivetted the rudder skin. Used the maximum clecos to ensure skin pulled tight and no twisting.

  Nov 13, 2020     RD Tip - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Checked alignment of rudder from several angles. Test fit the rudder tip and drilled holes.

  Nov 12, 2020     EL Trim Tab - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Drilled holes in both end of trim tab hinge. Used 3/64 drill bit for .032 safety wire. Riveted hinge to trim tab and installed.

  Oct 25, 2020     VS Skin Rivet - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Rivetted the VS skin. Installed the Rami AV-520 antenna elements.

  Oct 24, 2020     VS Skin - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

Drilled two pilot holes 18mm from rivet line centers on top of VS and 8mm apart to accommodate V style VOR antenna. Upsize drilled the holes to 9.5mm and hand filed the holes to be an oval shape. Performed same on both sides of skin. Used a sharpie to draw a line around puck elements so can tell they are fully seated when screwed in once skin is attached. Torqued the antenna puck to appropriate value. The M4 x12mm stainless bolts were replaced with M4 x 40mm stainless for length through the spacer and puck (page E 3.5). After ordering several sizes of grommets from Aircraft Spruce to trial, went with part # AN931-6-10.
Attached skin and checked alignment with laser level.

  Oct 22, 2020     VS VOR Antenna - (2.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Fashioned a new nylon spacer for installing the VOR antenna puck to the top VS rib. Made it T shape so that puck has more horizontal support on one end but still allows clearance for the back two rivets. Used a practice piece of skin to experiment with hole placement and different rubber grommets.

  Oct 13, 2020     VS Strobe/VOR Cables - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Installed strobe and VOR antenna RG-400 cable. Upsized holes need to 9.5mm using step drill. Used rubber grommets provided.

Used adel clamp (Aircraft Spruce - CLAMP MS21919-WDG4) on strobe wire to allow for upsizing existing hole in second rib vs drilling another hole at front of rib. Clamp will prevent wire from falling down into third rib opening where elevator swing arm moves.

Installed edge protection on top hole for strobe wire out to rudder.

  Oct 12, 2020     VS Structure - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Installed the angles and spar doublers to rear spar. Spent some extra time reaming out the 9 bottom spar holes so that the M4 bolts align well with the M4 rivnuts. When the structure is put together there is some slight alignment variation that makes some of the M4 bolts not align well through the angle (part 9), spar doubler (part 14) and rear spar (part 7).

Also there was some question about if the bottom two rear spar holes on both sides should be upsized to M4 or upsized to allow the bottom two rivnuts install on angle (part 9) to be flush in hole on rear spar. After consulting factory tech support on 10/08/20 their response was "You do not need to enlarge the holes. The flanges have been designed to leave a gap for the rivnut flanges." I followed their advice and only upsized the bottom two holes to M4 size on rear spar for the bolts to pass through to the angle rivnuts.

Riveted the internal structure of the VS together except the top rib where will be installing the VOR antenna puck next.

  Oct 08, 2020     VS Spar Angle Rivnuts - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Updrilled holes in spar angle and deburred. Installed the bottom four rivnuts in the two spar angles.

  Oct 07, 2020     VS Angle Doubler Rivnuts - (2.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Upsize drilled the 7 holes on both spar doublers and deburred holes. Installed the 14 M4 size rivnuts and used Loctite 277 red to ensure rivnuts never spin in the hole.

  Oct 01, 2020     VS Skin Prep - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Received replacement VS skin from factory. Deburred all edges and holes, dimpled required holes. Slowly unbent one of the corners that was bent during shipping.

  Apr 18, 2020     VS Structure - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Put together the VS structure. Waiting on replacement skin for VS from the factory.

  Apr 12, 2020     RD Structure - (3.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got all of the parts back from paint shop after priming on Friday. Assembled and riveted rudder structure. Had to ream out a few holes on the top rib to get the counter weight to align with the 4.8mm rivets. Everything else went together easily.

  Mar 10, 2020     RD Prep - (6.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Deburred/prepared all rudder parts (edges/holes). Cleco'd all the parts together and began test fitting the rudder tip for drilling.

  Mar 08, 2020     EL Skin Priming - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Took out all cleco's to remove skin to prepare for priming. Finished removing all surface burrs on both left/right skin. Finished riveting trim servo plate after getting some clarification from factory about rivnuts included in hardware package (intended to be used later on servo itself).

  Mar 07, 2020     EL End Tips & Trim Tab - (6.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Countersunk both end tips and dimpled end skin. It took a while to get a consistent countersink on the tips, partly due to being overly careful with the material type and also because the microstop tool edge overlaps on the lip of the fiberglass when countersinking. Attached control horn to trim tab skin and test fit hinge. Spent some time deburring left skin that had some rough areas on the surface around the pre-punched holes.

  Mar 06, 2020     EL End Tips - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Put on the elevator tips and drilled top and bottom of left side after several cycles of test fitting. Rather than using 3.2mm drill bit for 10 countersunk holes, used 2.4mm so that microstop countersink cutter would not wonder in the hole and therefore used silver cleco's along the way of drilling end piece. Did use 3.2mm drill bit on non-countersink holes.

It was a beautiful spring-like day in Texas so took advantage and worked with the garage door open.

  Mar 05, 2020     EL Skin Fitting - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Riveted the end rib counterweights. Upsize drilled holes, riveted and test fit the inspection hatch assembly on the skin. Fitted the left and right skin.

  Mar 02, 2020     EL Ribs - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Riveted all of the ribs and hinge brackets to elevator channel spar. Riveted reinforcing angle to ribs/spar - these were some close quarters rivets to get in. Added the trim mounting channel so that skins can be clecoed on next.

  Mar 01, 2020     EL Swing Arm Mount - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Torqued the bottom bolt on the swing arm assembly, then attached to elevator spar and torqued the bolts (AN3 bolts at 2.4 Nm). Applied a small amount of blue loctite 243 to the metal bolt threads just by the washer before torquing.

  Feb 28, 2020     EL Spar & Swing Arm - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Add center channel, hinge bracket, center plates and L/R rib 1 to the spar. Riveted the swing arm.

  Feb 26, 2020     EL Spar & Swing Arm - (2.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Began putting together structure of elevator. Started to rivet the spar and cleco'd the swing arm assembly. Had to spend some time reviewing the packing list, instruction manual and package contents as the rivet bags and instructions did not match up for a few items. Emailed the factory for clarification, but believe I figured out from process of elimination.

  Feb 25, 2020     HS Complete - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Riveted the right HS skin in place. HS is complete.

  Feb 24, 2020     HS Skins Riveting - (4.5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Riveted the left HS skin in place. Had to ream out a few holes along bottom trailing edge. Took extra time to ensure rivets grabbed correctly for the two smaller leading edge ribs as these were more difficult to get the holes aligned correctly when installing clecos. Also check that front spar channel center angle (third layer) was seated properly when rivet installed vs being pushed down. The inexpensive borescope was very helpful to look inside the structure once the skins were already cleco'd (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZVF6HX5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1).

  Feb 23, 2020     HS Skins - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Installed the trim servo wire and related edge protection. Checked rib flanges for flatness as a few had gotten slightly bent during the dimpling process. Fitted left and right skins and cleco'd. Did several alignment measurements with straight level and laser level. Began riveting left skin.

  Feb 22, 2020     HS Structure Complete - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage

Picked up the HS parts from the paint shop today and was able to begin assembly. I happen to live about 15 min from GLO Aircraft Painting at 52F so my process includes them using a Sherwin Williams Aerospace Epoxy Primer product (CM0483787) which is a light gray color.

Completed riveting the HS structure. Had to drill out one 4.0mm and one 3.2mm rivet that did not seat properly and redo. Ready to cleco on the skins and check for final alignment before riveting skins.

  Feb 19, 2020     VS VOR Antenna Planning - (1 hour)       Category: Empennage

Talked with representative from Rami and they were nice enough to send me a more detailed drawing of the AV-520 model for my planning.

Also received the AV-520 this week and began looking at options for a revised mounting to the support plate to avoid using either a rivet hole or shortening multiple rivets to clear the puck.

  Feb 15, 2020     VS VOR Antenna & Skin Prep - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Reviewed the available options for VOR antenna that fits inside the top VS rib. Determined that the Rami 532 not the best fit (puck does not fit well in the rib and the attachment holes don't line up with the rib or support plate) and looking at other Rami options. The 520 model has screw in elements rather than fixed - trying to determine how to avoid cutting a "notch" on the top of the VS skin and the top rib to make antenna fit as the build plans describe. Working with Rami for information on the 520 and estimating exit points of the antenna elements - hopefully between rivet holes - waiting on Rami response for more detailed specs.

On the inside of the VS skin there are surface burrs that hole deburring tool does not remove. Used 3M Scotch Brite A-VFN discs with right angle drill to quickly buff this rough edge off each hole. Much faster and focused approach after experimentation than trying to use a scotch brite hand pad. The discs were the very fine coarseness (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HSCMZ2O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1).

  Feb 09, 2020     VS Deburring/Edge Prep Finish - (3 hours) Category: Empennage

Did the remaining VS parts - deburring edges and holes, polishing with scotch brite wheel.
VS ready for priming.

  Feb 08, 2020     VS Deburring/Edge Prep - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Did 13 parts of VS - deburring edges and holes, polishing with scotch brite wheel.

  Jan 25, 2020     EL Deburring/Edge Prep Finish - (7 hours)       Category: Empennage

Did the remaining 1/2 of elevator parts - deburring edges and holes, polishing with scotch brite wheel.
Elevator ready for priming.
Next step is to tag parts with aluminum wire/numbered tags for inventory to/from priming location.

  Jan 23, 2020     EL Deburring/Edge Prep - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

Did about 1/2 of elevator parts - deburring edges and holes, polishing with scotch brite wheel.

  Jan 21, 2020     EL Deburring Start - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Set aside HS parts and began working on elevator.
Reviewed construction manual for elevator.
Began deburring elevator main channel spar components.

  Jan 20, 2020     HS Finalized For Priming - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

Checked alignment with laser level.
Finished match drilling the skins/ribs for the countersunk rivet holes up to the needed 3.2mm size (pre-punched holes are at 2.8mm). Used #30 chucking reamer bit.
Disassembled, removed any final burrs and cleaned up metal shavings from drilling.
Ready for priming.

  Jan 19, 2020     HS Skin Fitting and Upsize Drilling - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Fit both the left and right skins to the HS. It took a couple of tries on both sides to get the pre-punched holes to line up and be clecoed.

Began match drilling the skins/ribs for the countersunk rivet holes up to the needed 3.2mm size (pre-punched holes are at 2.8mm).

  Jan 18, 2020     HS Deburring Ribs, Spar, Skins - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Deburred every edge on every part with scotch brite wheel, hand files or scote brite pads. Based on feedback from local EAA chapter builder and online comments from DAR in my area, taking a more aggressive/complete approach to making edge surfaces smooth.

Beginning to test fit left skin.

  Jan 17, 2020     HS Deburring Ribs - (2 hours) Category: Empennage

Set up bench grinder with scotch brite wheel. Deburred some HS ribs.

  Jan 15, 2020     HS Finished Dimpling - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Finished dimpling the HS ribs - specifically those that required using the hand squeezer for difficult to reach holes with DRDT-2. Had to grind down the dimple dies more and grind down the lower edge of the hand squeezer so that it would not mar the inside wall of the smaller rib parts. Ground it down for the same clearance as the lower dimple die.

  Jan 08, 2020     HS Dimple Ribs - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage

Dimpled the HS ribs. Had to grind down the dimple die on one side so that it would not damage the ribs when pre-punched holes were too close to the inside bend/wall.

  Jan 07, 2020     HS Center Angle Countersink - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

Countersunk both center angles for the HS

  Jan 06, 2020     HS Step Drill and Deburring - (2 hours)       Category: Empennage

In the left HS rib, step drilled holes to 3/8 (9.5mm) for snap bushings to hold the trim servo wire.
Deburred various parts from the HS.

  Jan 05, 2020     HS Dimple Skins - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Tested new 120 degree dimple dies on test material
Dimpled the HS skins and front spar channel

  Dec 23, 2019     Empennage Start - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage

Build activity:
1) Developed a game plan for priming parts at the nearby airplane paint shop
2) Researched deburring further
3) More tools arriving daily, ordered a few more as understanding needs continues
4) Test fit horizontal stabilizer parts