Jun 05, 2022     Mounting the end caps that balance the stabilator - (3 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Today I recut the end cap pieces that lead weights attach to to balance the stabilator. I recut them because the first set were 1 inch short. Here are pictures of the end caps mounted. An interesting thing I thought of while scrapping the pieces that don't fit. There is no question that I am doing this work... all anyone has to do is look in my scrap bin at all the pieces that had to be redone.

  May 17, 2022     Balsa wood for trim tab shaft - (2 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Over the past couple weeks I cut and trimmed the 2 pieces of Balsa wood that the shaft for the trim tab goes through. The plans call for 3 pieces of 3/4 inch balsa wood glued together. I couldn't find 3 pieces but I found two. So I very inaccurately cut the same channel down both pieces and glued them together. It isn't pretty but it is functional. I will clean it up with some sanding and add the bolts under it before varnishing the entire stabilator.

  Mar 26, 2022     Sanding the Leading Edge - (2 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Today I took some advice of a EAA Club member "Take some photos of you doing the work for your log". So today was rather boring but I took a couple pictures anyway. The leading edge of the stabilator needs to be a 1/2 round. So before I attached it I used a hand plane and today I used an orbital sander 40 grit (and a little hand planing). I will probably use a finer grit next to make it smoother.

  Mar 19, 2022     more of last week's 1/4 rounds - (1 hour)       Category: Tail Feathers

This week I glued in the last set of 1/4 rounds on the stabilator. Interesting that this piece is essentially working from the inside out. Next I will work on the balsa wood center piece that surrounds the shaft for the trim tab.

  Mar 13, 2022     1/4 rounds - (2 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Using a little help from gravity - I suspended the stabilator from the ceiling. I placed the inside 1/4 rounds on the inside of the aft section of the stabilator, next week the fwd inside 1/4 rounds.

  Mar 05, 2022     Stab spacers - (3 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Gluing some of the smaller items on the stabilator spar. These "in between" blocks appear to be placed to keep air in the front and back of the inside of the stabilator from mixing. The 1/16 " ply leading edge flashing will fasten to these top and bottom to form a solid wood "pocket". Each of these spacers was individually sanded to fit. Next I'll do the bottom spacers. I did have to trim the over glue from the inside edges of each rib to get a true fit. I am constantly amazed that my little drumel tool has been so useful in this build,
3/6/22 - turned the stabilator over and glued the stab spar spacers to the other side. Also in the photos is the Stab Trim tab I was able to purchase with the VP2 I bought in Canada. It is the same overall dimensions except for length. So I will have to remove some of the pop rivets and the outer hinges - cut to the proper length then reattach the hinges.

  Feb 27, 2022     Stab Trailing edge - (2 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

The leading edge and rib gluing went so well yesterday, I glued the trailing edges to the Stabilator today. I can see that I will have a lot of sanding to trim the remaining Stab pieces to fit.

  Feb 26, 2022     Finishing up adding the ribs to the Stab spar - (3 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Glued the remaining ribs to the Stabilator Spar. Last week I made more jigs to hold the ribs in place so I was able to glue the remaining 6 ribs in place and the leading edge of the left side and the last rib on the right side. Fortunately no ribs were glued to the jigs so after these dry I can determine if I am still as fortunate.

  Feb 21, 2022     First Stab glue - (3 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

After making the braces (jigs) and heating the garage to a comfortable temperature I glued the first ribs to the stab and glued the leading edge to the ribs to make sure all would be true. After completing this step I can see at least 4 to 6 more steps to a completed stabilator. I probably should have made 10 total jigs. One of them a left hand jig - which I made today. The opposite side (left hand) brace for the jig is for the opposite end rib.

  Feb 13, 2022     Spar Endcaps - (2.0 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Today cut the two spar end caps that will hold the counterweights. I also made 4 spar clamping jigs from a description of another builder. Hopefully these will hold the ribs in place on the spar while gluing.

  Feb 06, 2022     Stab Leading Edge - (2.5 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

After a mis-cut set of leading edges for the Stabilator I purchased additional 3/4" x 4" 6 foot pieces of pine. The past few weeks have mostly been either below zero outside or very close in the single digits. The thought of heating my garage up to 60 degrees (which would take about 2 hours) did not appeal to me so I waited until the temperature was at least 20 degrees. So today I measured and measured and measured (seemingly endlessly) to try to get the right length and placement of the 1/4" notches in the leading edges of the stabilator. I have mentioned before how the plans call for 10" inches from the outside edge of the ribs down the length of the stab spar to an 8 1/8 inch spacing on the interior two ribs. This (hopefully) leaves a 7 1/4 inch gap between the interior edges of the two interior ribs. (overall length is 84 inches if anyone wants to play with this - don't bother - the numbers do not add up unless you account for the 1/4 width of the ribs) The problem is that multiplied over 5 ribs the width of a pencil lead can throw off the last measurement on each side and eventually mis place the interior spacing. I solved this issue by cutting the two leading edge pieces together to match the 7 1/4" interior space and then matching each rib placement on the 2 leading edges. The next step before fitting everything together is rounding the leading edges of the two pieces. I roughed these out and will sand them round after assembly.

  Dec 19, 2021     parts       Category: Tail Feathers

Today I finished roughing out the parts for the stabilator. Next I will begin the process of dry fitting the parts together. I will also need to shape the leading edge to a semi half round and both the leading edge and trailing edge will need 1/4 inch slots cut for fitting the ribs.

  Dec 15, 2021     Stabilator - (3 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

No picture this week... I spent a few hours measuring and remeasuring the placement of the ribs on the spar. This came about as I was cutting the pieces for the trailing edges of the stabilator. I thought the easiest way to get the correct measurements (vs from the drawings) was to measure the markings I had made on the spar from the plans last time to position the ribs. WOW the two sides were not symmetrical! So I slid all the ribs off the spar and looked back at the plans and my marks. First I measured my spar - it was exactly 84 1/16 th inches - so I used my chop saw and trimmed the extra 1/16th off. The I added up all the measurements on the plans. form left to right it reads "10"+10"+10"+8 1/8"+7 1/4" +8 1/8" + 10"+ 10" + 10"... I added these up on the calculator and it came to 83 1/2 inches? So now the "head scratching" began. If I missed adding in all the 1/4 " widths of the ribs then it would add eight 1/4" widths. so definitely adding 2 inches to the spar is not right (85 1/2 "). So rereading the plans and looking very closely at the markings on the 11"x17" plan book I saw that the "7 1/4 inch" center measurement is an interior dimension vs the 10" measurements are all from the exterior of the ribs. This led me to realize the 1/2 inch difference was from the widths of the two interior ribs. Perhaps later I will add in a scan of the plans page that gave me so much "head scratching". Took a picture of the page.

  Nov 28, 2021     lay out stabilator on spar       Category: Tail Feathers

finished the Stab Spar today by trimming and drilling the last holes. I measured out the placement of the ribs and lined them up to get an idea of correct measurements. The designed used "on center" for some alignment and from the starboard or port to out side edge for others. Very confusing. So I started from the 3 5/8" centerline measurement and the 7 1/4 center measurements and worked my way out. This gives me a good idea of where the ribs will be glued. I marked the spar and over the nest few weeks will get all the pieces together before assembly.

  Nov 26, 2021     varnish inside of stab spar - (1 hour)       Category: Tail Feathers

Day after Thanksgiving - applied masking tape to areas not wanting to varnish (to apply glue to later) and then varnished the inside of the stab spar. Also put another coat of varnish on the rudder.

  Nov 25, 2021     Boxing in the Stab Spar - (1 hour)       Category: Tail Feathers

Applied one side of the 1/8 inch ply to the Stab Spar. It took longer than an hour to get the garage up to 60 degrees.

  Nov 21, 2021     Stab spar gluing phase 1 - (2 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

A short day today to glue the two lengths of sitka spruce to the spacer blocks. Next week (a long weekend over Thanksgiving break) I plan to glue the 1/8 inch ply to both sides of the stab spar. With varnish inside this should complete the stab spar. Of course one very critical part of this process is first getting the garage over 60 degrees for the glue. The wood stove in the background is responsible for that.

  Nov 14, 2021     Stab Spar parts       Category: Tail Feathers

Today I did a little work on the Stabilator Spar. First I had to lengthen my workbench. Then I cut the 1/8 ply to 2 inch width. Lastly I placed all parts in position for gluing. My primary goal was to ensure I have a 2"x 2" spar after gluing. Yes, it all fits. Next step gluing.

  Nov 07, 2021     Stab Spar parts       Category: Tail Feathers

Over the weekend I spent a lot of time on making sure the Sitka Spruce Stab Spar 84 inch lengths were exactly 1/2 " x" 1 3/4 ". This is because the square holes in the Stab ribs are exactly 2 1/16" square. I also used a Maple block vs a Birch block because I could not find a 1" thick birch board and maple is an acceptable substitute. Also in the picture are two Balsa wood blocks to be used in the filler space where the Stab trim rod passes through the Stabilator.

  Oct 26, 2021     complete Rudder       Category: Tail Feathers

Finished the Rudder with a few coats of spar varnish. Also went to lumber store and bouget the 3/4 round, birch and maple for the Stabilator Spar. I had to order the Balsa in 2"x3"x12" blocks from Amazon as no hobby stores in the area carry anything larger than 2" or 3" squares. Of note in the background is the fuselage of the VP2 I bought from Canada. My barn has my VP1 fuselage in it and until I figure out how to dismantle the VP2 for parts it will probably act as a "parts storage" area.

  Oct 03, 2021     Rudder trailing edge       Category: Tail Feathers

A few hours on a Sunday cutting and fitting the trailing edge of the rudder. Also a shot of the VP2 rudder I bought for parts from Canada. It is interesting to compare VP1 to VP2 and the workmanship of the other guy to mine. Of note the "other guy" intended to have lights on his VP as you can see with the tail light he mounted to the top of the rudder.

  Aug 29, 2021     Rudder - (2 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

Small pieces eventually add up. Today I shaped the leading edge of the rudder and glued it in place.

  Aug 07, 2021     Rudder Ribs       Category: Tail Feathers

Today I fit the ribs on the rudder tube. A rather long process but it looks like it came out just right. After gluing the ribs to the blocks I used a long level as a straight edge to line up the rib ends.

  Jul 18, 2021     rudder blocks       Category: Tail Feathers

Trimmed the blocks for the rudder ribs and trimmed the washers to fit the blocks. Added a coat of enamel to the rudder tube and the bare surfaces of the washers I trimmed. The plans look as though they used a 3/4 inch washer but the washers supplied in the Aircraft Spruce hardware kit is a 1 inch washer. So each washer I trimmed 1/4 inch off of 1 side to fit the washer to the rudder rib. Many thanks to Stephen Vorkoetter http://www.stefanv.com/volksplane/rudder.html for his detailed page on how he built the Volksplane rudder.

  Jul 11, 2021     Rudder       Category: Tail Feathers

Finally got back to the rudder. The original blocks I cut were ok but the 2" holes were a little bigger than 2"... so I cut new blocks and cut new 2" holes. These turned out much better and more snug. I drilled the attachment holes and then clamped them to my worktable to drill holes in the rudder tube using the 3"blocks as guides. The AN4-40 bolts fit perfectly. Next take it all apart and put it back together. This involves painting the metal parts, varnishing the wood and gluing the ribs to the blocks. After that the vertical fwd and aft pieces will be cut and fitted.