Jun 22, 2023     Tail Feathers - (11 hours)       Category: Empennage

Assembled and installed the horizontal stab and elevator on to the fuselage. Connected the trim motor and tested it through the full range of nose up/nose down with no issues. Installed and riveted one side of the flaperon hinges on both wings. I'll do the other side once I install the flaperons themselves just to be sure they are all aligned (they were when I test fit them last year but you never know. Started looking at the glare shield install and saw where one builder suggested making the clips a little longer making it easier to get the glare shield to engage them. I had already built the clips to the specs in the manual but decided that making them a little longer made some sense. So I fabricated them to be a quarter inch longer after the bend.

  Jun 09, 2022     Horizontal Stab and Transponder - (7 hours)       Category: Empennage

Finishing up some stuff today that I had started on but didn't totally complete. I had installed the rack for the transponder, built the ground plane for the antenna and then never installed the antenna and the antenna cable. So that was first on today's list. I had built some close outs for the horizontal stab braces using an older Kitfox version as a model. (I liked it better than the current one) Installed the bracket on the stab and made the plates to close them out but never opened up the plate to allow the brace itself to clear. That hole has to clear the brace during the whole trim range of motion. So that was second on the list and got both sides completed and ran the trim through the full range to verify the clearance. The third thing on the list required beer. I successfully completed that as well.

  Feb 01, 2022     Horizontal Stab Close Out and Console - (9 hours)       Category: Empennage

There isn't really a plan for closing out the horizontal stab where the brace attaches on the Kitfox 7. Didn't want to leave just a hole there for the brace so I fabricated a close out using one from the Kitfox 5 as a model. Picture "HS Close Out 9" pretty much reflects how the Kitfox 5 close out would look. I added one more attachment point than the original just to hold the cover just a bit better. Also fabricated the actual cover but did not cut the hole for the brace yet as the horizontal stab moves from trimming and I have not assessed how much movement will occur at the brace points. I also covered the side panels for the center console with the same material as I used on the console and am happy with the look.

  Nov 10, 2021     Rudder Fairing and Top Caps - (14 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got the fiberglass rudder fairing Hysol'd on to the rudder before having to leave for a week for work. Came home and was able to do some final trimming on the fairing so that it fit on the vertical stab with with no interference in it's movement. One thing I did before gluing the fairing to the rudder was go back and make it so that the bolts through the vertical stab bearings went in without having to tweak the rudder some. That was time well spent since once you secure the fairing to the rudder and then install it on the vertical stab, it's harder to get the bolts in cause you have to go through the access holes in the fairing. Having it fitted with a good alignment made it much easier.

Earlier I had done some rough cutting out of balsa for the top caps on the vertical stab and rudder but when I looked at them again, I didn't like the way they looked. So I made a new set, did some rough shaping and then Hysol'd them. Tomorrow I should be able to do work on dialing in the shape and possibly start the Hysol coating.

  Oct 28, 2021     Vertical Stab Ribs and Fairing - (7 hours)       Category: Empennage

Got the ribs on both the vertical stab and rudder lacquered with two coats so that fun part is done. As I said before, I didn't exactly follow the instructions when it came time to epoxy in some of the ribs. One of those places was the top of the vertical assembly. The instructions call for epoxying in the rib to the rudder tube structure. That would be fine but the bottom of that rib didn't line up with the bottom of the top rib on the vertical stab. So I lowered it a bit, installed a spacer between the rib and the tube so that they line up. I roughed out the top caps for the vertical and rudder out of balsa and the bottoms now line up perfectly so when I cover the tail it will look straight. I fitted the trailing edge fairing to the vertical and epoxied the fairing to the rear 'spine' so that I know the fairing is straight. I'll do the edges of the fairing to the ribs tomorrow after the spine epoxy sets up. You can see that I adhere to one of my father's adages for working in the shop; "A man cannot have too many clamps".

  Oct 21, 2021     Vertical Stab and Rudder Ribs - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Started working the ribs for the vertical stab and rudder. I also jumped ahead a bit with the instructions to fit and drill the half inch aluminum edge that is used to attach the rear inspection panel. I read somewhere where one builder thought it would be easier to do the fitting and drilling of those before the rib was Hysol'd on to the frame. That sure made sense to me so I followed suit by doing the fabrication, drilling and fitting of the pieces. Got them primed and painted so they are ready to install once I get all the ribs installed permanently. Pressed on with fitting the rest of the ribs on both the vertical and the rudder making sure they were lined up with each other (so they look cool when I cover them). I built the stiffeners for the ribs, removed the ribs from the airframe and Hysol'd the stiffeners to the ribs so that I can move on to giving them a coat of lacquer tomorrow.

  Oct 17, 2021     Horiz Stab and Trim Motor - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage

Did all the adjustments on the left and right horiz stab braces to place the stab perpendicular to the vertical stab. Had to be one of the easiest things I have done on the build Measured from the top of the vertical to both tips of the stab as well as to where the brace mount was located on the stab. All the measurements were right on. Proceeded to mount the trim motor and ran into a bit of a wicket with the lower mount. The instructions call for the bolt to go through the mount, then a AN960-10 washer (going to call it a -10 washer from now on), a nylon washer, through the trim motor mount, a nylon washer, a -10 washer, through the other side of the mount, a -10 washer and the self locking nut (nothing between the collar and the mount). There was no way in God's green earth that was going to work and even look right. I even bent the mounts out a bit and those washers between the mount and the motor would not fit (and besides bending the mount just looked wrong!!). After playing with that for over an hour, I substituted the -10 washers for the thin version of the same washer (an AN960-10L that I will call -10L). So in the picture you can see that the mounts are not bent, the bolt goes through the mount, a -10L washer, a nylon washer, through the trim motor mount, a nylon washer, a -10L washer, through the other side of the mount, a -10 washer between the mount and the collar, through the collar, a -10L washer and the self locking nut. I torqued the nut to the 15 in/lb requirement and just have two thread showing through the top of the nut. Hence the -10L washer between the nut and collar. So now that the trim motor is installed, I removed the horiz stab and am looks like the next item on the fun list are the ribs for the rudder.

  Oct 15, 2021     Horiz Stab and Rudder - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage

Worked on mounting the horizontal stab and the rudder today. Got the stab on the fuselage, attached the supports but haven't done the adjusting to verify the horizontal is perpendicular to the vertical stab. Fitted and drilled the front slide blocks. Attached the rudder and adjusted the attachment points so that the proper gap clearances of 1 1/2 inches on the top and 2 5/16 inches at the bottom between the rudder and the vertical stab. Most definitely had to run a tap through the threaded attachment points on the vertical stab to get the bearings to thread in far enough to set the proper gap.

  Oct 10, 2021     Horizontal stab and Elevator - (20 hours)       Category: Empennage

Busy week between getting the house ready for Winter and working on the plane. I got the bushings for the elevator all fitted into the bearings on the horizontal stab. I used an older file (read not real aggressive in removing metal) and took the bushings down to a diameter of 0.312. Then used the suggested sand paper method to fine fit them. This took almost a day to complete. Started on coating the end caps with Hysol and giving them the final shape. My elevator was actually about 1/8 inch wider than the stab on one end so I made that end cap just a bit thicker to make them both the same width. If you measure the progress on the plane by how much Hysol you use - I finished my first cans!! While I was working the end caps I also varnished the ribs except for the ends where I would be applying the Hysol to glue them in. Hysol and varnish I understand don't make the best bond. Transferred the rib placement dimensions from the instructions to the assembly and then adjusted the ribs a bit to take advantage of the metal structure where it was available. I made sure the ribs were fitted perpendicular to the tubes with the hinges. Once I had them all dry fit I used my trusty aluminum angle pieces and CA glue to insure that the ribs were lined up on the stab and elevator and holding them in position to get the Hysol. Also by checking the distance between the two aluminum angles, I was able to be sure that the ribs were parallel with each other (checked my dry fitting job). Finally got the ribs Hysol'd on the upper side of the assembly. Will do the bottom side tomorrow.

  Oct 04, 2021     More Horiz Stab Work - (12 hours)       Category: Empennage

Working on both the end caps for the horizontal stab/elevator and pressing the elevator bearings into the horiz stab. I got the end caps formed and Hysol'd on to the horizontal stab and elevator. I used balsa wood rather than the foam that came with the kit. Little more robust once all is finished. I got the bearings for the elevator hinge all fitted into the horiz stab. Definitely learned a lesson on using Loctite 680 bearing retention fluid. That stuff sets up really quick and it's strong as can be. Almost didn't get the first bearing pushed in because it set up so quick. The shear strength on it is rated at 4000psi and I believe it. The last 1/8 inch of that first bearing required me to get a longer ratchet handle to finish pressing it. It was so hard to finish that when I got it done and went to remove the bolt I was using as a press, I found that the threads of the bolt were horribly galled. I literally had to use a cutting wheel to cut the bolt off to get it out. The bearing was fine and I am sure that after getting all the bearing pressed in, the will never come out.

  Sep 29, 2021     Horizontal Stab and Elevator - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage

Spent the last couple days fitting the ribs for the horizontal stab and elevator. I read over the directions for this part and changed the order on some of the steps. The directions call to Hysol the ribs onto the stab and elevator and then add stiffeners where required. I thought adding the stiffeners before actually installing the ribs would be easier and cleaner all around. There was also a 1/2" hole called out to be drilled into two of the ribs after they were installed. I marked where the hole would be while fitting those ribs and drilled it now. Hysol is in the process of drying on the stiffeners right now. I am thinking I will also do the lacquer on the ribs but leave the areas that get the Hysol when installing the ribs to the structure. I'll finish the lacquer over all the ribs once they are installed but that should be a quick job. Also going to do the fitting of the bearings on the elevator before I install the ribs. That way I won't run the chance of breaking a rib if I get careless.