Project: Shermnator   -  
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Builder Name:David Sherman   -  
Project:   Vans - RV-9A   -   VIEW REPORTS
Total Hours:528.25
Start/Last Date:Dec 12, 2020 - Jun 01, 2025
Engine:Lycoming O-320 D2A
 
Friendly URL: https://eaabuilderslog.org?s=Shermnator

Home or Last Project Picture

Apr 14, 2024     Firewall and aux longerons - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Had a couple co-workers (Sean and Josh) come up to lend a hand on the build. Finished all the extra side skin drilling into the aft section, added the 904-L straps and hung the firewall. Firewall is now drilled and I am working on the auxiliary forward section longerons and stiffeners. Adding the firewall really has it looking like it is coming together. (Things are busy outside of this build, so it may be a little slow going for a while)

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Mar 26, 2024     Longeron drilling complete - (5 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Over the weekend I made the canonical bend on the side skins to meet the aft fuselage. This was a little nerve racking as others have said they cracked the skin at the front end of the bend. I think they ended up fine. Then I was a drilling machine for a couple hours to drill all the holes in the longerons I guess I really do have a lot of clecos at this point. ~153 inches each with a hole about every inch. That will be a whole lot of countersinking and dimpling!!

We have some travel coming up and I will get working on adding the firewall to finish out the forward fuselage.

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Mar 17, 2024     Moving to the garage! - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Assembly day with Chris going back to college we had to get this done. I barely could get the tail out of the basement without taking the door apart (whew!). With the longerons ready, time to start putting it all together. The fuselage gets a lot of work done upside down and will be built out to the firewall in the coming weeks. But it is looking like a recognizable structure now. Van's does a great engineering job with all the pre-punched holes that all line up. Very satisfying/reassuring to be able to just put in clecos.

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Mar 14, 2024     Bending the longerons - (3.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Chris helped me finishing the bends on the longerons and putting on the SIL parts. We still have to do the downward bends and the twist, but that will be easy compared to these bends.

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Mar 09, 2024     Added the crotch strap tie downs - (4 hours) Category: Fuselage
I found the crotch strap kit for a 5 point harness. Since I have the parts, I might as well add them. I realized I couldn't complete this without an aviation right angle drill. I found a good used one on ebay but had to wait for it. Worked like a charm and I am sure I will need it in the future.

On to start bending the longerons!
 
Feb 19, 2024     Completed the Rudder Pedal Assembly - (9 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Still waiting on warmer weather to start the big parts in the garage. So I fabricated the rudder pedals and have that ready to go. Once the forward fuselage is complete, I just will need to drill the bolt holes for the rudder pedals. I was happy to have my 82 yr old dad helping me put these together! The one picture shows my clamps to get the alignment straight on setting the pedal angles before drilling the brake cylinder holes.

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Feb 08, 2024     Completed Seatbacks and attachments - (9.25 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Completed assembly of the seatbacks and attached the hinges to the seat floors. Lots of measuring and drilling. Had one small dent right at the end. ugh. Tried rattle can paint on the seat backs as this may be my color for my cockpit. Need to see what the interior cushion colors will be to commit to painting more parts.

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Jan 29, 2024     Skipping Ahead - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage
I don't want to work out in the garage just yet, but I want to make progress. Shannon and I went and picked parts for the seats and the rudder pedals. Those look doable in the near term. Working the seating first.

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Jan 04, 2024     Center Section Assembly - (14.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Lots of work on this one. Not sure where the time went on this entry, but a lot of fitting and fluting and such. Everything is primed and riveted. It is starting to look like a plane for sure and cockpit. Next step is to mate this with the aft fuselage. I will wait until it starts getting warmer first before moving to the garage. I think I can do some flooring and seat work in the meantime. The last pic has the flooring in place to see how it is all looking.

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Dec 09, 2023     Center Section Prep - (6.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Laid out all the seat ribs and baggage ribs, fluted and squared the flanges. Began cleco'ing the ribs and the seat back bulkhead. Attached the skin with Shannon's help and match drilled the skin. Next need to do the 623 ribs and attach the fwd 904 center wing box. It goes together quickly, but there is a lot more to do!

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Nov 24, 2023     Aft fuselage complete - (8 hours)       Category: Fuselage
It is awesome to have an expert riveting buddy. Chris is fast and we almost don't even need to talk we are so in-tuned with each other when riveting. Shannon even helped out and fed rivets while Chris bucked and I had the hammer. 2 hours to rivet the whole thing together. All the open places are intentional as the forward bulkhead attaches to the center fuselage and the sides need flex for the longerons.

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Nov 22, 2023     Back at the aft cone - (0.5 hour)       Category: Fuselage
It is great to have Chris home from Iowa State. He helped get the aft piece riveted so we can put the whole cone back together after priming. We should get the bulk of that riveting done before he goes back to school.

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Nov 21, 2023     Sample Paint Scheme - (3 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals
I had some scrap steel panels and I have had some different Stewart Systems Paint pints in order to get a better sense of the blue colors. It was a nice weekend for November, so I tried doing some more practice painting.

The metallic red was too much on the pink side, so that is out. The white is good. The royal blue is the darker one and would work, but the insignia blue is everyone's choice. I was marginally ok with the paint curves, but I need better/flexible tape to make the lines more smooth.

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Nov 05, 2023     Prefit complete on aft Fuselage - (6.85 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Took my time with the end of the high school football season. Completed all the pre-assembly of the aft fuselage, cut and shaped the stiffeners and did all the match drilling. Next is the debur, same, dimple and prime steps. Not the most fun, but needs to be done. I want this all ready for Chris at Thanksgiving to rivet this all together.

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Oct 27, 2023     Finished inventory of finish kit - (3 hours)       Category: Landing Gear
Chris came home before we did the inventory, so he had to break open the crate and get a first look. Had a lot of guys come over the help with the inventory. Shannon made soup for everyone. This kit was the most expensive, but was easiest to inventory. Lots of big parts, not too many small parts bags. I hope to break into this guy in the spring. A number of the fiberglass parts (wheel pants, etc) are still on back order.

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Oct 20, 2023     Got my last kit! - (0.5 hour)       Category: Landing Gear
Took delivery of my last (and most expensive) kit. This is the finishing kit. Holds the canopy, cowlings, wheel pants, landing gear and other stuff. Hope to do the inventory in the next week or so. I better get he fuselage going faster!

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Oct 19, 2023     Starting the aft fuselage - (2.0 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Things are getting big fast! This went together fairly easily, but I will have a lot of extra fitting of the supports and the tail piece. More storage space will be needed!

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Oct 05, 2023     Completed 705 bulkhead - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Completed doing all the parts and rivets on the seatback bulkhead. Lots of little parts on this where the seat backs connect. Next step starts bending the longerons. I may skip that step for now. After that the parts start getting big with the aft fuselage coming together with skins and stringers.

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Oct 02, 2023     Aft bulkheads - (11.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage
After many weeks of slow progress (4 weekends in a row of travel, and a couple business trips), I finally am back to making progress. I have been working the easy aft bulkheads, but I bit off too many at once and it was hard to get motivated to prep and prime all the little pieces (including the 705 seat back bulkhead). I have all these bulkheads ready for longerons and skins. I still need to finish riveting the 705 bulkhead in the next day or so.

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Aug 27, 2023     705 Bulkhead Assembly - (5.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage
After getting the center assembly assembled, jumped into the 705 bulkead that holds the aft wing spar and the seat backs. There was a lot of fabrication of the flat aluminum bars and angle irons for the seat backs. A lot of small spacers and back drilling. Now need to prime and final assemble.

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Aug 13, 2023     Center section complete - (10 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Put together the center section and the base for the control sticks. The fit came together nicely. The cleco'd side panels wait until the side skins are assembled, but are put on for a fit check. You can see in the foreground, the notch in the blue panel. This is where the wing spare inserts and gets bolted. This section holds all the cantilever loads from the wings, so this is a critical part for sure.

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Jul 30, 2023     Completed the firewall - (10 hours)       Category: Firewall
After a long and hot couple days at Oshkosh, Chris and I finished the bucking of the firewall supports. Shannon helped hold the parts while I squeezed all the rivets I could reach. 10 hours seems like a lot of time, but there was a number of parts to fabricate and fit on the support brackets. Looking forward to the center-wing box. Just when I am anxious to make progress, I have a business trip this week. ugh.

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Jul 16, 2023     Finished the Left Wing Skin! - (3.9 hours)       Category: Wings
Finally got the motivation and help to finish the left wing lower skins. This included riveting in the pitot mast. I only have to put the nutplates on for the 3 access covers. Then fulling engaging the fuselage! Glad to get this done before my expert riveting buddy leaves for Iowa State!

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Jul 08, 2023     Starting the Fuselage! - (1.0 hour)       Category: Firewall
Went to the storage unit (too many times) to search out the starting point for the fuselage kit!! I got the firewall and the hardware for it. Time to start working some thick metal parts! The schematics look intimidating!

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Jul 08, 2023     Inboard Left wing skin - (2.0 hours) Category: Wings
Was gone last week on business again. This week Chris and I knocked out the inboard lower wing skin. Just need to suck it up and finish the outer wing skin then the wings are done for the time being (I will put off the wing tip work until it is cold outside).
 
Jun 21, 2023     Left wing underway - (3 hours) Category: Wings
I finished the access panel covers on the right wing and put it back in the wing rack. On the left wing I fit the pitot tube and lines and then fabricated the stabilizing brackets for all the lines. I need to make a bracket for the pitot regulator, then I will pull the rest of the wires for lights, then start on the lower skin. Hopefully by this weekend. Business trip next week will halt progress until the 4th of July.
 
Jun 01, 2023     Right Wing Complete - (5.75 hours) Category: Wings
Completed riveting the bottom skin on the right wing. It is now done for the time being. Only lights and fiberglass tips are left. Moving on to the left wing. I have to finish bending the pitot lines and mounting the heater regulator.

Chris got his pilot's license the Saturday before his last week of high school! Then he graduated and had his party last week. So I am glad to also get the wing done about the same time.
 
May 14, 2023     Practice Painting - (1.5 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals
I had a friend loan me a couple of Piper wing tips that were old and had the gel coat all cracked. I had told him I was going to try practice painting with Stewart Systems Ecocrylic paints. He liked the color and offered to let me paint his parts. I got a pint of Metallic Blue (not quite the color I want in the end, but I thought it would be fun to practice with it). I also had an aileron skin I messed up that I was going to prime and paint (it is on the floor in the background).

Overall, I thought the painting was easy and there are plenty of instructions and youtube videos as examples. I determined that my 2 compressor set up (30 and 15 gal) did ok for this, but would not hold up to painting the wings or fuselage. The parts came out looking good - at least a "3 ft paint job". No orange peel or tiger stripes! They dried in about 2 hours after doing the 4 coats (3 fog and 1 wet coat). I think with this experience I will still consider doing my own painting, but with a bigger compressor.

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May 07, 2023     Completed Roll Servo wiring - (2.0 hours)       Category: Wings
I finished the wiring and connectors for the roll servo. I used 2 Mil-Std circular connects due to the larger power supply wires compared to the command wires. I also torqued all the bolts, and checked for proper length on the servo connecting rod. I made a small bracket to tie down the connectors.

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Apr 29, 2023     Right Wing Wiring Added - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings
Added the wiring in the right wing for the landing lights, wing tips, and roll servo. My friend Matt has tons of wiring in all sizes and colors and let me take what I needed! They are slight overkill, but he also gave me a bunch of Mil circular connectors for the 22 gauge wiring. You can see I did my first connect for hte roll servo command wires. I will do the power wires in molex connector. Time to work on the bottom skins and close it up!

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Apr 21, 2023     Set up roll servo - (2.5 hours)       Category: Controls
Finished installing all the fuel tank aft bolts and got started on the Dynon roll servo in the right wing. Simple mechanical setup that replaced a couple Vans brackets. I only have it temporary in place for the picture as I will be doing a connector on the wiring this weekend. Hopefully I can install all the other wires this weekend and start on the bottom skins next week.

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Apr 09, 2023     Right Aileron Mounted - (4 hours) Category: Wings
Got a quality afternoon in with Chris. We fabricated the spacers for the aileron mounts and the mechanical brackets in each wing. Bell crank and pushrod mounts installed and we set the right pushrod length. Left aileron will go quickly once I get back from a couple trips.
 
Apr 07, 2023     Tear Down Complete - (10 hours)       Category: Engine
Spent the last week (off and on) tearing the engine down. A fair amount of surface rust but the insides looked good. No obvious wear or corrosion. Engine was nicely oiled. Plan on overhauling the case and cylinders and having the crank and cam inspected. Hopefully will get that started in the next couple weeks (business trip and vacation in the way).

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Mar 18, 2023     Finally back at left wing - (10 hours)       Category: Wings
After much activity with the kids (High School senior - choir, show choir, speech) and my junior at Iowa State, I can get back on the build. Completed the top wing skin riveting and I mounted the pitot mast and cut the skin opening. Hope to do the aft spar tomorrow.

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Feb 05, 2023     Right wing done - (4 hours)       Category: Wings
Built the wing cradle to store the wings when complete. I also moved the right wing out so I can start riveting the left wing. Finally! Had some medical issues to deal with over the last week, so falling further behind on the goals. Also have a business trip this week, so hope for progress next weekend.

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Jan 25, 2023     Rear Spare complete - (8.5 hours)       Category: Wings
More business trips and school activities in the past and getting back on the plane. I finished the flap and aileron brackets on the rear spar, so that is complete. I just have to attach the fairings and I get get back on the left wing. I included a couple pictures from my EAA fiberglass class in Oshkosh. It was a good couple days of taking away the unknowns of working fiberglass. Good class if you were like me and new to it!

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Jan 10, 2023     Right Wing Update - (7 hours)       Category: Wings
Attached the leading edge (riveting the ribs to the spar was a pain) and attached the fuel tank. Chris and I did a few long riveting sessions and completed the top skins. Ready to take the wing down and finish the rear spar and do the internals.

This was a great time working with my son! Gotta get all that time in before college in the fall.

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Dec 21, 2022     L.E. Completion and wing skins - (6 hours)       Category: Wings
Completed both leading edges and have all 10 wing skins dimpled and ready for priming. Will prime the skins after Christmas and hope to get the wings skins put on starting before New Year's day.

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Dec 12, 2022     More Progress - (17.5 hours)       Category: Wings
Worked over the last week or two to get everything ready for final assembly on the wing leading edges. I needed to cut out the holes for the leading edge lights (see picture). Took the cutting slow to not ruin my parts. I think they turned out looking good. Finished all the dimpling on the leading edges and tank transition. Everything is primed and I started finally replacing clecos with rivets!

Also note all the counter-sinking on the main spare. what you see in the pic is X2 for the top of the spare!

Working on finalizing the leading edge and will permanently affix to the spar.

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Nov 26, 2022     Closed the Tanks - (2.5 hours)       Category: Wings
Finished both tanks by adding the fuel sender and access covers. Will wait a few days for curing and will pressure test these. Moving on to the leading edges (cutting holes for the lights) and prepping them for priming. Finally over the tank hurdle and moving to actually permanently completing the wings.

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Nov 23, 2022     What a mess but almost done - (22 hours)       Category: Wings
Over the last month working around business trips, I put the right fuel tank together and sealed it. Spent about 3 hours today doing the fuel senders and then sealed up both back baffles. Letting then sit over Thanksgiving and will then finish and seal them up. All while crossing my fingers for no leaks!

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Oct 31, 2022     Right Wing Prep - (6.5 hours)       Category: Wings
Finally done with Football officiating (well, I'd take an extra playoff game, but...) and back from business travel so back to the wings. I set the left wing aside so I can catch the right wing up and do the fuel tank while the pro-seal is still good.

I have the right wing pre-fit and have the leading edge assembled. This pic has the fuel tank on for drilling the z-brackets. Fuel tank is on the left end.

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Oct 15, 2022     Tank fab and left assembly - (24.5 hours)       Category: Wings
Football season is almost over, so I hope to start making good progress again. Because I don't have the room to do both wings at the same time, I have worked the left wing up to the fuel tank, and will then put it aside to do the same on the right wing. This way I can do all the pro seal on the tanks using just the one batch of product (limited shelf-life) and hopefully before it gets too cold outside.

So I did all the fabrication for both tanks and have the left tank finished except for the rear baffle. Switched out the wings on the jig to start on the right wing. Overall the tank and sealing wasn't too bad. Will see if I have any leaks - fingers crossed that I dont!

Shannon's dad, Sig, was there to help with with the end ribs.

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Oct 06, 2022     Inventory Fun - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage
Had three helpers from church with Chris helping a bit in between classes. Shannon made a great lunch. Thirteen pages of inventory! Lots of small parts in this kit compared to the larger parts in the wing kit. With all the help we knocked it out in about 4 hours. Only a few nutplates and assorted items were missing. Be sure to count everything in each kit!

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Sep 30, 2022     It has arrived!       Category: Fuselage
ODL Just dropped off my fuselage crate! Vans says there are some back ordered parts, but I have the majority. Hope to do the inventory next week. Now I just have to finish the wings. That will take a couple months. I hope to start this phase by the end of the year.

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Sep 29, 2022     Going slow       Category: Wings
Football season is in full swing (I ref High School games) and that is really eating into my build energy. I have fitted the fuel tank on the left wing and am now tearing it down for sealing. Been waiting on the pro-seal order from Vans and it should arrive in a few days.

In other good news, my fuselage kit should arrive tomorrow!! I didn't make my goal of having the wings done before the arrival. Oh, well! As Shannon says, it is a marathon, not a sprint!

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Sep 01, 2022     Bring on the fuel tanks! - (9 hours)       Category: Wings
Complete initial fabrication of the left wing and leading edge. The big pieces show big progress quickly. There is a LOT of dimpling and riveting in the future, but for now, the fuel tanks are finally up!

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Aug 24, 2022     Wing jig - (2 hours)       Category: Wings
I cut the lumber and assembled my wing jig in the garage. Unfortunately it was a lot bigger than I hoped when it was in my shop, so I will only be able to do one wing at a time for now. The wing is not ready for the skins!

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Aug 20, 2022     Finished Wing Substructure - (10 hours)       Category: Wings
After the rib prep, I did the pre-fit, cut holes for the wire runs, then primed all the ribs (30 of them) and then riveted the ribs and the spars.

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Aug 07, 2022     Making progress again - (9 hours)       Category: Wings
Well, after a great few days at Oshkosh with Chris and buying some parts (I put down my finishing kit deposit), and a business trip, I was able to make some progress. I completed the prep work on all the ribs (started to get old on the last few) and finally got to put some of it together (although very temporarily).

It will be working these in the shop!

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Jul 22, 2022     Bell cranks and pushrods - (2 hours) Category: Wings
Made a quick detour and assembled the bell cranks and push rods to get the long pieces out of the garage crate.
 
Jul 19, 2022     Wing Ribs Prep - (1.0 hour)       Category: Wings
Laid out and marked all the ribs. They aren't too bad but will take a bit of time to sand and flute.

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Jul 17, 2022     Rear Spar Prep Work - (4.5 hours)       Category: Wings
The rear spar prep went pretty quick. Just a few rivets on the doublers to go. Next I start the long slog of prepping the ribs for the wings (all ~56 of them!).

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Jul 10, 2022     Wing Spar Build Up - (9 hours)       Category: Wings
Change of plans. Decided to jump in and start on the wings ahead of Oshkosh. Begin by adding all the platenuts on the spars. Added the platenuts, but still have some counter sinking for the screw heads.

I took my time with these since the spars are about $1600 each.

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Jul 05, 2022     Flaps are Done! - (34 hours)       Category: Wings
Chris and I (with help from Craig) completed the flaps. Assembly and riveting were easier (but bigger) than the ailerons. Thinking of tackling the fuel tanks next before moving to the main wings.

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Jun 21, 2022     Flaps ready for priming Category: Wings
Finally got everything fabricated, fit and prepped for priming. Hope to start final assembly this weekend.
 
Jun 07, 2022     Flaps Buildup - (4 hours)       Category: Wings
Gotta love it when you come home from work and your son is digging in. He grabbed the parts and the schematics and dove in starting on the flaps. I love it. Chris flew in a local RV-9A to a cookout and now is really pushing me to get the plane done so we can fly in our own!

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Jun 01, 2022     Flaps are next Category: Wings
Going to start working the flaps next before the main wings. They are similar to the ailerons. Hope to get them done is shorter time than the ailerons.
 
May 30, 2022     Ailerons Complete - (24 hours)       Category: Wings
After finishing the wrong side of a couple skins and nearly starting over, the ailerons are finally finished. They were a bigger pain than expected. The nose skins put a lot of force on the spars, so the skins were very warped when finishing the trailing edges (I read this is common). Well, they finished off just fine, but took a lot of extra effort to keep straight.

My Dad was in town for his 81st BDay and helped a lot. See the one picture with my son and dad while riveting the spars. It was great to have them involved!!

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Apr 21, 2022     Better Organizing - (2 hours)       Category: Wings
I bought new smaller containers and went through all the parts bags. Good thing I did, I had a few expensive parts that were missing (including the still-backordered center sections). I think the new containers and extra shelf will work out well.

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Apr 10, 2022     FINALLY!!! They have arrived! - (6 hours)       Category: Wings
Finally, after 50 weeks of waiting (even though the kit still has 2 parts on back order) the wings have arrived!! Thanks to Dona dn Chuck for helping the inventory (with Chris and Shannon) we got the inventory all but done. Now the next set of fun begins! As of now, the fuselage is scheduled to ship in 5 months, so I better get on it!

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Mar 01, 2022     Still waiting..... Category: Wings
Ordered my wing kit in April 2021.... still waiting.....
 
Jan 08, 2022     Strobes and Position Lights Done - (3 hours)       Category: Lighting
Thanks to Jeff Stickley for showing us proper soldering and fixing our error. Chris jumped on it and completed the wing tip lights.

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Dec 30, 2021     Landings Lights Complete - (0.5 hour)       Category: Lighting
Chris got right on it and finished the landing lights. Pretty quick assembly. Super bright and that was only a single set. Both will be really bright!

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Dec 29, 2021     FLY LEDs have arrived - (0.5 hour)       Category: Lighting
My Fly LED order arrived from the Land Down Under really quick. Chris jumped on getting started with inventory right away!

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Dec 23, 2021     Fly LEDs - (5 hours) Category: Lighting
I placed my order for Fly LEDs. I liked them on a friend's plane and visited them at Oshkhosh. Chris will be my assembler for the original light kit. I bought the 3 light leading edge landing lights. Chris wanted lights in the leading edges instead of on the wing tips. They should be here before New Years (all the way from Melborne, Australia).
 
Sep 06, 2021     Waiting on wings! Category: Empennage
Now waiting on the wings. Order was placed in April at Sun-N-Fun. Expected the wings in April. Was informed it wouldn't be until December! well, maybe my 3 yr goal will have to be extended. No rush, just excited to fly my own plane.
 
Sep 06, 2021     Left Elevator Done - (20 hours) Category: Empennage
After learning of the long lead time on my wing kit, I wasn't in too much of a hurry to complete the left elevator and the trim tab. It wasn't difficult, but I did have to torque the control horn as I riveted the skin to the trim tab spar. I have a little bit of flex in the skin of the elevator. Our local EAA build advisor said it was fine and that he hard a little of that on his RV-6. Not sure where some of the tolerances built up.
 
Jun 15, 2021     Right Elevator Done - (1.5 hours)       Category: Empennage
Completed the riveting on the training edge and bolting in the hinges.

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Jun 10, 2021     Right Elevator TE - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage
Decided to tackle the trailing edge on the elevator. Used the same process as the rudder.

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May 28, 2021     Right Elevator assembly - (16 hours)       Category: Empennage
After taking time off to go to Fun-N-Sun, Don came over to help work the elevator stiffeners. I did all the fitting and part cleaning and primed the elevator parts. Assembly went smooth up to the working the trailing edge.

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May 09, 2021     Rudder Completed - (4 hours) Category: Empennage
Had to remember the whole double-flush rivet process and worked to keep the rudder straight.
 
Apr 28, 2021     Rudder Trailing Edge - (4 hours)       Category: Empennage
After reading about getting the trailing edge straight being a tough part of the kit, I stressed on it a while. I followed the instructions and got an extra aluminum right-angle and used the pro-seal as glue. It can out as straight as I hoped it would. I saw a lot more non-straight rudders at Oshkosh, so I think I did it correctly.

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Apr 18, 2021     Rudder structure - (5 hours) Category: Empennage
Began final assembly of the rudder structure.
 
Mar 28, 2021     H Stab Completed - (9 hours)       Category: Empennage
Completed assembly of the horizontal stab. I had to clean up a couple rivets that weren't quite right and properly torque the mounting bolts.

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Mar 22, 2021     Started the assembly of the H Stab - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage
Started on the horizontal stab to get rid of all the spare parts lying around.

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Mar 14, 2021     Stab Finished - (4 hours) Category: Empennage
Finished up the vertical stab.
 
Mar 13, 2021     Riveting the V Stab - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage
First time stressing over bucking the rivets on the vertical stab. It is great Chris is helping to finish up the stab. Sig, my father-in-law helped with the small rivets.

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Mar 08, 2021     Rudder Stiffner assembly - (3 hours)       Category: Empennage
Finally, have parts ready to assemble. Starting the back riveting on the rudder stiffeners - hard to mess that up!

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Mar 06, 2021     Priming the H Stab and rudder components - (8 hours)       Category: Empennage
With so many pieces to prep, the total time is a little higher and is more than just the paint time. Cleaning and etching is a bit of a pain. Did this the same day in one big paint effort as the vert stab and rudder skins.

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Mar 06, 2021     Priming the Vert Stab - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage
Hours include researching the primer and figuring out how to set up in the garage. I bought a heater for the garage so I could finally start priming my parts and actually put something together. I hung a bunch of tarps to not make so much of a mess. Fun learning to spray paint for the first time! I am using Stewart Systems Smoke Grey primer. I lie the water-based product.

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Jan 09, 2021     V Stab Fitting - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage
Since it is really cold and I can't prime, started the build up of the vertical stab.

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Jan 06, 2021     Rudder skin and stiffner prep - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage
This is is at least half the purpose of this project - to work it with Chris and have memories. We cut and prepped the rudder stiffeners and skins.

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Dec 31, 2020     H Stab Buildup - (6 hours)       Category: Empennage
Adding skins after building the fixture.

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Dec 30, 2020     Horz Stab Fitting - (10 hours)       Category: Empennage
Getting started on the horizontal stab. Fitting and re-sizing

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Dec 24, 2020     Workbench built       Category: Tools
Built this workbench to be the primary workspace for the build.

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Dec 12, 2020     Road Trip to Pick Up Kit       Category: Empennage
Chris and I began our journey to Cottonwood Falls, KS to pick up a kit that was never started. Let the journey begin!

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Dec 05, 2020     Demo Kit experiment       Category: Research
Built the Vans wing demo kit to see if I want to even start!

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