Well lots of frustration mixed with lots of time off and away, being sick, working, etc. Just not a lot of time to work on the build plus time spent waiting on parts to arrive from Vans.

Easier to just sum up what little work there has been over the last two months. Today is the first day of 2023 and it was a productive one, I really just need to redouble my commitment to this project and really try to get to my goal of at least 10 build hours per week or it's never gonna get done.

First an update on the wing kit from Van's. Got an email on 12/22/22 from the mothership saying my kit was going to crating. That's the last I heard from them. Nothing gets done over the holidays so I'm not too surprised but I hope to hear something from them about the shipping arrangements this week perhaps. I have a feeling I will finally see the wing kit sometime this month, January 2023. That's literally the worst possible time for it to show up in the heart of the winter here. To be continued on that front. But at least there's light at the end of that tunnel finally.

As for the right elevator where I last left off. After screwing up the counterweights, I thought I had it figured out. In reality, I still didn't and managed to screw up yet another set of parts and a counterweight. So ordered more parts from Vans and waited. I fretted and fretted over drilling these stupid holes in the counterweights because of how much trouble I've had with them. Again IMO it would just be easier if there were no pilot holes in the front piece to have to go by. So after the new parts sat on the workbench for a few days I finally said screw it and just drilled everything through using the two pilot holes as the guides. You will see the results in the pictures but to make a long story short, the one hole is just a smidge tight to the webbing of the part but I can work with it. Worst case I use a slightly smaller washer or even grind down the side of the washer just slightly to make sure it fits nice and centered on the screw. In all this time I also realized I needed some dimple dies that I did not have for the #10 AN509 screw as well as a countersink bit to drill the counterweight. So a quick order from Aircraft Tool Supply and I have those on hand now and ready to go.

So after all the angst, all the frustration, all the cuss words and nearly two months, in a matter of minutes I just went for it and drilled the two holes in the parts and counterweights using the drill press. I don't know what all the fuss is about drilling through lead. It's very soft material and easy to drill. Use drill lube and it's a non-event.

So that left the parts to finally be prepped and painted which is what I accomplished this afternoon finally. So scuffing, dimpling and priming all got done today and now at least all the parts for the right elevator are painted and ready for final assembly.

At this point, it's a race against time to get the other elevator done before the wing kit shows up. If nothing else I need to get the parts prepped and primed for the left side so that I can disassemble the paint booth and free up garage space for the wing kit crates.