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Entry #	Created	Title	Category	Hours	# Pictures

110	May 14, 2024	On the Road again	Empennage		0
Folks who know me, know I'm gone a lot in the Spring.

 

109	Apr 17, 2024	Disassemble of tailcone	Empennage	1	0
Disassembled Tail Cone

 

108	Apr 04, 2024	Upper Rear Skin attached	Empennage	1	9
Been working on her since returning home on the 26th. Need to add those log entries. Meantime, I attached the rear top skin before heading out of town, pretty easy to carefully fold over, used Gorilla tape to hold down as I cleco'd it into place. Now on a short trip, then down to Florida for the Sun-n-Fun 2024.

 

107	Mar 26, 2024	LCP replacement Parts	Wings	2	5
Unwrapped and inventoried replacement parts from LCP anomaly. 48 individual items replaced.

 

106	Mar 26, 2024	Back from a three week trip	Empennage	10	19
Stringers match drilled. Various parts match drilled into the empennage, Fitted longerons onto framework.

 

105	Mar 22, 2024	Been on the road	Misc.		2
Been on the road since Feb. Stopped by to see these folks, but sadly, it was the weekend.... Oh, well. Hopefully I'm back into the shop next Tuesday 26th. We will see.....

 

104	Feb 17, 2024	More Empennage build	Empennage	1	7
..... and.... after making this part; the F-1011E Rudder Cable Angle. I immediately lost it somewhere in the shop.... or house.... or outside in the snow.. I don't know, but I know if I make another replacement, the original will promptly reappear. (Thanks Dad!)

 

103	Feb 17, 2024	Empennage Build	Empennage	13	39
Page 10-2 Rev 1 Step 1 thru step 6; Page 10-3 Rev1 Step 1 thru step 3; Jump to page 10-8 Rev 1 Step 6 for bracket F-1056; serious shop clean.

 

102	Feb 17, 2024	Replaced Finished Assemblies on Wall	Tail Feathers	2	0
Remounted finished assemblies to wall mounted shelves for earthquake prevention.

 

101	Feb 16, 2024	Tail Tie Down	Tail Feathers	4	15
PAge 10-2 Rev 1 Step 1 Fabricated Tail Tie Down

 

100	Feb 14, 2024	IA progress inspection	Tail Feathers	2	1
Page 9-20 Rev 1 Step 2 Safety Wiring piano hinge. Demo'd and taught by Al Hathy; EAA Tech counselor EAA #398190. Al demonstrated installation technique for safety wire. Al then supervised and approved my safety wiring of the second piano hinge piin. Al also inspected progress on finished vertical stabilizer, rudder, horizontal stabilizer, elevators and trim tabs.

 

99	Feb 11, 2024	Counterweight	Tail Feathers	2	0
Page 9-20 Rev 1 Step 1

 

98	Feb 10, 2024	Elevator Counterweight	Tail Feathers	2	0
Page 9-16 Rev 1 Step 1 thru 6, step 9 counterweight and extra weight installation per SB-00043 Torque 28 in/lbs (10 in/lbs and 8 in/lbs breakaway)

 

97	Feb 10, 2024	Riveting elevator trailing edges	Tail Feathers	3	0
Page 9-15 Rev 1 Continued Step12 - Riveting elevator trailing edges

 

96	Feb 09, 2024	Riveting Elevator Trailing Edges	Tail Feathers	3	0
Page 9-15 Rev 1 Step 11 & 12 Riveting elevator trailing edges

 

95	Jan 23, 2024	Riveting Hinge Halves to Elevator	Tail Feathers	3	0
Page 9-19 Rev 1 Step 7 - Riveting the hinge halves to the elevator 2X sides

 

94	Jan 21, 2024	Riveting Hinge Halves	Tail Feathers	6	11
Designed a wheeled, height adjustable mount for the pneumatic squeezer. Harbor Fright Adjustable Wheel Seat (removed padded seat) HF Arbor Press modified to hold Pneumatic Squeezer. Riveting hinge halves to trim tab.

 

93	Jan 20, 2024	Elevator Trailing Edge	Tail Feathers	5	12
Elevator Trailing edge AEX wedge and foam; cleco'd trim tab hinge halves to spars using same pro-seal.

 

92	Jan 14, 2024	SB-00043	Tail Feathers	6.5	4
SB-00043 for rear spars/skin area, what a potential mess, also 9-18 step 9 - trim tab foam insets, 9-16 step 7 - rier WD-415 to trim cable bracket, step 19 step 1-2, clean up.

 

91	Jan 13, 2024	SB-00043 more	Tail Feathers	7.3	0
SB-00043 make v-supports, insert elevators, clean with vacuum, add clamps to skin-spar area where not riveted, prepped TE wedge, collected board, weights, etc

 

90	Jan 13, 2024	SB-00043	Tail Feathers	2	0
trim tabs - rivet spar to skins,

 

89	Jan 11, 2024	Trim Tabs	Tail Feathers	3	0
trim tabs, prime area under the horns, prep elevators for SB-00043, trim tab horns riveted to skins and spars (lower only)

 

88	Jan 10, 2024	Riveting skins	Tail Feathers		0
rivet skins to spars except skins aft of rear spar E-1007 (for trailing edge wedge insertion later)

 

87	Jan 06, 2024	re-prime	Tail Feathers	2	0
re-prime tip ribs, spar and counterweights

 

86	Jan 05, 2024	Trim tab trailing edges	Tail Feathers	2.0	0
Trim tab trailing edge bends, need to touch up epoxy tip ribs, re-alodine scratches area on E-903

 

85	Jan 02, 2024	Begin prep for SB-00043	Tail Feathers	2.5	5
Prep elevators for the SB-00043 sealant addition.

 

84	Jan 01, 2024	Tip Ribs	Tail Feathers	5.0	53
Tip ribs riveted together added counterbalance skins. Riveted tip ribs to elevators. Riveted skins to spars and tip ribs. Cut PVC foam to final trim tab and elevator sizes.

 

83	Dec 26, 2023	Tip Ribs LCP Replacments - Epoxy Prime	Tail Feathers	3	11
Took replacement E-903 and E-904; E-913 plus the replacement Trim Tab Spars E-920 and E-1020 after alodining and epoxy primed them in the paintbooth.

 

82	Nov 28, 2023	Elevator Trim Tabs	Tail Feathers	6	8
Bending of trim tabs at elevator. Note: I etch primed the overlap parts prior to this bend. Also final bend on elevator chord with old LCP Spars in place. (New Non-LCP spars are dimpled, machine countersunk and alodined, awaiting epoxy primer)

 

81	Aug 13, 2023	Elevator Assembly - Continued	Tail Feathers		15
Ok. Back to the project. Used long bucking bar to install rivets on the rear spar of elevator. Not an issue at all, #3 rivet gun @ 37PSI. Used PVC pipe on pop- rivet squeezer for leverage on inner LP4-3 blind rivets. Rear spar LP4-3 bilnd rivets were easy with the Harbor Fright Pneumatic Squeezer. Front Spar a little difficulty with rolling rivets (mostly cosmetic, sorry Tony B) I think we need to use other longer dies for the pneumatic squeezer as I suspect the long travel may be the issue.

 

80	Aug 13, 2023	Van's Laser Drill Parts Update	Misc.		16
Whew! I have lucked out on the LCP anomaly. My empennage kit was packed for shipping 9-2020, so well before this issue arose. Only 2X tail-feather items I need to replace are the 2 flap spars that countersunk wonky and were re-ordered. They had a build date of X-2022, thus affected. I had them ready to install and a close look with a 12X eye loupe shows small craters on the dimple (although no dimples have cracked). The wing kit, that came in March 2023 is a different story. Various items on the Van's RV-10 Wing Kit List are applicable. Tried some Section 5 techniques to affected Flap Ribs, but still look like heck. The holes are not circular and are barely below the maximum diameter after working the defects out. Sample dimpling did not crack the rib dimple hole but there is lots of slop in the hole when a sample -3 rivet is installed.

 

79	Aug 13, 2023	Van's Laser Drill Parts Update	Misc.		0
Whew! I have lucked out on the LCP anomaly. My empennage kit was packed for shipping 9-2020, so well before this issue arose. Only 2X tail-feather items I need to replace are the 2 flap spars that countersunk wonky and were re-ordered. They had a build date of X-2022, thus affected. I had them ready to install and a close look with a 12X eye loupe shows small craters on the dimple (although no dimples have cracked). The wing kit, that came in March 2023 is a different story. Various items on the Van's RV-10 Wing Kit List are applicable. Tried some Section 5 techniques to affected Flap Ribs, but still look like heck. The holes are not circular and are barely below the maximum diameter after working the defects out. Sample dimpling did not crack the rib dimple hole but there is lots of slop in the hole when a sample -3 rivet is installed.

 

78	Jul 24, 2023	Oshkosh 2023	Misc.		18
Took some time for a week in Wisconsin and 4-days at Oshkosh. Got dang hot Thursday! Stayed at a house about 5-mins from the venue. Had Warbird parking passes courtesy Paul Stojkov, my co-captain. Did the usual, plus the Van's "laser drilled parts" forum. See next post on parts from my new Wing Kit that are affected.

 

77	Jul 17, 2023	Duramax LBZ all back together	Misc.		2
OK. Finally had the time to finish the LBZ head/engine rebuild. New heads/valves and gaskets, ARP studs, Turbo rebuilt with new 11-blade compressor wheel, new turbo intercooler and intake pipes, new exhaust manifolds with less restriction, new up-pipes, new down-pipe without the restriction, fuel lift-pump with pressure gauge, post CP3 high pressure fuel gauge, new fuel lines, fuel manifolds, injector pipes and 8 new Bosch OEM fuel injectors. Lots of power, cooler EGT's, too much Boost! (29"+)

 

76	Apr 17, 2023	Wing Kit Inventory	Wings	3	12
WhooHoo! Wing Kit came 2-months earlier than scheduled. Well it actually was here 6-Mar but bad weather in KSLC and my schedule of not being home delayed arrival to the shop by another month. Crates showed no damage. They replaced the large gold "demon" staples with smaller 1/4" staples. Lids came off easily. The packaging was phenomenal, parts stuffed in parts. A Vans Tetris Puzzle for sure. Inventory went well short just 1 pop rivet! All parts package for short term storage as we are still finishing the tail feathers. BTW the anodized spars are MONSTERS! Well made and a nice golden color.

 

75	Apr 05, 2023	Still rebuilding LBZ	Misc.		24
OK. Turbocharger overhauled, new billeted compressor wheel. Have the new heads installed, the valve-lash adjusted, valve covers back on and the new injectors and glow plugs with a new high-pressure fuel rail assembly installed. Y-Bridge intake (red) was also installed, but had to replace OEM nuts with SS allen hex head screws and grind down the head of the aft passenger side screw to clear the compressor housing. I'm on the road flying now but back end of week (15-APR)

 

74	Mar 12, 2023	Putting Engine back together	Misc.		12
Ok. Still no work on the RV-10. Finally all new engine parts in, rebuilt turbocharger and now putting engine back together. I have to fly this week so will not be back into shop until the end of March. Thank goodness for pictures of teardown. Just hope I don't have a bag of important looking stuff left over....

 

73	Feb 11, 2023	Taking a break for a diesel engine rebuild	Misc.		7
Had to take valuable time away from RV-10 project to replace my 2006 Duramax LBZ Head gaskets before summer RV season. Failed head gasket (#7 cylinder) verified, thus a complete teardown of the upper end of diesel engine. 240,000 hard miles and 5800 hrs on her poor back. Road hard trailering the new Mothership 2.0, but she was never put up wet. New heads and gaskets, 8-new fuel injectors, new turbo compressor wheel (11-blade), new turbo bearings, new up pipes and removal of some tubing no longer desired. Hope to be back on RV-10 within a week or so. Ok, now it looks like March now.

 

72	Jan 03, 2023	Back Riveting Ribs to Skin	Tail Feathers	3	13
Getting pretty fast back riveting the -3.5 rivets used 35PSI #2 gun, for the -3's dropped it to 30PSI. All went well except found, after finishing the top right skin, there was a rib without sub-dimples, Ope! (Mary!!!!!) Drilled out 8 rivets without an issue, dimpled rib, then promptly set the 1st rivet at 90PSI! (wrong hose) Oh, well, something wrong on all sub assemblies will humble a builder.... just a slight deformation on the upper skin. in retrospect, I probably should have just left it alone the 90PSI rivet was pretty flat, but still had 7 nice rivets to take up the slack and it was in the center of the rib. Shhhhh!

 

71	Jan 02, 2023	Elevator Assembly	Tail Feathers	9	22
Started assembling Elevator, riveted Tip Ribs, had missed the 6X end dimples (can't use DRDT, needed pneumatic squeezer) Also, sub-skin dimpled 6X holes at skin/counterweight overlap. Seems rivets don't sit as flush after expoy primer, unsure if from under dimpled or excessive primer. So I re-dimpled one set of counterweight skins, appears to have helped. (Cannot feel any rivets with rub test before re-do, but was optically annoying) Ran short of about 5X -5 rivets for doublers. unsure why, maybe too many previous misteaks. Ground down a few -6 rivets to length to make up difference. Will order more just for stock. Elevator horns, little tough to install rivets into holes, again, suspect too much primer in holes, scraped out primer for install, and actually just reamed a few holes. Prepped back rivet plate and re-waxed.

 

70	Dec 30, 2022	Elevator and Trim Skin Dimple, Priming Innards	Tail Feathers	12	11
Mary dimpled the 4 elevator skins and the 2 trim skins. I prepped the paint booth for priming and added additional masking of rear spars for foam ribs. Epoxy primed all elevator and trim tab parts that were previously alodined. Counterweights trimmed, Fubar'd one weight, so I re CSK hole on other side and filled front side, each set weighs in at 1125 gms. Prepping the lead weights, rough cut weights on bandsaw with a 6-TPI blade. The blade normally used for cutting the aluminum ribs is a 24-TPI blade, too fine for lead. A farrier hoof rasp made short work of the remaining trimming, as well as the high ridge on the back side of two of the counterweights.

 

69	Dec 29, 2022	Prep and Alodine Elevator and Trim parts.	Tail Feathers	7.5	8
Alodine preparations, cleaned all metal with acetone. Alodined all elevator parts and trim spars/hardware, hanging to dry.

 

68	Dec 26, 2022	Etch Prime Elevator Skins	Tail Feathers	7	8
Elevator and trim tab skins prepped for Etch Priming with skins masked for foam ribs. Used orbital sander with maroon scotebright to clean off micro scratches. all parts primed with SW P60G2

 

67	Dec 24, 2022	Trim Tab Horns	Tail Feathers	2	9
Used opposite tab with cleco to mark cut lines on trim tab horn. Assures adequate hole spacing to edge.

 

66	Dec 15, 2022	Elevator Spars - Machine Countersink, Dimpling Tip Ribs	Tail Feathers	1	15
Machine countersink areas of spars and dimple remaining holes. Dimple tip ribs, including small gap area technique using pliers. Finished with deburring spars on Scotchbrite wheel.

 

65	Nov 30, 2022	HS Finished!!	Tail Feathers	3.5	9
Final Rivets of rear spar. Also, a slip with the bucking bar and the results - ope! At least it is on the bottom side.

 

64	Nov 29, 2022	Bottom Side HS	Tail Feathers	3.1	0
Researching torque values, riveting skins

 

63	Nov 28, 2022	HS final steps	Tail Feathers	3.5	4
Ribeting Rear Spar to Skin; Drill out some bad rivets, primer touch up and installing hardware.

 

62	Nov 27, 2022	Bottom Skins	Tail Feathers	1.5	0
Bottom Skin Rivets

 

61	Nov 25, 2022	Bottom Skins	Tail Feathers	3.5	0
Bottom Skin Rivets

 

60	Nov 24, 2022	H Spar Rivering HS-1015 Stringer	Tail Feathers	8	17
Ah. The dreaded HS-1015 Stringer Invisible Rivets. I have been riveting in a horizontal position placing the frame on two banker boxes with a soft blanket to position. For the invisible rivets I balanced the tungsten rivet bar on my first two fingers and pushed up on the rivet. After placing the rivet gun on the skin, I reposition the rivet bar to "feel" a horizontal position. A known burst of the gun set the rivet to pretty darn close to what I wanted. I used a telescoping mirror to inspect results, all worked well! (Black Gorilla tape is used on bucking bar to protect stringer from damage.) PM me for a video of this technique if desired - dl

 

59	Nov 23, 2022	Bottom and Top Skins	Tail Feathers	7.5	8
Riveting Nose Ribs. After IA look of progress, installed forward spar with pop rivets and began riveting skin to forward spar.

 

58	Nov 13, 2022	Nose Ribs to Skin	Tail Feathers	2	20
Riveting Nose Ribs to HS skins.

 

57	Oct 29, 2022	Elevator Parts placement and Tip Ribs	Tail Feathers	4.5	6
Adjusted tip ribs for match counterbalance of skin. Bend closeout tabs and ream holes as necessary.

 

56	Oct 28, 2022	Elevator Gusset	Tail Feathers	7	8
Tip Ribs adjustment, really scratched up. Installed gussets and reamed holes to final size.

 

55	Oct 23, 2022	VS Nose Ribs and Spar Riveting	Tail Feathers	5.8	17
Nose ribs installed, skin to spar, includes a bad compression rivet at bracket and drill out images. (Changed compression speed to prevent this - PM me for technique)

 

54	Oct 05, 2022	Tip Ribs - Long Day	Tail Feathers	6.5	12
OK. Spent considerable time tweaking the Inboard and Outboard nose ribs to straighten them so as to align to the Counterbalance Skin. Finally got what I deemed acceptable, Reamed the 3/32, 1/8 and 3/16 holes, no problem. (Page 9-2 Step 4-6) Then on to Step 7-8 for the Shear Clips. Finished the night with Page 9-3 Steps 1-3, for the Close-Out tabs. Used a part from a metal bending brake covered with blue painters tape to protect. DId NOT use rivet gun set on low, simply tapped with a piece of white oak scrap full length of tab.

 

53	Oct 04, 2022	Elevator Tip Ribs, Spar Adjustments	Tail Feathers	1.0	1
Verified spars were still at 90 degrees. Didn't like the looks of the original tip ribs from Vans (E-903, E-903), so I ordered replacements. These tip ribs are not much better, in pretty bad shape, scratches, some corrosion, serious Scotchbrite work was needed on them. I will Alodine and Epoxy prime but still, needed to repair before attempting to shape.

 

52	Oct 03, 2022	Elevator Ribs	Tail Feathers	3.3	0
Still deburring and cleaning up Elevator Ribs

 

51	Oct 01, 2022	Elevator Ribs - Deburring	Tail Feathers	2.3	0
Deburring Elevator Ribs Step 2

 

50	Sep 07, 2022	Assembling Front Spar	Tail Feathers	1	6
Finishing up Page 8-11 with Steps 2-3

 

49	Sep 05, 2022	Elevator	Tail Feathers	1.5	0
Page 9-2 Step 1. Used new 24TPI bandsaw blade to cut E-1008 Elevator Ribs into Parts A-B.

 

48	Sep 02, 2022	Front Spar and Nose Rivets	Tail Feathers	1	0
Placement of Nose Ribs into skin in preparation for riveting.

 

47	Aug 27, 2022	Riveting Inspar Ribs and Stringer Web	Tail Feathers	3.5	0
Page 8-10 Steps 1-2 To rivet Stringer and Stringer Web together; Page 8-11 Riveting the Inspar Ribs

 

46	Aug 26, 2022	Epoxy Priming HS Parts	Tail Feathers	3	0
Epoxy Primed parts for HS

 

45	Aug 23, 2022	Countersinking Replacement Stringers	Tail Feathers	3	0
Machine Countersink HS-1014 HS-1015 Replacement Stringers to 0.007" for skins.

 

44	Aug 22, 2022	New HS-1014 and HS-1015 Stringers	Tail Feathers	2.3	0
Took replacement stringers and cut/deburred (Page 8-4 Steps 1-2)

 

43	Aug 19, 2022	HS Alodine Parts	Tail Feathers	1	0
MAry's assistance, Alodined HS spars/ribs and misc parts

 

42	Aug 18, 2022	HS Stringer Web and Rear Spar	Tail Feathers	1.5	0
Mary dimpled parts using the DRDT

 

41	Aug 17, 2022	Dimpling HS Parts	Tail Feathers	4	0
Continuation of Page 8-9 Mary, my Wife, assisted in Page 8-9 Steps 1-8. For cleco assembly, drilling and dimpling (Mary dimpled all parts using the DRDT)

 

40	Aug 15, 2022	HS Stringers, Stringer Web and Rear Spar Assembly.	Tail Feathers	3.0	3
Mary, my Wife, assisted in Page 8-9 Steps 1-8. For cleco assembly, drilling and dimpling (Mary dimpled all parts using the DRDT)

 

39	Aug 14, 2022	More Riveting Progress	Tail Feathers	10	11
Page 8-6 step 1-2 for . Front Spar Doubler, Spar Caps, and HS-1008 (L-R) Front Spar Attachment Brackets. Page 8-8 Steps 1-8 for match drilling and reaming of holes. Screwed up the HS-1014 and HS-1015 Stringers by countersinking wrong holes. Ordered new parts from Vans (Got them in 3-days!!!)

 

38	Aug 13, 2022	Riveting HS Spars	Tail Feathers	6.0	12
OK. Back in shop. All parts Alodined and Epoxy Primed. Back to page 8-2 Step 5-6 to rivet the Rear Spar Doubler, Hinge Brackets,. Page 8-3 Step 2 to bolt on inboard hinge bracket.

 

37	Aug 03, 2022	Alodine and Prime HS Ribs	Tail Feathers	8.5	9
Prepped Ribs/Misc parts for Alodine Process, (Scotch Brite defects and Acetone wipe) Let parts cure for a few days before epoxy priming them, also (scotch brite was completed before dimpling) and primed inside of skins

 

36	Jul 03, 2022	In Europe for a little longer...	Misc.		0
Folks. I'm still traveling in Europe for my clients. Will be back in the shop late July, early August.

 

35	Apr 24, 2022	Counterinking HS Spars	Tail Feathers	8	7
Decided to jump ahead and perform Step 8, Pg 8-8 to countersink both HS spars, doublers and ribs. My process will have these items Alodined and epoxy primed, thus wanted to do machine work prior.

 

34	Apr 23, 2022	HS Rib Mods and Final DeBurr	Tail Feathers	10	24

 

33	Mar 27, 2022	Mistakes in process of this project	Mis-Steakz		11
Things I'm not proud of, but heck, it happens. Some cost more money i.e. VS Spar drilling error on New Years Eve with homebrew beer. Others cost time, some required call to Van's for Mod solution, some are structurally OK, but look like Hell. Proof I'm no Lindy Award builder that's for sure! (But my first hommebuild project also)

 

32	Mar 14, 2022	Milling of HS Spars and Doublers	Tail Feathers	1.0	26

 

31	Mar 05, 2022	Rudder Counterweight Install	Tail Feathers	4	14
Had fun forming the LE for the Rudder Counterweight. After folding skins I found I was slightly off on my initial fold line. to prevent a crease I took the lead weight and carefully used a propane touch to melt the outside edges and have the molten material flow towards where the screws would soon come though skin. Allowed to slowly air cool and then tamped remaining slight high areas with ball peen hammer to final dimension counterweight. I also etch primed the overlap skins for protection. The apparent "Line" in the finished primer image is actually from a double prime, I moved the blue masking tape and thus have extra layer primer toward seam. Came out sweet! (Was able to defer page 7-10 Step #4 as there is zero "pillowing" )

 

30	Mar 04, 2022	Rudder Leading Edge	Tail Feathers	12	36
Went to Lowes for the 1 1/4" dowel for rolling the LE. Cut a small 6" piece off the roll for the smaller LE at the top of the Rudder. NOTE: If dowel diameter is too small, i.e. 1"; the leading edge radius will be too small with the edges meeting in a V, if the diameter is too large, i.e. 1 1/2" the LE radius will be too large with the edges meeting with a large gap, i.e not flush. I used a pipe wrench and vise grips which allowed me to relax and hold rolled LE skin in position as all the metal slowly stretched (solo operation). Duct tape was all I used on the skin and dowel. I also used my fingers to final shape the last 1/2" of the skins to make a nice overlap (See progression images) Be patient, learn YOUR technique. I also etch primed the skins due to the overlap both on the LE and the Rudder counterweight. Bought the "Harbor Fright" pneumatic riveter which after adding oil and practicing on scrap, worked just fine (used a rag over outlet as it sneezes oil when tilted on its side)

 

29	Mar 03, 2022	Rudder Trailing Edge	Tail Feathers	10	14
Jig set up for the pneumatic riveter and special flush rivet tool (Cleaveland Tool) set the trailing edge rivets in 4 stages of setting (light touch just enough to hold into hole, 1/32 more, 1/32 more, then final seat), initial squeeze was on the centermost rivet, then #10 left, #20 left, #10 right #20 right, then #5 L-R, #15 L-R, then marked remaining A-B-C-D. Pneumatic riveter was on a caster cart, thus able to roll left and right without disturbing position of trailing edge.

 

28	Jan 08, 2022	Rudder Assembly	Tail Feathers	12	20
Page 7-7 Back riveted stiffeners to skins, top rib half and bottom rib half to skins Page 7-8 riveted shear clips to stiffeners and attached skins together. Designed thin mini bucking bar for rivet on R-1004. Page 7-10 completed.

 

27	Dec 31, 2021	Rudder Innards Assembly	Tail Feathers	2.0	9
Assembled the innards for the Rudder. Pneumatic Squeezer really made things smooth and sweet! Also, took VS and Rudder skins into paint booth to Scotch-Brite inner surface and clean with M.E.K. Will touch up with SB and Acetone before acid-etch priming interior surfaces.

 

26	Dec 29, 2021	Assembly of Vertical Stabilizer (sans skin)	Tail Feathers	12.0	7
Assembled parts for Vertical Stabilizer, times included making a leveling jig for the pneumatic squeezer, countersinking a few missed holes on rear spar doubler and etch priming results. Good practice drilling out deformed rivets. Will ask Wife for assistance on riveting skins. VS all ready for skins. But will assemble Rudder next as I need to etch primer the interior surfaces of the 3 skins. (Note: While proofreading entry and images I noted a missing AN426AD4-7 rivet! Dumbass!)

 

25	Dec 20, 2021	Epoxy Prime Alodined Parts	Paint / Decals	5.0	7
Primer used over alodined components will be Sherwin-Williams CM0724933 which is a 2.8 lb/gal VOC compliant, epoxy polyamide primer. It meets MIL-PRF- 23377K, Class C2 composition and performance specification. The 2-Part primer was mixed in a ratio of 3:1 adding a slight amount of CM0110933 to make a 20-Sec #2 Zahn Cup run Primed all finished, prepped alodined parts from Vertical Stabilizer and Rudder. Left in paint booth for drying. Note: Images of pre-painted parts show variations in chromate conversion times, best time for light gold color was a mere 90-sec in tray.

 

24	Nov 06, 2021	Paint Booth Completed	Paint / Decals	20	9
Finally made time to complete my paint booth. Figure on needing it for 4+ years so I made it with some scrap materials and some very expensive lumber. 2X window fans on HIGH through filters to provide positive pressure inside booth. Used an old (+40 yrs) ignition-proof exhaust fan from Dad's old stuff. (There WILL be a filter before the exhaust fan, need to make a frame). Not a super high pressure flow, but I will be wearing a Hobby Air hooded respirator inside unit anyways.

 

23	Jul 30, 2021	Back from OSH	Misc.		0
OK. Officially off work for the next 6 months! First project is to finalize the paint booth design. But first a run to Washington State to pick up the 5th Wheel "Mothership II"

 

22	Jul 01, 2021	Still on the road	Tail Feathers		0
Still on the road working, usually off just before OSH, then we'll be back in the shop. Look for me at OSH, I'll be wearing a ball cap and sunglasses, oh, and a Hawaiian shirt

 

21	Apr 26, 2021	Back to Work	Tail Feathers		0
I'm back to work for a while. Won't be in the shop until further notice.

 

20	Feb 27, 2021	Conversion Coating	Misc.	3	0
Darkroom trays used for conversion coating of VS and Rudder components, will make trough for long spar items. New SW Primer came today need to design and build paint booth and prime, then start assembling. Only have another week home though....

 

19	Feb 12, 2021	Conversion Coating - Alodine 1200S	Misc.	8.0	9
Designed long tanks for spar conversion coating. Using darkroom trays for smaller items. Being VERY careful using this material. Thick rubber gloves, 3M purple respirator, eye protection. No splashing, drips allowed on floor/counters. Mixed 5 gallon batch at 85F, temps drops quickly in trays, will design tray heater from heating pad and beer fridge thermo control. Used acetone to remove marks/glue etc from sample parts. Washed in Dawn dish detergent. Rinsed. DEOX B is phosphoric acid etcher, 3-min, as I used a 1:3 ratio then water rinsed. Kept in rinse water until ready to drop into Alodine tray. First sample item was waaaay too converted after 3 minutes. Finally found 1+30 optimum even with tray cooling down. Will added other samples pictures later (on road trip)

 

18	Feb 10, 2021	Elevator Spar	Tail Feathers	5	22
Deburred elevator spar and doubler. Dang thing is 11 feet long! Lots of work here. (also made some images for folks beginning this project)

 

17	Feb 09, 2021	Alodine Work Area	Misc.	5	0
Designed tables and racks for alodine conversion coating.

 

16	Feb 02, 2021	Rudder	Tail Feathers	10	9
Lots of prep for Rudder skins. Then cleco assembly to check if match drill (reaming) is needed on holes. Some parts are now final drilled from Vans so I can check sizing, inspect and debur as needed, then dry assemble for fit. Trailing edge piece is final drilled also. (Lucky-Dog!)

 

15	Jan 22, 2021	Rudder	Tail Feathers	6.0	5
Assembled bottom rib, attached rudder horn for final drilling (reaming) and MACH CSK. Built up all stiffeners and reamed #30 holes. deburred all holes, getting ready to dimple skins.

 

14	Jan 17, 2021	Finishing Up Vertical Stabilizer	Tail Feathers	8.5	10
Finished dimpling skins and spars, machine countersinking areas. Ready for conversion coating and priming. Going to jump to rudder at this time.

 

13	Jan 13, 2021	Vertical Stabilizer Rear Spar Day	Tail Feathers	5	6
Fun Day! Machine shop fun. All focus on Rear Spar, reaming, countersinking doubler, rough assemble VS sans skin.

 

12	Jan 12, 2021	Vertical Stabilizer	Tail Feathers	5.5	3
Match drilled Vertical Stabilizer rear spar and assembled for final drilling 1/8 holes tomorrow. This build incorporates the SB-00002 Dated November 5, 2020 for the RV-10 Which changes the RV-10 bottom rudder hinge bracket. New part VS-XXXX (i'll look it up tomorrow) installed.

 

11	Jan 11, 2021	Rudder Stiffeners	Tail Feathers	6.0	1
Finished trimming, deburring and polishing up Rudder Stiffeners. Problem with a large shop is when you set down a small piece of aluminum, there are a lot of places your need to look to finally find it. Also designed tooling and jigs for new drill press and scroll saw.

 

10	Jan 01, 2021	Rudder Stiffeners	Tail Feathers	3.0	0
Cutting and deburring rudder stiffeners

 

9	Dec 31, 2020	VS and Rudder	Tail Feathers	6.0	0
No images at this time, Deburr rudder parts and begin drilling VS spar web. Happy New Year!

 

8	Dec 27, 2020	Deburring Rudder Parts	Tail Feathers	6.0	7
Jumped ahead to deburr rudder parts.

 

7	Dec 23, 2020	Short Night	Tail Feathers	2.0	4
Rear Spar Doubler - VS-1008 filed interior stamps and deburred all surfaces.

 

6	Dec 22, 2020	Vertical Stabilizer	Tail Feathers	5.0	4
Began to debur and prep all VS parts for drilling. Slow task as I developed techniques for optimizing time required for each part.

 

5	Dec 11, 2020	Practice Kit	Workshop	12	0
Been learning on the two Van's practice kits prior to tackling the real deal. Nice training aids that allow one to experience the skills required (i.e. dimpling, deburring, riveting, back riveting, etc) without need to order new parts from Van's after making mistakes. Going to practice removing flush rivets tomorrow!

 

4	Oct 26, 2020	Logo	Research		1
This image is from a "Flying" magazine article sometime back in the 1970's. That magazine, as well as William Kershner's "A Student Pilot's Handbook", was a big part in the catalyst to bring me to a career in aviation.

 

3	Oct 26, 2020	Workshop Area	Workshop		3
Workshop area, a work in progress. More shelving along wall to be installed. Portable tooling workbench to be added.

 

2	Oct 17, 2020	Inventory	Misc.	4	5
Inventory and organizational placement of parts on shelves. Was only missing 1 piece of AN hardware, was given even some extra hardware. The shipping and wrapping of the materials in the crate from Vans was exceptional! FedEx ground delivered kit, my Wife took bucket off the Kubota and replaced it with fork lift to remove crate and place in shop - She's a keeper!

 

1	Dec 31, 1969	Riveting elevator trailing edges	Tail Feathers		0
PAge 9-15 Rev 1 Step 12 continuing to rivet elevator trailing edges.

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