Today's building session was spent assembling the rudder, final drilling the rivet holes, and fabricating the lower fairing attach strips (R-918). The first task is to assemble the skeleton which includes the main spar, a lower rib, and the upper counterweight section. The skins are then clecoed to the skeleton. I had one fit issue … Continue reading Rudder Assembly and Drilling
Author: rossted
Riveting Rudder Stiffeners to the Skins
Having trimmed, smoothed, deburred, primed, and dimpled the rudder stiffeners and the left and right rudder skins, it's now time to rivet the stiffeners to the skins. I'm using the back-riveting technique for this task, which involves driving the shop heads while the flush factory heads are held against the hard smooth surface of a … Continue reading Riveting Rudder Stiffeners to the Skins
Rudder – Stiffeners
With the Horizontal and vertical stabilizers completed and set aside, it's time to start building the rudder assembly. The first task is to trim and prepare the stiffeners so they can be riveted to the left and right skins. The rudder skins are significantly thinner and lighter than the skin on the vertical stabilizer. To … Continue reading Rudder – Stiffeners
Vertical Stabilizer Completed
All of the parts for the vertical stabilizer have been ready for final assembly for some time now. It's time to get this assembly finished as well. The vertical stabilizer is much simpler and has taken much less time than the horizontal stabilizer. Once the skeleton is riveted together, it is ready to be fastened … Continue reading Vertical Stabilizer Completed
Horizontal Stabilizer Completed
This evening I had a visit from my EAA technical advisor. We had arranged to get together for the second time right before completing the horizontal stabilizer so he could inspect the interior before it was closed up. We talked about the project so far. I asked about a number of mistakes I had made … Continue reading Horizontal Stabilizer Completed
Horizontal Stabilizer – Ready for Inspection
It's time to permanently assemble the horizontal stabilizer. The front and rear spar assemblies are complete and everything is primed and ready to go. The assembly starts by clecoing and riveting the HS-707 rib to the top side of the skin. This rib is in the center of the front section of the stabilizer. It … Continue reading Horizontal Stabilizer – Ready for Inspection
Assembling the Horizontal Stabilizer – Front Spar
Back to the priming table to shoot primer onto the rest of the horizontal stabilizer skeleton parts. The primer finish comes out really nicely! Not bad for a $16 paint sprayer. Several other builders have claimed that the cheap sprayer from Harbor Freight Tools works just fine for priming. I couldn't agree more. On to … Continue reading Assembling the Horizontal Stabilizer – Front Spar
Assembling the Horizontal Stabilizer – Rear Spar
Now that some of the skeleton parts for the horizontal stabilizer have been primed and the primer has fully dried, it's finally time to start riveting the assembly together. This starts with the rear spar, consisting of a left and right spar channel, the top and bottom reinforcement bars that overlap the center of the … Continue reading Assembling the Horizontal Stabilizer – Rear Spar
Priming the Horizontal Stabilizer Parts
In this work session, I finally got to shoot some primer with my downdraft table. I did a small batch of parts to get a feel for how the spray gun works and how much primer is needed for a particular set of parts. I started by mixing a small amount of primer base and … Continue reading Priming the Horizontal Stabilizer Parts
Trimming the Horizontal Stabilizer Rear Spar
It's been over a week since I posted any updates on progress. I have been spending my time setting up my priming station as discussed in the last post. All I am waiting for now is the delivery of the primer itself, which I ordered from Aircraft Spruce. It was supposed to arrive two days … Continue reading Trimming the Horizontal Stabilizer Rear Spar
Ted's RV-7 Build 