Tail Construction Complete

My son Micah and I set up the whole tail in the family room to see how it all fits together. It's starting to look like a real airplane! The tail section is complete with the exception of the fiberglass end-fairings and the tail lighting. The wing kit has been ordered and I'm expecting delivery … Continue reading Tail Construction Complete →

Attaching The Elevators to the HS

It's time to hang the elevators on the horizontal stabilizer and drill the horns to fit the center bearing. I first had to drill out the bolt holes in the hinge brackets. The were not quite big enough for the AN3 bolts that are used to secure the rod end bearings. Once that was done, … Continue reading Attaching The Elevators to the HS →

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 →

Horizontal Stabilizer – Dimpling

The next task on the horizontal stabilizer is dimpling the rivet holes that are used to attach the skin to the substructure. A dimpled hole is bent inward with a precision die that causes the hole to exactly match a flush rivet head. When riveted, the surface of the skin is smooth with no rivet … Continue reading Horizontal Stabilizer – Dimpling →

Horizontal Stabilizer – Front Spar and Skins

The rear spar components have all been drilled. It's now time to assemble the front spar. This job is a bit more involved than the rear spar because the center section has a lot of stuff going on. There was a service bulletin back in 2014 (SB 14-01-31) for cracks that were forming in the … Continue reading Horizontal Stabilizer – Front Spar and Skins →