Inspected holes in HS

Due to riveting the skin, taking it off, then on and off... some of the holes are now a bit too large, and a fair amount of oops rivets need to be inserted. I would prefer not to, but at this stage it is better to move on. When I'm finished with the plane, and I'm still not satisfied with the HS, I will have lots of time making a new one. Priority now is that the HS is straight and strong.

Skin off HS

Took off the skin from the HS - again.

Quick fix on HS - no luck

Riveted a few of the rivets on the aft spar. Then I took off the HS from the jig too see how things were going. As I suspected, what had happened was that even though the HS was straight in the jig, when it came off, it took the former shape. Each single cleco doesn't really force the HS into shape, but all of them together does. The rivets will also force it more into the former shape, because they naturally will center the holes when they are squized. So when in the jig, the HS was in a lot of tension that increased a tiny bit for every rivet that was squized. When taken out, the tension is released, and the HS gets to its former shape.

So much for easy fixing. There is only one way to fix this: New skins.

Riveting HS

Rivted on two of the ribs. Ordered more rivets from Aircraft Spruce.

Riveting HS skin

Finished riveting the center spar to the skin.

HS and skins

After the jig was straightened, I tried to put the old skins on, to see if how far off they were. For some odd reason they fitted. Some rivets are a bit tight on the aft spar near the tip, but not by much. I guess the flexibility and the diameter of the holes compared to the rivets allows for large variations for pieces of the size of the HS, hence the importance of jigs (straight jigs that is).

Contacted Vans about this, and according to Ken Scott: "I would try riveting the stab back together, with it held in the jig. Variations this small can be taken out just by re-riveting". So the fix is hopefully much easier than first anticipated.

HS in the jig

Reconfigured the jig for the HS again. Added one adjustable support in the middle to keep it straight. Inserted a line through some additional holes in the temporary hinge brackets to see if the jig is straight through the process, and to be able to adjust if necessary.

Skeleton HS

The HS skeleton is once again skin free.

One more side

Two to go.

Deskinning the HS

Started deskinning. It was easier than I though. One side takes about 1 1/2 hour. Listening to "Bailando" on my boob radio via the FM sender on my N900 also help :-)

Rudder and VS and the unpleasent truth

The vertical stabilizer and rudder is finished. I washed off the excess zinc chromate with acetone, leaving only zinc chromate at the mating surfaces. I guess a very practical feature with single component primers is that they easely can be washed off, and that is also a bad thing. Single component is nowhere near as tough as epoxy based primers. The rod end bearings must be adjusted, but this job requires two persons. With the VS and rudder finished it is definitely going forward.

But things are also going backward. During the time the HS was in the jig, the wood in the jig changed shape, probably due to changes in temp and moisture with changing seasons. The result is that the hinges on the HS do not line up. The error is approximately 5 mm. To get it right I would have to shim each tip hinge bracket approximately 5 mm out. This is a lot. It will not look good, and it will also mean more forces on the HS spar. I have a set of usable skins, and have decided to replace the skins on the HS. Just to take them off without damaging the skeleton, will take a lot of time. This will be the third time I fit the skin on the HS, and the third pair of skins.

Primed the rudder leading edge flange

Decided to prime the mating areas of the rudder leading edge flange. Used zinc chromate.

fimished riveting the vs

The VS is finished.

Riveting the VS skin

Starded riveting the VS skin to the skeleton. Alternating sides to be sure it is as straight as possible.

VS ready for riveting

Riveted on the brackets and inserted the tube. I'm not entirely sure if it wouldn't be better to just glue the wire to the skin, but if I in the future decide to install some fancy anti radar equipment in the tail, this will be much easier now :-)

Put on the skin again, so it is ready for rivetimg.

Electrical tubing VS

Decided to fasten the electrical guide tubing with fins rivetd to the front spar. Primed with zinc chromate rattle can (got one can).

Got a very special radio from my little sister. She said I had to put it in my shop, and so I did.

Going to try a new approach on this building project, a more scheduled one. At least one evening each week, and minimal or nothing during weekends.

Also I am writing this log with my Nokia N900 from now on, pictures and everything, just to see how it goes.