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January 23, 2005: (2.0 hrs.) Got out the broom stick and duct tape to roll the leading edge of the elevators. I find this to be one of the more difficult tasks of building this plane. The first roll usually goes well, but then when you roll the second side of the skin, you have to deal with the side you just rolled being in the way. You really have to work the skin to get a good fit. |
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Finally, the edges are rolled and I can rivet the leading edge together. Yes, those are the silver #40 cleco's... but I drill the holes out to a #30 prior to blind riveting. |
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Here is the left elevator laying on top of
the horizontal stabilizer with the leading edge completed.
Next I will need to fit the elevators onto the horizontal stabilizer and check for proper balance, clearance, and movement. |
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January 30, 2005: (2.5
hrs.) When the elevators are attached to the horizontal stabilizer,
the outboard skins interfere with the counter balance weight. The
skins need to be trimmed to allow the counter balance to swing freely.
Here I have marked where the top HS skin needs to be trimmed. This needs to be done on the top and bottom skins for both the left and right elevator. |
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This is the final result of the cut after rounding the corners and deburring the edges. |
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This picture shows the left elevator attached to the HS. The counter balance weight now has room to travel freely. |
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Next I attached the elevators and checked
for movement and balance. Everything fit and moved nicely.
The elevators are balanced a bit heavy, but I will not worry about that
until after paint.
I spend some time today hooking up the linkage of the trim tab servo to the trim tab. I had to shave away a bit of the trim tab opening to keep the clevis from rubbing the skin. Next, I tested the trim tab movement by hooking the servo up to the battery from my rechargeable drill. It was pretty cool seeing parts moving for the first time. I am almost done with these elevators. I just need to drill and bolt the elevators through the center bearing. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow and then I can start concentrating on the wings |
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January 31, 2005: (1.5
hrs.) Tonight I was resolved to finish up the empennage because I
am anxious to start on my wings.
To allow adequate down elevator throw, the rear spar flange needs to be trimmed. Here you can see that I have marked where I want to cut. You need to be careful not to cut the rear spar reinforcements. |
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I tackled the this job by first drilling holes in the corners of the area to be removed. This facilitates the radiused inside edge of the finished cut. Next I used my die grinder with a cut-off wheel to "carefully" cut through the spar flange. The spar reinforcements are just beneath the flange so you need to cut very slowly and make sure to not cut too deep. It would have been nice if the plans and instructions called for this cut-out before the horizontal stabilizer was assembled. Oh well, the cut was fairly easy. |
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Here is the finished product. Not a nick on the rear spar reinforcement plate or center bearing support. |
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The elevator control horns need to be drilled to accept the bolt that attaches them the center bearing. The instructions call for using a drill bushing with a 1/4" OD and 3/32" ID to be used on a #40 drill bit that is then inserted through the center bearing to drill each control horn. I had this wall anchor that was close to both dimensions. I wrapped a little electrical tape on the outside to snug up its fit in the center bearing and then opted for using a #30 drill bit. This worked out well. |
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Here the drill bushing is inserted into the center bearing and I am drilling the right control horn with the #30 drill bit. The same process is used from the opposite side to drill the left control horn. |
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The hole then needs to be enlarged to accommodate the bolt (I believe it was a 1/4" diameter hole). The bottom hole is what was drilled. |
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Elevator complete! Now on to the wings. |