Outboard T-410 reinforcement plates and aerobatic tank fabrication - 5 hours

After a few days break from the build I mustered up the nerve to put in a good day finally. I started with the easy stuff. Using the old T-410 plates I drilled the outboard T-410 reinforcement plates and fitted them to the outboard ribs.



Next step was to fabricate the blanks that cover off the large hole on the #2 ribs. To me a while to figure this out as the plans don't call for it, but I decided to do this as most RV8 blogs use this modification for their areobatic tanks. Helps keep fuel in the inner cell longer while doing aerobatics obviously. I choose 0.025" thick material and a 2" x 2" dimension. It allowed for good edge distances (although not critical in this non-structural part).

Of course trying to get the plates centered took some figuring. Not quick and easy....took me a while to check, check and re-check.




Next on my agenda was to fabricate the anti-rotation brackets for the flop tubes. Again the plans don't call for this, but I do believe it to be a good idea to help stabilize the flop tube and minimize the chance of the bulkhead AN fitting rotating while tightening. I cut and filed the T-715 brackets that come with the kit to fit the AN fittings. Took lots of time but I managed to grind away with the files.



After, Mike came over and we put a good much of work in on the S-51 horizontal stabilizer. A full plane building day!