Bending trim tabs - 5 hours

A big day for working on the elevators. With the help of a friend we built a small bender. Using the 1/8" dia dowel I proceeded to bend the trim. I repeated the same process as the elevator skins...taping a dowel inside and placing the skin up against the hinges and then very slowly bent the skin. It turned out perfect. Since I ordered a second trim a while ago...I did the second. Just in case. 

I then bent the tabs. I cut a wood block (~10 deg) to fit exactly in the profile I wanted. I then rounded the edges of the block with the belt sander to ensure that the folded aluminum had about the 1/8" dia corner. (The aluminum could crack if the bend is too sharp). 

I followed the exact method described in the instructions and the result was good. I did the second trim tab and this time it was near perfection. Be careful with the wood block as it can put a slight crease where the edge hits the aluminum. By the way...the rivet gun with the flush set works perfect. A low, low setting is good. I should point out that it is very important that the block on top is not located over the trailing edge....the result is that it can put a small dimple into your trailing edge if you do.

I then started to bend the tabs on the elevator but stopped when I noticed that I needed to trim a very small amount off the tab so it won't dig into the skin when bent.  

Completed the elevator ribs/skeleton - 1.5 hours

So with a finger that was feeling alright. I dove back into working completing the elevator frames. I cleco'd and then riveted the elevator horns onto the elevator spars. I am extremely pleased with how the rivets turned out.

More elevator assembly - 1 hour

I managed to put a little bit of time in tonight. I started to rivet the right side E-709 right root rib to the E-702 spar. These rivets prove to be a bit tricky since I find the rivets want to bent over more easily with the flat top yoke then if I used the other C yoke or standard yoke. I drilled out two of the four to replace and in the second drilling attempt...I joined the 'Drill through your finger' club. Ouch that Hurts. I finished riveting and called it an evening.

Elevator assembly - We're Back!! - 4 hours

I spent a bunch of time this evening on the elevators. I hit a groove and just kept going. I started in on riveting the elevator hinge doublers/reinforcement plates with the AN470AD4-6 rivets. everything went well. I used my handy table that I made to provide the settings of the pneumatic squeezer for a given die/yoke setup. Using my digital calipers I can zero in the proper setting on the adjustable set holder and then squeeze the rivet. The result is a near perfect rivet set with only a small adjustment needed now and then.

 I moved onto the nutplates. I was very sure to go slow and be certain that I was square. I'm extremely pleased with the rivets.

 Like I said I was on a roll so I started riveting the spar and the ribs. This time around...I modified my sequence of riveting slightly from the plans. I began by setting the rivets between the E-702 spar and the E-704 counterbalance rib. 

 I then riveted the E-703 end rib to the E-702/704 assembly. It was slow work but the result is that I was able to rivet everything with the pneumatic squeezer with excellent shop heads!

Started assembly of Elevators - 1.5 hours

I spent a bit of time working on the E-610/611 spar doublers and E-00001 hinge reinforcement plates. I managed to set a few AN470AD4-4 rivets. So far so good.

Priming the elevator spar parts - 2 hours

Not to much to report. I took advantage of a nice day and primed all the parts for the elevator spar. I followed my usual sequence. Wow...I really hate priming.

Countersinking and preping elevator spars - 3 hours

I set off doing a bit of work on the elevator spars. I needed to machine countersink the ends. This was a very quick process as I learned from my past mistakes hahaha. I spent the rest of the time cleaning up the edges and deburring all the pieces.