Ordered the Wings

Well. It's Official! I ordered the wing kit today. 8 weeks give or take and I will be ready to start. Did I mention that the US dollar exchange rate is awful!! I also received an email from the MD-RA with the info of my assigned inspector. I called him briefly to set up the inspection date. He needs some documentation from the MD-RA that has been mailed out before he can schedule it, but it shouldn't be in the next couple of weeks.

Torqued the HS bolts and the Rudder Counterweight screws - 1/2 hour

Decided to torque the bolts on the Horizontal Stabilizer and the Rudder Counterweight. Finding the torque values for the bolts was easy enough, but its another thing finding them for the screws. Hint: The screws are similar to the AN3 bolt.

Helped a friend on his F1 Rocket

I helped a friend out today with his rudder on his F1 Rocket. He was having a bit of trouble riveting the stiffeners on his skins. (His rudder skin is like the RV7 Elevator skin). Its really a two person job. So we set off in the exact same manner as I did my elevator skins and it was a complete success. Mike did purchase a long back rivet set and I must admit....It really worked well to get the last rivets set next to the trailing edge bend of the skin.

Built a proper EAA table - Sorta

Well, I went to home depot and picked up all I needed to build a proper EAA Table (Well Sorta). Its a bit larger and taller than normal. I'm 6'3" so bending over all the time is not great. The table measures 72" long and 36" wide and it 36" in height. I also made it so it can be easily assembled/disassembled.

Just Messin' Around

Not much happened today in the way of progress. Just decided to put things together to see how it looked.

Completed a few rivets on the Rudder Control Horn and checked over pieces - 2 hours

I checked over everything (The HS, VS, Elevators, Rudder) to make sure that all was good and I have missed nothing. There was the control horn on the rudder that I didn't quite finish off so I tacked those rivets. I managed to get the majority of them with solid rivets, however there is just the one rivet that I just can get with the longeron  yoke that I have. The nutplate inside the control horn is just in the way. I think i'll hold off on this rivet to the very end. I imagine someone at the local EAA chapter has a longeron yoke that will work.

Finally I have done everything I can, so now to book the Canadian pre-cover inspection ($435 plus mileage...Ouch!)

Trim tab near complete - 3.5 hours

Probably the most time that I've spent messing around with one little piece. It took a whole lot of head scratching to figure out how to dimple some of the holes in the trim tab. I was a bit concerned that I was not going to be able to dimple the control horn without the dimple dies interfering with the side. It looks awfully close. I still have the other set of control horns from the kit (I used the second set that came with the electric trim) and I test dimpled those. Perfect! No interference from the dimple dies. So I dimpled the control horns.I was a bit concerned about the edge distance on the last hole as I trimmed it a bit for a flush fit with the trim tab...it checked out alright.

 

The last hole that needed to be done was the aft most control horn hole. It is extremely tight to the tab.

Nothing I could think of would fit. The tight space dimple dies I have won't fit. I was set on the fact that I may have to grind down one of my dimple dies. I asked a friend for help too.

I read on the vans airforce forum about a suggestion to make your own dimple die by drilling a hole and then countersinking the hole. That got me thinking.... I thought about using the oak block that I had from bending the tabs. What if I stuck the block back in, drilled the #40 hole, and then countersunk the block.  Well I did just that! Then using the rivet gun with the die holder rivet set, I set the pressure on low and gave it a couple shots. bingo it worked. Not the sharpest dimple but completely acceptable.

Then I set out riveting the trim tab. Probably one of the most tedious and frustrating riveting sessions. Had to be a contortionist with the squeezer and constantly change yokes and flat dies to get the right fit. Ended up drilling out about 8 rivets all together. Very difficult to get the AD3-3.5 rivets to set straight with all that going on with the trim tab. I needed 8 hands holding things. Ended up having to install a oops rivet in the aft most hole of the control horn. Just too darn tricky to get one to set proper in that hole. (Did I mention that I am becoming a master at drilling out rivets!)

Getting good at setting AD4 rivets...AD3 rivets are a bit more challenging. Seems they are easier to slump to one side.