Helped Mike with his Stewart S-51 Elevator Hinge

Not much to report on the project. Mike came over and we put in a couple of hours in working on the S-51 elevator hinge. Pretty impressive parts, but much more work and thinking involved than the Vans Kit.

Primed the HS#2 Parts and Riveted the Front Spar - 10 hours

Spent a fair amount of time prepping the HS parts for primer. I de-vinyled the skins, deburred all holes and filed down all edges. Then I cleaned up all the edges with the 3M wheels. Did a good scuff with scotchbrite and wiped down with MEK. The primed the parts. After supper I headed back out to the garage and started to rivet the front spar assembly. The result was excellent work but very labor intensive.

Finished Tank and Access Platenuts - 10 hours

Huge day in the garage! I started to prime the HS#2 front spar parts as well as some wing platenuts.
Then I set to work on riveting on the platenuts. The majority of the platenuts go on very easy. however, the angled platenuts are a tad more challenging.  Installation of cleco's also presents a challenge with using my squeezer. I found if I used then from the inside out allowed much better access for the squeezer.

 
Setting the rivet closest to the spar web is a bit difficult as the factory installed rivets in that area limit clear access with the squeezer. I ended up having to drill about 5 or so rivets that stuck up just a bit too much. To my delight drilling out the rivets went extremely well and I re-set them.  
Before attaching the #6 platenuts for the access plates, I began to wonder if I needed to drill out the holes for the #6 screws (as they won't fit thru the holes as-is). So back to reading the instructions/forums/buildlogs. So I determined that I keep going and don't drill just yet. That lead me to wonder about countersinking the #6 holes. Everything I read is <0.3175", But nothing is definitive. So I grabbed the access plate drilled, deburred, dimpled it to #6 and then grabbed a piece of scrap and set out figuring out the proper countersink depth. After much back and forth I settled on a countersink diameter of 0.300" This allows the #6 screw just below the surface with a slight halo around it, which seems to be inline with the description on the forums. And it is also just clear of the edge of the flange. I also reasoned that at that depth it helps to ensure that I don't countersink too deep and ruin the spars and it provides a decent fit of the plate.

 
Of course though....I will get a second opinion on this before I go too much further.

Update, I ran this by my friend Mike who is an Aircraft mechanic by trade, and He was please with what he saw. It's nice to have knowledgeable people around to bounce things off of.  

Once I felt confident that I had the access plate platenuts figured out, I completed riveting them on the spar.Once the Left spar was done, I then continued on to the right spar. By midnight I was done!

 

Countersinking Wing Platenut Attachpoints & Priming - 3.5 hours

I completed countersinking the #40 holes for the platenut attach points. It was a slow process as I took my time to ensure the countersink cage is nice and flat on the piece. I would check, check and re-check as I went. Marking pieces OK when I was happy with the countersink depth.
I've began keeping the laptop nearby. Its quick reference to Vans Airforce / Buildlogs, and of course...Netflix!

I then took an hour to start priming platenuts. This is an idea that I had picked up from wirejock. I reason that it's an extra couple of steps to clean and prime them. But it seems worth it to me, as they are steel and priming will help mitigate rust.

Completed match drilling of the HS#2 - 3 hours

Now all that was needed was to match drill the HS skins. I had cleco'd every second hole, so I drilled each open hole. After I did a line of drilling, I checked then off with a sharpie as I went. From my previous empennage, I noticed that the odd time I would re-drill a hole that was already done and this increased the risk of making a hole oblong. So checking off a completed hole mitigated the risk.

At the end... Everything came out great.

Completed drilling the HS#2 front spar - 4 hours

Started off the evening by un-clecoing the skins on the left skin and marking out the holes for completing the cuts on the HS-702 spar. I then cleco'd the ribs and match drilled. I completed the cuts on the relief hole at the end of HS-702 and fitted everything back together on the skins. I prepped the new HS-00005 and set in on drilling the ribs to the front spar. Everything went extremely well, and I am very pleased with the workmanship. Finally!!!






































I un-cleco'd the skins and then began to drill all the remaining holes on the front spar outboard of the HS-00005/00006 ribs. I was sure to use my drill press and ensure that all holes were as straight as could be.

Resumed drilling the HS#2 - 1.5 hours

The news parts arrived from Van's and I wasted no time trying to get back to when I needed to be. I marked out the bend lines and trim lines on HS-710. This time around I was very careful to mark out the line that is 7/16" below the top edge. I then began to work on the new HS-702 spar. (Im still not a fan of bending out those tabs, never looks clean and nice as the rest of the pieces).

My friend mike came over to work on his HS for his Stewart S-51. We spent a couple of hours setting the hinge locations. Much more thought and planning involved with the S-51 than the Vans.