Rudder is back on - 3 hours

I missed the Fed Ex guy so my new front spar parts will have to wait until tomorrow. Instead, i started working on match drilling the rudder skin. 

I then worked for a bit on the new R-904 bottom rib. I cleco'd everything up and used a uni-bit on the larger hole. I match drilled the bottom rib.

Then I sat in the basement for a while and flutted the rudder ribs.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again

Well... I've mulled the issue of the horizontal stabilizer front spar over in my head all day. Even though I have confirmation all is ok from Van's. I just feel that I can still do better. That's really the point of this build...An education project. I'm not learning if I have the attitude of "good enough".
So I decided to re-order the front spar parts and try again. I will keep the original as reference...but I hope that I can at least make this one perfect.

I will use a bit of a jig and draw out all the layout lines. I will be sure to use the drill press where possible. The whole goal is to get it perfectly straight, and get all the holes flawless. At least I can then say that I tried my best...

The new parts come tomorrow. In a couple of days, I should be back to where I should be in my build.

Nothing to worry about. Build on

Talked to Vans Support about my concern over the holes not exactly lining up in HS-710/714. It was a bit of a newbie wake-up call. I explained to him my issue with my hand drilled holes not exactly lining up. In short his reply was very simple. "Basically your forming aluminum with a hammer...how exact do you need to be"

His point was this....The airplane is meant to be built in a garage by an amateur. Sometimes things are not to a machinists standard. It's ok. He did say that a times some parts could be up to 1/4" out of alignment....no problem, its still going to fly fine. Again he re-iterated the fact that as long as you cleco everything up using the pre-punched holes.....your good. He did of course warn of the need to maintain proper edge distances, and proper riveting....you can't overlook those.

From his re-assuring confidence....I guess I'm not the only new builder out there that's panicking he cannot achieve machine shop tolerances in his garage with hand tools! 

Lessons Learned
Try to draw center lines and reference lines as best as you can.....but if things don't line up 100%....don't sweat it...Build on!

Finished mock up of the HS - 2.5 hours

I received the new HS-00005 rib and the R-904 Bottom rib from Vans today, so I picked up where I left off on Sunday. I got to work on fitting the HS-00005 and HS-00006 to the left side horizontal stabilizer. Everything went well and I was pleased with the results. I Cleco'd everything up and match drilled the ribs/spars as per the instructions.

 Match drilled the skin and then removed it. I then finished drilling the holes inboard of HS-00005/00006. I have to say that Looking at the holes in HS-710/714 they all seem a little bit off. Not perfectly lined up. When I think about it...the drilling sequence is all different. some holes are drilled from the front, some are thru the back. Some are marked out and drilled, and some are drilled through existing holes. Coupled with the fact that I am drilling from a hand held palm drill and I may be just a few degree's off from level....It is foreseeable that some holes may not exactly line up. It feels odd to me. I will throw up a post on Van's Airforce and hopefully some folks can let me know if there is cause for concern. I'd really hate to go back and do the horizontal stabilizer all over again :(

And on to the elevators - 4 hours

Well it seems my cold is worse today. I really didn't feel like working on the plane but I somehow managed to drag myself to do a little bit. My whole goal is to move all the empennage along so that I can prime as much of the pieces as possible in one shot. I decided to move on to the elevators.

I cut up the stiffeners and marked them all out. It was a bit of a pain to figure out what was what, but after working through it they all fell into place.  I first did all the major cuts on the bandsaw. Then trimmed everything down with the sanding station, and then cleaned up and rounded every edge with the 3M wheels.

I then cut and cleaned up the edges on the hinge doublers. Cleco'd them to the E-702 spars. 

 I then worked on the E-703/704 ribs. Flutted, checked, and good to go. I also marked out the right lead counterweight. I have some concerns with cutting the lead weight and also fine tuning the balancing. I guess I have a lot of research to do in the coming days.

P.S. having a 3 year old hang out with me slows down the build, but it is a lot of fun watching him and the joy he has in trying to help....I really want to foster his spirit!!