Vertical Stabilizer Finished!

Over the last week I was able to make some great progress.  I bought a couple of cans of NAPA 7220 Primer at the store in Reynoldsburg (the folks there gave excellent service).  I had decided that I would simply prime the areas where the aluminum pieces would touch each other, simply adding another minimal layer of corrosion protection.  It doesn’t take hardly any time at all and it certainly cannot hurt.

Last night, Mike Cencula came over and we went to town on the riveting of the components of the VS.  Mike helped me to get a hang of how to better use the rivet gun and rivet squeezer.  We worked late and ended up finishing the VS (less the rivets on the edges) around 11:30.  Thanks for all your help, Mike!

VS Ready for Primer & Riveting

We’ve made some good progress in the last couple of weeks.  I got a C-frame dimpler and table kit from Cleaveland Tools.  The table is extremely helpful because it keeps the piece of aluminum perpendicular to the dimple dies when I’m dimpling.  This makes sure the dimples are nice and crisp.  With two not-so-hard whacks of the hammer, it makes a great dimple.

Cousin Tim stopped by this week on his way back to Taylor, and it was great to see him.  We only had a couple of hours to work on the plane, and it was really hot and muggy, but we got a lot done.  We deburred the edges of the new VS-1007 rib (I put an extra dimple where there was not supposed to be one with my pneumatic squeezer) and fitted the skeleton back together so we could final-drill the holes where the flanges meet the skin.  Also, we countersank the doubler that goes on the bottom of the forward VS spar.

Which brings up a good point.  Countersinking is difficult enough, but it’s even harder when you are attempting to countersink a piece to accept a dimpled skin.  It’s not that it’s hard, it’s just that it is difficult to know when you’ve gone deep enough.  It’s better to start shallow and increase the depth of the cut as you go.  I’ve got a sense now for how tight the fit needs to be.  The surrounding skins aren’t going to be completely flush until you rivet, but they need to have a pretty close fit when you put that dimpled skin up against the countersink.

Today, Ashley held the skin in place while I used the C-frame to dimple the remaining holes on the VS skin.  The dimples look great to me.

Next step is to run to NAPA to grab some 7220 “Martin Senior” self-etching primer.  In my next post, I’ll discuss my ideas on priming.  Those seem to change from day-to-day, but lately I’m feeling like “less is more”…

Building confidence

This week I had the opportunity to go help fellow EAA chapter 9 member Mike Cencula work on his RV-7a. He needed some help so I decided what better way to gain some experience? Another RV builder John Bowen met us and the three of us had a lot of fun. I drove my first rivet after watching and learning from John’s technique. It was great to see Mike’s shop. He has quite an impressive setup.

I learned some things and got some ideas to take home with me:
1. Put the compressor in the basement and run a line to the garage. I did this today and the noise has become a non-factor. It makes all the difference in the world.
2. Using the traditional C-frame dimpler rather than the DRDT-2 is a possibility. The C-frame is harder to use but (according to Mike) makes crisper dimples. He seems like he knows what he’s talking about.
3. This is a HUGE project. I seem to forget that from time to time.
4. Working with other builders is a lot of fun. Plus, you can learn a lot

I picked up a drill press from Home Depot with some gift cards I had. Also got some clamps, files and miscellaneous things for the project. Next step: c-frame…

VS Is taking shape

Last night and today I made some good progress. I finished both the left and right VS spar caps and final-drilled them to the rear spar and the rear spar doubler. Then I countersank the appropriate holes in the doubler so I can finish those with flush rivets as called for by the plans.

Then I deburred the remaining parts of the VS and clecoed it all together. I made sure to remove plenty of material from the front of the ribs that touch the inside of the leading edge of the VS. I heard from other builders that these ribs will damage the skin I not trimmed back. I’m very pleased with how it fits after the trimming. I clecoed the skin on and everything fits great.

The next step is to final-drill the holes in the skin. I’m suck here until I can fix or replace my air drill. Yesterday it started spewing black oil out of the exhaust andbit got everywhere. What a mess! I’ll probably end up buying a Sioux drill because I’ve heard those are the best. Also, I found a guy down the street with a sign that says “on-call welding”. I’m thinking that instead of buying a DRDT-2 dimpler for 400 bucks, I can buy the parts and have him make me one for under 200. We shall see how that works out…

Working on VS

At this point, any progress is good progress. So I figured I’d post a picture of my progress tonight. I drilled all the holes in the left and right rear spar caps and I got halfway done drilling one of the flanges.

More tools…

It’s been a little frustrating lately. I been stuck needing some tools, namely small scotchbrite wheels and drill bits. I finally ordered them from Avery tonight so hopefully I’ll be back building soon. Also, I need to send back my alligator squeezer because it uses hard-to-find 1/4″-shank sets instead of the more common 3/16″-shank sets. Scott from ToolsEZ said last week he’d be willing to swap it out for me. He has been great to work with so far so hopefully we can get this switched out ok. The new squeezer will be a conventional style rather than the alligator style. I think this will work better. The conventional squeezer is held perpendicular to the workpiece, which I feel is a more natural arrangement. When the new squeezer gets here, then I will need some rivet sets. Man there are a lot of tools needed to build this airplane!

Tools (and a little airplane building too)

The last few weeks have been busy at work and home.  I’ve been staining the deck and trying to get the grass in the back yard to grow when I’m at home.  Even when I do have some time to work on the plane, I can’t really get much done because I don’t have all the tools I need yet.

But with some birthday money and a little money I set aside for airplane-related needs, I found some good deals and ordered some more tools.  I found a place called ToolsEZ.com which carries surplus aviation tools from places like Boeing, Rockwell, etc.  Bought an alligator-style pneumatic rivet squeezer, rivet sets, drill bits, hex clecoes and a pneumatic runner, cleco clamps, a Chicago Pneumatic (CP) air drill, a countersink cage and some bucking bars for $400.  Not a bad deal when you consider the cost of the rivet squeezer alone is $729 new.  Also I picked up a 3m Scotchbrite wheel from Van’s (goes on the bench grinder and is used for deburring aluminum edges) and a deburring tool and a countersink set from Aircraft Tool Supply (ATS).  The only major piece I still need is a C-Frame dimpler.

I managed to get a little done with the airplane.  I started working on the horizontal stabilizer (HS) spar by trimming the spar reinforcements per the plans, and match-drilling them in place by the flange.  I’m waiting for my numbered drill bits to drill into the flange…

More Work on the Shop

This weekend I got some more work done on the shop. I found a filter/oiler combo at Harbor Freight which required some modification to work. I replaced the O-ring between the filter and the oiler – it leaked bad – with a brass coupling. Now it seals up perfectly.

With the compresor finally setup and ready to go, I can now fiddle around with the rivet gun. I also picked up a swivel regulator for the gun which seems pretty nice.

Ashley’s folks gave me a Home Depot gift card for my birthday so we went there after dinner today to pick up a band saw. The Ryobi unit looked very well built and was no more expensive than the junk at Harbor Freight! I’ve always beena little afraid of band saws, but after setting it up and seeing how the band stays in place I feel more comfortable with it. I cut a piece of wood just for kicks and it was actually kind of fun.

Worked about 5 hours on the shop this weekend.

iPhone App

I just found an iPhone app that will allow me to post to my wordpress blog really easily. It should allow me to post more pictures since I can take them with the phone and attach them as I post. Hopefully the image quality is good enough for everyone to enjoy the pictures.

Work Table #2

I was already feeling pretty good about table #1, but I think I’ve outdone myself.  The younger sibling is much better built, and it was a lot easier to build.  I was able to build this table on my first table, which saved my back and drastically reduced my ibuprofen intake.  It reminded me of the lessons we learn when we do something the first time, and how much better our work can be the second time around.  I’m anxious to apply that learning to the project as a whole.

Dad’s coming down on Saturday so we can build him a table for his Zenith CH-750 kit.  Surely the third table won’t be quite as amazing as the 2nd!

Ibuprofen needed: Zero!

Hours worked: 3