We
made some decent progress today. We're holding off on the
vertical stabilizer assembly until we get the rudder to the point we
need to proseal the trailing edge. I plan to use some of the
proseal on the conduit in the vertical stabilizer also, and we've got
one of those one-shot 1oz containers so we'll do it all at once.
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(7-7 step 2):
So on with the rudder... The first thing assembled is the bottom
rib halves - basically the bottom of the rudder where the fiberglass
bottom fairing will attach. This piece is also where the rudder
horn attaches (the horn is where the rudder cables attach to the
rudder)
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Here's
a shot of it after it's done. You can also see a pretty decent
sized nutplate attached to the backside of the horn. This is
where the lower rudder attachment hardware goes.
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(7-7 step 3):
Next on the assembly list was the reinforcement plates on the
rudder spar. You can also see a couple of nutplates here
too. These are the other 2 of the 3 total rudder attachment
points.
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(7-7 step 5):
After the spar assembly came our first experience with back
riveting. We had both done a little in the Orndorff sheet metal
class back in November, but this was the first time with our own tools,
and the backing plate a friend cut for us. Well, we were doing so
well that Angela felt I could work unsupervised for a bit... I guess
she was wrong! While she was inside checking on dinner, I was
marveling at my back riveting ability... those are some pretty nice
rivets, eh! Problem is, most rivets are used to JOIN pieces, not
just fill holes... somebody forgot to tell me that (add another point
to the 'bonehead' column!)
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So anyway, I was forced to learn
how to drill out rivets tonight... it actually wasn't too bad. I
was able to maintain the original hole sizes, so I'll claim that as a
success!
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A little reluctant to leave me
alone now, Angela decided to come back and help out ;-) We
alternated stiffeners (she'd do one, I'd do the next one) that way we
shared the fun. Here she's checking our work.
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Putting on the finishing
touches. It really is amazing how much that flimsy .016" skin
stiffens up with these guys in place... with no real appreciable weight
gain!
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Finished with the right-side
skin stiffeners. Now its time to eat!! I think we'll call
it a night and do the left side-tomorrow.
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