May 25, 2009: Tailcone Started!

P. 10-02 Tailcone! Start with preparing the skins (steps 1 & 2). Breaking the edges is tricky, but like every new thing on this kit, the skill will come quickly. Take the advise on the page which has you break the bottom skin 1st (if you screw up it will be less noticeable). My bottom skin is a bit wavey to start, but I think it'll be ok. I used the cleveland breaking tool identified by Marty Santic and used on the EAA's training video (http://www.eaa.org/video/homebuilders.html?videoId=24417516001). Watch the video! It will help you. Finished deburring and breaking all skin edges and set them aside for later installation. Moved on to step 3 to flute the angle of the F-1210C angle and discovered I had flutted the wrong way:(! When I used the edging tool to take the flute out, the metal cracked. I will order replacement from Van's tomorrow.

P. 10-02 continued. Moved to the tailcone fuselage frames. Step 4 directs you to flute to align holes. I did not see this as necessary. However, I did try to flute to get the frames flat, without success. Stopped and communciated with John Bender and Marty Santic and they both ran into the same thing. So, not to worry. Will align holes with skin when I get to that step. Received the replacement part (F-1210C) and prepared it properly for installation. All went well.

P. 10-03 Step 1, fabricate the tail skid bracket. Used the template provided in the kit and it worked perfectly. Figure 1 has direction of what to do and wehre to do it. I was not sure of the diagram that shows 5 inches long by 1 inch wide. That was because I was perceiving it incorrectly. It is a sideview of the tailskid showing where to make the tapered cut. I will prime the skid before installation. MCS required on the bulkhead doubler (F-1211B) for AN426AD4 and AN426AD3, so be sure to use the right bit. Again, I practice on scrap and then if possible use the drill press to finish on the part. This went well.

May 23, 2009: HS Cont.

P. 09-09 Completed HS. Installed hinges onto the HS (step 3), then prepared and installed the aft HS ribs. Step 7 requires you to "pinch" the aft edge of the aft skin to have it fit the rib properly. This means to literaly pinch the skin between thumb and fingers. I found it effective to work the length of the skin a number of times, each time giving me a bit closer fit. The final outcome was very good. Then install the skin and move to P. 09-10 to intall the upper and lower horns to the HS assembly. This went well also, torqueing the bolts to 25-30 lbs/inch. I primed the counterbalance weights. I fitted the counterbalance arm, installed the weights, but did not make the installation permanent because of storage issues. Will install later when it goes together. HS complete.

May 21, 2009: HS Skin Completion

Completed skin riveting.

May 19, 2009: HS Skins

P. 09-08 Fitted skins to HS skeleton. FOLLOW the directions and double check things. The directions are specific about which skin (top or bottom) should overlap the other on the aft side. I had done about half the rivets on top skin and then rechecked to be sure I had oriented things correctly. Lo & behold, I had things reversed as far as the overlap was concerned. Still time to correct, whew! I think this matters because of rain infiltration(?).

May 18, 2009: HS Cont.

P. 09-07 Completed preparing the hinges having masked off the areas not to be drilled, applied the template, then using the drill press, made the holes. No problems!

May 17, 2009: P. 09-06 HS Ribs

P. 09-06 continued. Step 2 is to radius the edges of the narrow ends of the ribs. I used a file to do this and took off a fair amount of material because I did not want to have the rib deform the skin when applied. (Glad I did this because it turned out very well and the fit was perfect.) Riveting the ribs to the spar required the use of the wedge tool which made it easy and without scratching the ribs.

P. 09-07. Install the HS-1213A & B hinge brackets to the spar. All went well. It is important that the HS-1210 bushings be correctly sized so that brackets retain their correct shape and distance apart.

May 15, 2009: HS Rib Clips

p. 09-06. Fabricated rib clips for the HS. All went well and attached all to spar completing step 1.

May 9, 2009: Visit the RV12 Prototype

Took the day off to drive to Eugene, OR to see my son, Sydney at the University of Oregon. Then he, Wendy and I went to the airport because the prototype was there for the day, giving demo flights. Also nice to hear Dave Martin give his presentation about the 12 and his building experiences with it thus far.

I digress . . .

May 10, 2009: HS Stabilitator

P. 09-02 Stabilitator. Lots of final drilling of holes and machine counter sinking (MCS). Not to mention that the spars require different flush rivets, so different MCS bits. Be careful here, take your time and be sure to use the correct MCS for the rivet called out in the diagrams. I always practice on scrap material to be sure I'm using the correct bit for the rivet and that the depth of the counter sink is appropriate. Saves me a lot of bad energy! I also took significant care and labeled each hole on the spar to be MCS to be sure to apply the correct bit.

Another thing I did to save time and ease the building process was to deburr parts to the extent possible before separating them (see p. 09-02, step 9). This made it easier to use the scotchbrite wheel. Then go back to get to the parts you couldn't reach after cutting the parts apart.

Moved onto p. 09-03 and was very careful to follow directions and align parts correctly. Everything went together nicely! Good number of nutplates to install and had no problems. Long productive day.

May 2, 2009: Anti-Servo Tab

P.08-02 Anti-Servo Tab (AST) installation. Working 6 hours on the AST resulted in completing this task. Everything went well and if paying attention to the plans, no real challenges. Pay attention to the hinge halves so that you end up with parts that match the plans. Measure twice, cut once. Using the eyelet template to drill holes in the hinges worked well. I used the drill press to make these holes, being careful to keep the template positioned correctly. (The template would not fit into the hings for me, so using a file, I took a little material off each notch. Be careful if you do this because you can easily take too much and then the template will not hold itself in place.)

April 30, 2009: Rudder Skin Prep

P. 07-05 prepared the Rudder skin for installation. Everything went as indicated by the plans. It is good to masking tape over holes that are to be left open (the 13 holes for the fiberglass fairing) because when riveting, it is easy to forget to leave any available hole empty.

April 26, 2009: Rudder

P. 07-02 Started Rudder today. Everything went well, one step at a time. Fabricated spar caps for rudder spar. These caps require match drilling, using a center line as a means to line up the part with the holes already drilled through the spar. Completed the rudder spar assembly and then moved to p. 07-03 to begin attachment of the hinge assemblies to the rudder spar.

On step 2 & 3, p. 07-03, when I riveted the main spar rib (R-1203) to the spar, the flange of the rib did not lay entirely flush with the spar, having been pushed out by the rivet. I thought that maybe the shop head of the rivet should have been on the other side, but Ken at Van's told me not to worry as long as the rib was in contact with the spar. Finished the upper hinge bracket and continued on with attaching the remaining ribs and rudder horn assembly to completion. Next will be attaching the skin.