April 25, 2009: P. 06-07 VS continued

P. 06-07. Started with priming the spar and rib flanges of the VS. Having fluted the ribs and getting them to lay very flat on the table, I was surprised that they were not in perfect alignment with the skin. I didn't force fit the skin to the ribs, but I did use center punches to align the holes. This was not difficult. I followed the directions to a 'T', clecoeing the skin to the V-stab skeleton, looking for deformation of the leading edge as it pulls up against the ribs. Since I had taken considerable care to radius the narrow ends of the ribs, I was not surprised that the fit was very good. The fit of the VS-1204 fwd skin was also very good. :) All went well and I installed the upper hinge assembly, torqueing the AN3-5A bolts to 25 inch pounds. Does not seem very tight, but that is the torque value called for in the table.

April 22, 2009: P. 06-06 VS Dimpling

P. 06-06 continued. Completed dimpling the VS-1204 Fwd skin as well as the VS-1201 Main skin and nut-plate attach holes. The directions unter "note:" indicate to use a smalldiameter female die. The one that came with the Avery tool kit is small enough to get the dimpling done on the nut-plates (to my relief). Then rivited the nut-plates into place on the VS-1201 main skin. Seemed like it went slow, but slow wins this race!

April 20, 2009: P. 06-06. V-Stab Skeleton

P. 06-06 step 1-4 complete. No surprises here. Used nibbler to removed hatched areas and followed with a file to make smooth. Went to scotchbright wheel to complete edging. I did some of the #19 final-drilling on the drill press, but due to tight corners did the remaining with portable electric.

April 18, 2009: Vertical Stab continued

P. 06-05 completed. Step #1 is to radius the edges at the narrow end of the VS-1205 tip rib, etc. This took time, but went well. I carefully clamped the rib in the vise and then used a file to get the tips radiused. I'm not sure if I filed off enough, but I was pretty aggressive about taking the corners off, careful to leave about 1/4 inch around rivet holes. I think this went well but will trial fit parts to determine if I need to take more off. Moved on to fluting the ribs, which also was straight forward and easily done. Step #3 was to begin reviting ribs to spar, as well as nut-plates (see step 3 & 4). The diagram in Fig. 2 is hard to see in the right angle. However, by looking at fig. 3, as well as photos posted on builder's blogs, it is all discernible. Completed the V-Stab Skeleton Assembly. Next entry will cover install of skins.

April 16, 2009: P 06-04 Vertical Stab Rear Spar

P. 06-04 VS rear spar continued. Started MCS holes called out. Cannot overemphasize need to establish MCS depth on scrap material. I'm not good enough yet to 'eyeball' the depth and get it right, so I test first and then move to the part.

April 14, 2009: Vertical Stab Upper & Lower Spar Caps

Moved on to p. 06-03 to begin work on upper and lower spar caps. I separated the parts (upper & lower) using the 'nibbler' and then used the vixon file to trim the VS-1212A-R. This worked well, it taking time and not in hurry. I am proud of the result.

Used a sharpie to draw the reference line on VS-1212B-R & L. I have what I thought was a fine point sharpie. Not so. The line I get is medium and this creates a challenge as you use the reference line. Hard to know exactly what edge you should use, so take care. Will shop for a fine point in the future. Having taken the care I mentioned, I was able to be accurate with reference line and when match drilling later, I was happy that I was careful.

Clamped upper & lower spar caps to VS-1203 Rear Spar and followed steps to match drill the #30, #40 and #12 holes. I was able to do this on the drill press and I believe the helped do a better job in keeping the holes perpendicular. I needed to clamp a 2x4 onto the drill press platform to make this work and I am happy with the results. I did miss 4 #12 holes and 6 #40 holes at the one end of the spar, but caught it later and came back to finish the job.

Finished match drilling and then deburred holes.

April 12, 2009: P. 06-02 Vertical Stab

P. 06-02 VS hinge bracket preparation and assembly. Took care to separate and deburr VS-1210 brackets and spacers (VS-1211A&B). Having read tips in the forum, after match drilling and deburring, squeezed rivets in several passes. First setting the rivet with light pressure, just enough to set it in place and moved to next until all were stable in place. Checked that the bearing could still move freely at each squeezed. After about 5 passes, rivets were done and bearing still free.