Empennage

Horizontal Stab 9 (2.0 hrs)

This entry was posted in Empennage Horizontal Stab and tagged mistakes priming on by

I emailed Mike after my last workshop session.  I was dismayed and frustrated with my mistakes and unsure of whether or not I needed to replace the parts.  Mike agreed to come over this evening to take a look at the mistakes and give me some guidance on anything I might need.  Turns out that I was over-reacting!  While the countersinks are overdone, they will not present a significant weakness.  Additionally, while the one hole is slightly outside of edge distance tolerances, there is more than enough support elsewhere for it to not be an issue.

Mike’s visit was an excellent opportunity for me to get set up for priming.  Here you can see the rear spar for the horizontal stab after priming.  The process is much easier than I had imagined, and I’m really pleased with the results from my super cheap harbor freight gun.  The cap on the paint container does leak if you don’t keep the gun upright, so I’m going to have to figure out a solution to that problem.  My confidence is restored!

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Horizontal Stab 8 (1 hr)

This entry was posted in Empennage Horizontal Stab and tagged mistakes on by

Wanted to put three or four hours in tonight, but I over-countersunk the splice AND reinforcement angles. Pretty sure I will need to replace both parts.

I also found a center rib that was drilled too close to the edge by the previous owner. I also think that parts he messed up were marked in blue. I wasn’t told this, and there are no replacements.

So, I stopped for the night. I’m very frustrated and angry with myself, so I’ll cool down and approach the problem fresh tomorrow. I will also try to get a second set of eyes on it.

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Horizontal Stab 7 (1 hr)

This entry was posted in Empennage Horizontal Stab and tagged priming on by

No pictures today. Tonight I cleaned up the rear spar in preparation for priming. It’s taking longer to clean up as the kit has several scratches that require removal. The front spar is almost ready for priming as well.

I ordered the AKZO primer from Aircraft Spruce this afternoon. The UPS tracking says it will arrive by the end of the day on Friday. The goal for Sunday is to have all the parts in the horizontal stab primed and ready for riveting.

On an unrelated note, I was finally able to remove the water pump on our kubota. I need to get a gasket replacement, and the install should be a breeze. Next up will be removing the hydraulic cylinders.