February 11, 2007


Here's the rivet that I decided needed to be drilled out yesterday.  About this time Justin came over to inspect my work so far and I didn't get any pictures of drilling it out.  It was a painless process - its easy with the drill press.  I'm sure it'll be a pain when it comes time to do it with a drill.



Fast forward an hour - here's where I'm headed today.  I've laid out all of the stabilizer parts - its starting to look planeish.



It occured to me that I should look at the tail tip installation so I don't pass it buy when I start putting the skin on.  I'm not sure I like the plans method of installing the tips.  The drawings want you to slip the tip betwen the skin and the end rib and rivet it.  Since I'm going to paint these I want that done before final assembly, so I'd like to make the tips removeable.  



I'm thinking about ordering two additional end ribs from Sonex and using counter sunk screws to attach the tip.  I've seen other guys use strips of AL, and I may do that - but I've not decided.



Here's the rivets holding the front nose rib clips to the front spar.  I was wondering how to rivet them and got some good suggetstions for ways to pull the rivets from an angle.  In the end I just bent the clip a bit and use my hand riveter.  The hand riveter has a smaller nose than the air one so I didn't have to bend the clip too far.



To get the clip in the right place I used an 1/8" spacer under it and clamped two ribs in place on either side.  The holes were marked and drilled.



Drilled to #40 and clecoed.



The other side.



Both nose ribs drilled to #30.



Riveted.  I love how easy the air riveters pull the rivets - I have mild carpel tunnel and this is really saving my wrists.



Beginning layout - I'm using scrap channel to hold the spacing correct from front to rear.



To set the outer spacing correct I marked the tip ribs where the front spar channel should end up.



Then I clamped the front spar channel in place.  Once drilled and clecoed this will hold the outer spacing correct.



The tip rib drilled to #40 and clecoed.



The first rib drilled and clecoed.  I set the spacing from the center line as shown on the prints and used a square to make sure the rib was straight.



I also used another rib under the rib I was working on to ensure the edges lined up with the spar channels so the skin has a flat surface to attach too.



Second rib drilled and clecoed.



 Nice and square.



Here I realized an error in my order.  The drawing for the front and rear tail spars call out the holes to be drilled for CCP-44 rivets but not installed.  These holes shouldn't be updrilled to #30 until the rib is installed.  Now ensuring these ribs are straight will take a bit more work.



Here's the third rib drilled and clecoed.  I marked and drilled the holes for this rib outside of the assembly.  It should line up ok when the holes are drilled to #30.



Here's the centerline reference mark I've been using to ensure the ribs are spaced correctly.  At this point I realized I'm going to need an angle drill attachment to drill the holes in the clips.



Mainly because the drill I have won't fit in the space between.  I'll hit home depot tommrow and see if they have what I need - otherwise it's a trip to Harbor Freight.



Moving along, here's the outer rib and tip rib on the other side.



The second rib from the end on the other side.



Here's the stabilizer clecoed together minus the two interior ribs.  Without the angle drill I can't get to the holes to pilot drill or final drill them.




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