I finally got some time to cut the new rudder ribs and sheer clips as well as rivet them to the new skin I had ordered. I went ahead and put the entire rudder together again just to see how it looked, fit, etc. I was short on table space Read more…
I spent a good 2 hours getting the new rudder skin deburred, dimpled and riveting the stiffeners on. I am kind of at a stand still now as I’m waiting for parts to come in which might be a bit longer with all of the snow going on here. Crazy Read more…
February 1, 2021 Page 8-5: Step 1 & 2 This took alot of time doing these steps. Alot of deburring due to the lightening holes in the spar and a ton of drilling due to the length of these spar caps. But it looks and feels great! Glad to have Read more…
January 31, 2021 Page 8-3: Step 3, Page 8-4: Step 1 While I’m waiting on some rivets to show up as well as a torque wrench for the low end torque ranges to show up, I decided to soldier on. I started with step 3 of page 8-3. I started Read more…
January 30th, 2021 Page 8-2: Steps 5-6, Page 8-3: Steps 1-2 I had time to speak with one of our local EAA Technical Advisors, Stephen Muehlberg. He gave me a ton of awesome tips and advice on how to continue working and improving my quality. It really spurred me on Read more…
I finally buttoned up the VS! I made a few mistakes while building this but they weren’t things that couldn’t be fixed. It was a great learning experience and I’m stoked to keep going, learning, and perfecting my technique! I thought my attention to detail was pretty high, but oh Read more…
I was a little hesitant on getting the riveting done on the front spar between the upper and middle in-spar ribs. That was a tight area and I didn’t want to bend anything. Luckily I was worried for no reason. I pulled quite a few clecos out, but I did Read more…
I wanted to get the rudder ready to assemble while I wait for the tank sealant to show up to finish it up. I got all of the rest of the parts attached to the rudder skins and I went ahead and just put them together just to make sure Read more…
I got the bottom section of the rudder as well as the reinforcement ribs along the inside of the rudder skin done. Not too bad, but I did learn a little bit on the backriveting. Even with a rivet that is of the correct length you can still have it Read more…
After a hiatus with COVID and holidays, I finally got the skin rivets started. I got a few going but I ended up having my first bad rivet not too long down the road. I pressed too hard from the bucking bar and ended up with the rivet slightly high Read more…