2.2 Hours
This evenings building session started off with the fabrication of plans holder. Ok, fabrication just means I attached two binder clips to the plans, screwed two hooks into the wall above my workbench, and hung the plans on the hooks through the binder clips…nothing fancy.
I continued with the horizontal stabilizer rear spar and started working on the front spar. On the rear spar, I match drilled all of the elevator hinge brackets and assembled the HS-411 assembly which is basically a bearing sandwiched between two hinge brackets.
When it came time to rivet the HS-411 assembly, I decided to make my first builder’s modification. The plans call for -5 rivets. However, I could instantly tell that these would be a bit short. I had also read about this problem on several builder’s sites.
Others decided to use a -6 rivet and it looked like I should do the same. I didn’t want to blindly switch the rivet length, so I pulled out my calipers and made some detailed measurements of the width of the materials being put together. I added 1.5 rivet diameters to that measurement to come up with the optimal rivet length. This measurement agreed that a -6 would be appropriate.
Of course, after going through all this measuring and calculating, I remembered that I had a rivet length gauge in my toolbox. I pulled this gauge out, lined it up on the part with an undriven rivet, and confirmed my calculations in the span of about 5 seconds! I bought all these tools to make my life simpler…gotta remember to use them!
- HS-411 assembly match drilled and ready for my first rivets.
HS-411 assembly riveted
Next, I started working on the front spar. I only got as far as pulling out the HS-702 spar channels and the HS-710/HS-714 splice angles from the parts pile and clecoing them together. The instructions say to match drill all the holes inboard of the HS-404/HS-405 rib attach points, but not to drill the holes that will attach the HS-404 and HS-405 ribs or the holes outboard of the bend line. Either this was vague or I was getting tired because it made no sense to me. From the drawings, I couldn’t tell which holes the instructions were referring to. Rather than making any mistakes, I decided it was time to quit for the evening, possibly check a few other builder’s websites, and come at it fresh another day.
I found the parts, now what???
