2.2 Hours -
Today’s work was simple, but time consuming.
I match drilled the left HS ribs to the spars and then clecoed on the skin.
The skin of the horizontal stabilizer halfway clecoed to the skin.
Getting the skin on was actually a little tricky and would have been easier with a second pair of hands. Basically, you have to line up the skeleton to the skin and cleco from forward to aft along the ribs and then along the front and rear spars. It’s just a bit of a challenge to hold everything in place while stretching to reach the first couple of holes. After a couple of clecos were in, the rest went in fairly easy.
The skin clecoed to the left horizontal stabilizer.
With the skin clecoed on, I had to insert and align the inner most ribs (HS-404 and HS-405). Once the ribs were in, I marked them through the holes in the skin. Marking the ribs gives you a rough idea where the holes will be. You can use these marks to then flute the ribs.
After fluting, you draw a line down the center of the rib flanges. This line is used the align the center of the rib with the row of holes in the skin. Once clamped in, I drilled the rib using the holes in the skin as a guide.
Marking the centerline of HS-405.
Finally, I drilled all the holes attaching the skin to the front spar. Half of the holes are pre-punched in both the spar and the skin, while the other half are just punched into the skin.
Drilling the skin to the front spar.
Next, I will finish drilling the inner most ribs to the front spar and skin. Then, repeat all of this on the right side.
I’m off for a week of vacation in Arizona…no building for a week.
