1.8 Hours -
I was able to leave work an hour early today, so I had a little extra time to continue the elevator prep work. First up was to dimple the stiffener attachment holes on the right elevator. My c-frame could reach all but several of the aft-most holes. The c-frame could have been used on all the holes if I had an extra hand to help bend the skin out of the way, but I opted to test out my pop-rivet dimpler instead of waiting.
The pop-rivet dimpler was simple to use and generated nice dimples. However, it also left a small ring around the dimple. This ring will be easy to cover with paint or polish out, but it is an annoyance all the same.
Dimpling the elevator skin finally gave me the opportunity to use my pop rivet dimpler.
The dimple on the left is from the pop rivet dimpler. The right is froma c-frame.
Once the skin was dimpled, I went ahead and primed the inside of the skin where the stiffeners will attach.
Next, I decided to start working on the left elevator. Even though I planned to let the left side sit until the right was done, I started working on it simply to get some of the parts out of the way. I proceeded to final drill all the stiffeners to the left skin. Again, nothing complicated, just time consuming. All of the stiffeners and the skin will have to be deburred and dimpled. I still have to finish the edges on all of the left stiffeners as well.
Final drilling the stiffeners to the left elevator.
In addition to working on the stiffeners, I also final drilled E-615PP to the left elevator skin. This piece serves as a doubler, or reinforcement plate, as well attachment point for the elevator trim access cover.
The trim access panel is reinforced.
