1.4 Hours -
Almost all the time spent working on the RV tonight was used to shape the right elevator counterweight. This big hunk of lead was a huge pain to work with, and I still have another one to build!
The shape the lead needed to be cut into was relatively simple. Basically, a rectangular chunk needed to be removed from the outboard, aft side of the weight. The amount to remove is clearly shown in the plans. Van’s has you cut out the minimum amount that may be needed to balance the elevator assuming the plane is painted. If more needs to be removed, it can be adjusted later in assembly.
To remove this chunk, I marked the weight and then drilled a 1/4” inch hole to radius the new corner I’ll make. The hole was drilled using my drill press to make sure it was straight. Drilling through lead isn’t super easy. The lead is soft and it sticks to the drill bit. Every 1/2” or so, it would bind the bit and I would have to shut off the drill, back it out, remove the lead, re-Boelube it, and start again. Overall, I had to drill through about 2 inches.
Next came the hard part. I had to cut to the drilled hole on two sides. On one side, this was just a 1/4” cut. On the other, it was 1.5 inches. For this I used a hacksaw, my vise, and some brute force. It took me about 20 minutes to make these cuts! However, the end product turned out very nice.
I used a hacksaw and my drill press to cut the weight.
The finished weight looks pretty good!
With the weight shaped, I disassembled the rest of the elevator and started to deburr parts. I only made it as far as the tip rib, counterweight rib, and counterweight skin. The rest of the deburring and dimpling will have to wait for another day.
