Page 09-10 Build Time: 153 hrs

Stabilator Complete

This represents a significant amount of work. Assembly was straight forward since I pretty much pre-assemble everything prior to prime so I don't miss anything. Each section comes out a bit better from the lessons learned in the previous sections. Also, getting familiar with the build book and it's flow helps. Vans definitely does an excellent job. This is a huge project and I have the highest respect for those who have done more than one and those who use solid rivets for an entire project.

 

I do like to rivet with conventional rivets but if your not doing this every week basically you're practicing on your project. If you can do a little everyday you'll be fine and won't drill too many out. I went ahead and bought the main squeeze because the one I had was a economy tool. When I bought it I didn't expect to use it very often (and haven't) but it wasn't working out for the 3/16 rivets. The main squeeze has a cam and you can finish out the rivet with one hand. This really helps and the counter weight brackets came out perfect.

  

Once the skeleton was complete it was time to get out every copper cleco I owned and lay down the skins. Getting the leading edge started was best done by propping the skin up and laying a 2X4 block under the skeleton. This allowed the needed space to get the leading holes in the ribs lined up without trying to hold everything open.  

 

You can see I've become a fan of leaving the plastic on until the part is finished. I do this for two reasons - to keep the over spray down during prime and protect the surface during assembly. Also, if the punch pushed the hole so that's the burr is on the inside there's no need to deburr this side. As most have noted go very lightly on all holes if you feel the need to deburr. 10% of a 0.020 skin is basically un-measurable by the home builder and if you've done more than that your are beyond spec. I've spent more time cleaning up over spray and burnishing out light scratches on the skins than it takes to line out the plastic with a dull solder iron. Just go light and don't try to completely separate the plastic and make sure only the copper of the iron is used. Absolutely no lead should ever touch your alclad.

 

You don't really need to use all these clecos but it's nice to have it all together and doing a final inspection before you get out the rivet puller. Triple check everything because once you start rolling through pulling rivets it would be a huge AW-SHIT moment if you had to drill those little guys out - but it's doable. I had to drill one out because I missed one spot on the plastic. As soon as I pulled the rivet I saw it and it was "oh crap". It came out no problem (use a # 30 to get the head off and a #40 on the shank until it just falls out). Since I didn't have the other side riveted yet it was no big deal to chase down the shank but I did have to un-cleco the entire skin and hunt it down.

  

I'm very happy with the finished product. This was enough of an airplane part to start making airplane noises. Some of the things I'll improve on is the primer - two light coats and get the edges first. Watch a couple videos on U-Tube and you'll get the idea. If you're going to put down primer put it down. If you're concerned about the weight loose a few pounds. The pneumatic puller came into focus pulling this many rivets. You don't need pressure on the head of the rivet before pulling. Just make sure it's flush and flat - the puller will do the rest. A light touch is all that's needed and it tends to make the joint perfectly flat (unless you're pulling over a couple ribs and the skin will conform to the underlying structure). There are no dimples or pulled areas on the skins. They are as flat as they were when they arrived. Very nice. Also, read ahead and read it again. Call Vans if you're not sure and get on VansAirforce to look for answers or post questions. There's an enormous amount of info out there that everyone (including me) are sharing.

count by weight - 1 gram per mandrill

It was a 600 rivet day. On to the tail cone! 

Page 09-08 Build Time: 129 hrs

All parts are through primer and ready for final assembly. This represents a solid weeks worth or work. The Christmas break is over and I made significant progress on the tail feathers but putting it all together will have to wait for another week. Yesterday was a very long day of prep, primer and cleaning the gun several times. I mixed up 8 oz of primer and set some aside (gun only holds 6). But at some point the paint started to spatter again. At first I thought I had reached the end of the pot life and it was thickening. Then I noticed the gun was loosing air at the hose and that seemed to be the problem. So I cleaned up the gun, loaded the rest and went on. Then the air on the gun wouldn't stop. That caused the compressor to run constantly until it tripped the breaker. So I figured that out - was some dried paint on the trigger pin, cleaned up the gun and took a dinner break. I still had the skins to do and thought that might have to wait until today but I had planned on flying and it was only 7PM so out I went, mixed up some more paint and went back at it. Everything worked out this time since I pretty much ran into everything you could except spilling large amounts of primer on the ground. This morning when inspecting the parts I noticed the right lower corner of the skins were a little too light. You could still see the aluminum. Since I'd spent so much time getting to this point seeking perfection I couldn't live with that's good enough. So out came the paint, gun, masking and I scuffed up the area I wanted to re-coat and cleaned it up and shot a light coat only on the problem areas. This stuff is rock hard. I've always been concerned about it sticking but in twelve hours it's like powder coat. I had intended to keep it light but those corners were near the ground in a shadow so I missed it. I also don't want to keep piling it up while it's wet. Going forward I'll use two very light coats on the skins. They came out nice.

Ready for assembly

Once the parts were where I wanted them it was time to fly. I had planned on some IFR since we had a small storm move through. I decided to head north and not chase the ice but it turned out I only got 0.3 IMC and no approaches. That was the plan I it was a good plan so no need to deviate. It was a nice ride and I love being in the clouds.

It will be "different" flying a RV with a glass panel, AHRS and synthetic vision that will never be able to do what the might Cessna can do. Oh well, maybe I'll have to keep the old girl.

Up with the angels

Page 09-04 Build Time: 96 hrs

Worked through the Horizontal Stabilizer spar box and put in an honest 9 hours today. Could have went farther but you get mentally exhausted and that's when mistakes happen. Most of the time is spent either re-reading the instructions so I don't miss a step, thinking ahead to make sure all is well and of course - deburring. Found that the control horns had the 0.06 gap in the box and a quick search on Vans Air-force showed that some had also ran into this issue. The post was from 2009 so I'm a bit concerned that this kind of problem would still be around. In any case I took the time to lay out all the parts and measure the hole spacing in the the skeleton assembly and the skins. My thoughts were that the spar cap could be short and causing the spar box assembly to come up short. That would put an offset into all of the holes and make assembly impossible. Everything measured out and I expect it all to come together as designed. I fabricated the shims for the horns from some 0.032 2024 stock and while it took the morning to work through this they came out fine. I was tempted to countersink all the way through the shims but that would be a waste of time and have little value. I'll be calling Vans tomorrow to pick up some of the parts that were missing from the kits and discuss the shims. I expect to get the same story and that's why I spent the time to create them. 

All the work to the spar box is complete sans riveting which comes after primer. This was a lot of work but it came out nice.

I ordered the Main Squeeze and I'll give that a try if they send me the pins they left out of the order. I'd like to finish the HS this week if possible. Everything here on is pretty simple except the hinges where the directions say to match drill both on the right skin. I assume the math will all work out but I'll be marking and checking before poking any holes.

Tomorrow will be the ribs, stops and hinges and if I can I'll deburr the skins. If everything goes well perhaps we'll get to scuff and clean the parts for paint but I suspect that will take another day.