Date Action Admin Building
Photos
  Horizontal Stabilizer and Elevator                                                 Totals> 0:00 33.9   33.917
06/10/03 Received the remainder of the tail kit. Unpacked and inventoried. Busy time of the year, so there will be some delay in getting started.  Finished up 4x8 work table. Leveling became a challenge- house was built in 1887 and there is about 4 inches elevation change in 8 feet (yes, building in the house).          0
07/20/03 REAR SPAR: Cut the side flanges on 6T2-3 (Rear spar attachment) using a band saw and finishing to size and shape with hand files.    0:30   0.5
07/28/03 Layed out center line on rear spar and fit doublers.    
0:30
  0.5
08/01/03 Layed out rivet lines on the rear spar attachment 6T2-3. Clamped to spar and began drilling holes.    1:30   1.5
08/08/03 Finished drilling attachment holes and deburred holes.   0:30   0.5
8/18/03 - 8/26/03 Marked rib stations, layed out rivet lines on the spar doublers. Drilled and deburred holes.   2:25   2.416667
08/31/03 FRONT SPAR: Marked rivet lines on doublers.  Drilled one doubler.    2:00   2
09/05/03 Rec'd a quart of CORTEC 373 from Zenith to use on corrosion proofing.         0
09/07/03 Finished drilling the doublers.   0:45   0.75
09/13/03 Made a great plywood template from crate scrap, but only 209mm long instead of the specified 219. Redo.  Made the 2d one in 1/2 the time as the first!  Back to ruler reading 101….   1:50   1.833333
09/14/03 Clamped the template and 6T2-2s to the spar. Drilled and clecoed in place. Clamped the Front Spar attachments (6T2-1) in place   0:30   0.5
09/18/03 Drilled holes through attachment and doubler on one side, then other.  On second set, drill slipped and gouged the attachment. Mistake was trying to drill it in situ. Parts on one side are junk (crack source).  Ordered replacements from Zenith- only a $14 mistake.    1:30
 
1.5
10/01/03 Replacement part rec'd from Zenith (6T2-2)       0
10/4-5/03 Redrilled. Mounted 6T2-1 and 2-6s on wood blocks. Made drilling holes much easier and more accurate.   1:00
 
1
10/08/03 Drilled ribs and front spar.   1:15   1.25
10/14/03 Drilled ribs and rear spar.  One rib mis-labeled and installed backwards (should always check first!).  Replacement sent by ZAC.   1:00   1
11/09/03 Fitted replacement rib   0:10   0.166667
11/24/03 Work on center ribs   0:30   0.5
12/26/03 Finish center ribs   0:30   0.5
12/26/03 Cut 4x angles for ends of spars. Drilled holes for one.   1:30   1.5
12/26/03 Stop work: Holidays and business travel, to include trips to Middle East. Rec'd change of station orders to Atlanta, GA.       0
04/29/04 Started labeling and breaking down parts for packing in June.  Discovered that the rear spar was on with ends swapped causing the rear mount to be on the wrong side of the spar!  Arrrggh.  Work so far has been down with the structure bottom side up making it easier ot stabilize.  When the rear spar was put down, didn't flip it end to end, just inverted it.  It looks like the fix will be replacement of all 6 center ribs to make use of existing holes in the spar.  But, this will have to wait for July or later. Duty calls.....        0
03/20/05 Finally got the shop set up (again).  Re-assembled the horiz. stab, and yup, rear spar is in backwards. Flipped it end to end and it looks like the rib stations are accurate enough that I can replace the ribs and re-use the spar (redrill holes into new ribs).  The lateral rib position is right on, but the holes obviously don't match. I think it's tech advisor time....   2:00   2
03/26/05 Reviewed my plight today with my new chapter's tech counselor, and he offered a solution.  Cut off the flange on the ribs. Make and rivet a new flange to the rib end with particular attention to the length of the rib and redrill using the existing holes in the spar.  He also suggested a way to hold the ribs in place for driling using a small triangular alluminum gusset and cleco clamps.  I'll post a photo when I make some.        0
04/23/05 Built a jig to hold the center ribs in place while drilling the new flange.  The picture to the right is of the jig with an unmodified rib in it.  The flange to the right is the one that will come off.  Subsequet pictures below show the process.  The jig is made of plywood and 1x1 scrap. The base is two layers thick and the lat 2 inches of the end where the flange will be drilled is will accept a 2 inch long pieces of plywood so a fresh piece of ply is always under the area to be drilled so that a previous hole under the flange doesn't drage the bit to the side as it comes through.    1:30
 
1.5
04/30/05 Cut two rib end flange pieces form a previously junked rib (.016 6061-T6) and bent them in a plastic jawed vice.  Came out OK except that the bend radius is too tight. I will get the old tech counselor review, but I think I will junk these and look for access to a bending brake. Another military deployment interruption coming up. This one about 60 days.  Photo shows rib with flange removed and edges dressed.   1:00
 
1
07/31/05 Previous sample flanges built are no good.  Bend radius is too tight. So, made a wood block with a suitable radius and built another today, but using 0.025.  Need to find out if the thinkness is a problem.  Only the end ribs are 0.025, all others are 0.016 thickness.  Subsequently made the decision to make all of the flanges out of 0.016 to match the rib material.  Plenty of scrap available from the bodged rudder nose skin (see previous page).  Photo shows the new flange in place on the rib and marked for drilling.   2:30   2.5
08/02/05 Made a 0.016 flange, removed the flange from the rib, and riveted the new flange on to the rib. Re-drilled through the rear spar existing holes. Rib has same dimension as original. Photo shows rib clamped into the jib and the first two pilot holes drilled.    2:00
 
2
08/07/05 2 flanges, one rib (2d) complete.  Photo shows new flange in place with two finishe drilled holes and two pilot holes.  In the end I used an A4/A5 rivet pattern that matches the rivet pattern in the spar (outer ribs past the spar reinforcement all A4).    1:30
 
1.5
08/08/05 Finished remaining rib flanges, riveted to ribs. Redrilled through rear spar and cleco'd in place. Positioned, drilled and cleco'd end rib flanges.  Photo shows finished rib clecoed in place.  Next is disassembly, debur clean and prime.  My original intent was to skip priming  because of the 6061-T6 resistantce to corrosion, and the climate out west.  But, now that I'm in Georgia, I find that everything here corrodes in he summer. The Aluminum has developed a milky film that can be wiped off that looks like corrosion attempting to get a toe hold.  The rudder is naked, but stored in the house.  Still looks fine.    5:30
 
5.5
         
  (see build guide for notes to go in here)    
       
08/26/05-8/28/2005 Re made and replaced one replacement rib flange.  Original had an ovaled hole.  Dissassembled and deburred frame. 2:30  
8/31/05- 9/5/05 Cleaned all parts with acetone. Re-assembled the frame and reveted together with exception of the end ribs and the front attach brackets.  I've also relearned that the jaws of the rivet puller must be cleaned frequently, or it will stop grabbing the rivet stem.  The best thing I've found so far is a little bristle brush on a twisted wire handle that is supplied with many electric razors for cleaning.  It seems to work better than pipe cleaners.  I've had some troubel with pipe cleaners leaving fuzz behind making the grip worse instead of better.  6:30  
11/01/05-11/30/05 I have noted that some of the rivets on the horiz stab have loose stems.  In a few cases the stem has rebounded out of the rivet when the stem snaps.  Sent a sample of my rivets (originally from ZAC)  to ZAC and they report that they are OK      
04/30/06 Lots of updates to add, but time is the enemy.  I will update this sometime this summer.       
         
         
         
         
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