Thursday, June 30, 2011

Jun 30 -- Installed Counterweights

Not much to say. Some trimming to clear rivets, bolted 'em on. Bigger news is that it now sounds like all of August except for a few days will be spent traveling for business. Not good for enjoying summer or for build progress.

Like everything, tonight took way longer than it sounds like it should have.

Total Time: 1 Hour

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Jun 29 -- Cut Elevator Counterweights

Tonight was more thinking than doing... Cut 4 lead counterweights for the elevators. Once again my investment many years ago in a power miter saw paid off.

The weights will still need minor tweaking in order to fit past rivets; however an initial try-fit indicates that the initial cuts are right on the money. :)

Total Time: 1 Hour

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Jun 26 -- Install Trim Tab Hinge & Threaded Rod

Short session today, because it was a spectacular Sunday in Western Washington so Michael Beare and I went flying in his Luscombe.

In order to insert the servo into the access opening, you need to power it up to move the screw to the extreme "trim up" position. Great, except that I forgot about this (a day passed), so I cut the stainless 8/32" threaded rod to the wrong length.

Picked up a new threaded rod for the trim servo, installed that, and trimmed the edge of the trim tab (is that recursive?) where it was hitting the elevator when positioned at an extreme "down" angle. Also bent the hinge pin per the photo below, in order that it can be safety-wired to the elevator. The safety wire will be installed later.

Total Time: 1.5 hours

Friday, June 24, 2011

Jun 24 -- Work on Electric Trim Servo

Tonight it was time to assemble the parts that were primed last night, and to see how everything fits. Thanks to clearance issues it was not really possible to use clecos during try-fit.

Three things needed resolution:

  • The servo is a really tight fit in the access hole. (WHY? another 1/8" clearance would have been wonderful and would not cause structural issues.) The edges of the nutplates needed to be filed down so that they did not protrude into the opening.
  • In a similar manner the edges of the access opening needed to be relieved near the throat, because the clevis pin on the servo was binding on the edge of the opening.
  • Finally, one corner of the servo was hard to insert into the hole. So I drilled a new hole and installed a rivet there. That made room to relieve the corner, as shown in the photo below.

Total Time: 1.5 Hours

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Jun 23 -- Start Work on Electric Trim

Relatively short session this evening. Set up the mounting brackets for the electric trim servo on the elevator. The trim is mounted in the elevator and positions the trim tab via a control rod.

So tonight it was a matter of laying out the bracket holes, drilling, deburring, dimpling, and priming. This is the reason that God invented Lilac Bushes: to hang airplane parts from.

Total Time: 1.5 Hours

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Jun 22 -- Install Trim Tab

I didn't post Sunday's work on the elevator, where I redrilled one rivet twenty times. In the end I stuck a pop rivet in the hole :(

Tonight was different. Attached the trim tab to the elevator and am pleased with how it came out, per the photos below.

Some tips for others:
  • I left extra material on the left end of the half of the hinge that attaches to the elevator. That way right-left adjustment could be controlled by jamming the end against the corner of the trim tab cutout on the elevator, and I simply sanded it down to get the exact spacing that I wanted. This eliminated trying to control two dimensions at once as I clamped things up.
  • Others started drilling holes at one end and working their way along the hinge, with a cleco in each hole that they drilled. I carefully drilled one hole in from each end, and then drilled a couple in the middle before splitting the difference on the rest of the holes. Kept the trim tab in place the entire time, in order to prevent the half that I was working on from sagging.

Time Sunday: 5 hours
Time Today: 2.5 hours

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Jun 18 -- Trim Tab & Left Elevator

What you don't read here is also an important part of the project. Everything has been on hold because the drill press needed repairs (the chuck kept falling off). Took the spindle to a local machine shop; however when I got the part back the chuck wobbled slightly. Not good! EBay solved the problem after some off-EBay dickering with a dealer.

Per an earlier post, the first run at a trim tab hinge was all boogered up. So this time I used a #41 drill bit and a rivet fan to carefully lay out and drill the hinge holes. At least with this rivet fan a #41 bit is perfect in the rivet fan holes, as you can see in the photo below. Using the rivet fan really helped clean up "eyeball" variances from hole to hole. Simply clecoed then ends, then drilled holes in between, using the rivet fan to guide the drill press directly.

Used ProSeal to glue some foam ribs inside, and also carefully riveted the tab together. It's sitting in a corner for a week or so while the ProSeal sets up.

Next I closed up more of the left elevator and also glued up the apex wedge in its trailing edge. Hard to believe how much day all of this ate up, but a great way to spend a rainy Saturday.

Total Time: 5 Hours