Right Elevator Finished! HOBBS: 110.0 hrs

Lately quite a few things have been competing for my time this summer and taking away from building time. No complaints though, it has been a fun summer and the wing kit will be waiting on funds anyhow so there really is no hurry at this point. But, with all that being said, I have recently got back into build mode and realized how much I had been missing it. It really is a great way to spend free time, it gets the gears turning...the mind working and the hands busy!

Did I mention Band Aids are a key element in any good shop!! :) I have a knack for getting small cuts and scrapes as I work. Every project has to have a little blood, sweat and tears to make it your own!

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, the right elevator is essentially done. I have a couple missing rivets on the trailing edge that I couldnt reach with any of my bucking bars. I think I am going to order a 'no die' thin edge yoke for the squeezer and I will revisit this later. I think this will solve my ongoing trailing edge riveting issues I keep running into. It runs about $125...always about money, but hey, its a tool...you cant go wrong investing in tools. Take care of them and they will last a lifetime, or if need be, sell 'em for and you almost get what you paid for 'em. No worries when it comes to tool purchases.

The right elevator construction was mostly a non-issue since it is just more of the same skills and construction I have been doing all along on the empennage. The only new task was using my new homemade 2x6 break to bend the trailing edge. Then I tweaked it with my hand seamers to get a nice crisp edge. All in all it turned out pretty good, my only complaint was rolling the leading edge. Because there was slightly less room to work with, the seam didnt turn out quite as tight as did the rudder. I wont lose too much sleep since it wont be visible on the finished airplane.

I have now started the left elevator and this HOBBS figure represents some of the time spent on that task. I can already see that the left elevator with the trim tab and electric trim is by far the most complicated assembly of the empennage, and for that reason, I have found this the most enjoyable. More on this on the next blog entry.

A view of the lead weight used for counterbalancing the elevator. I will adjust the weight of this later in the project after paint.


This is the control arm 'horn', this will attach the right and left elevator together so that they move as one unit.

A good view of the 'shop head' side of some rivets holding on the reinforcing plate and a platenut. This is where the elevator will attach to the horizontal stabilizer.

And a view of the 'factory head' side of the same parts....
Here you can see some 'monster' tape (like duct tape but stronger) I used it to hold the seam closed while bling riveting. I used some RTV inside the seam for a little extra holding power, not sure if this did much good. It wasnt in the plans and I hadnt seen anyone else do it, but it was an idea I came up with and I thought it was worth a try and couldnt hurt anything.

And here ya go, another sub-assembly in the books!!! Only one more to go for the empennage! Progress is being made... :)