Another hiatus...  This time, from this blog.  Still working on the RV-10!!  Tail cone is all riveted.  The oldest mini me helped with the rest of the riveting.  Its starting to look like an airplane now.  This is a big milestone in my book. 

Now it's time for the empennage attach which is in progress.  The elevators have been fitted to the H.S. I'm stuck on actually putting the H.S. on the tail cone though.  I'm missing the raw material to fabricate 2 shims.  Instead of ordering one part, I'm skipping ahead to the elevator trim section mount.

Started the elevator trim mount and stop short again since it's calling out for odd drill bits that did not come with the Cleaveland Tool Kit.  So have a small list of tools I need to order now from Cleaveland including their static port kit.  Although the tried and true rivet head static port Vans recommends, the consensus is it is very flimsy and delicate if messed with after install.   The latest version of the Cleavland Static ports have been accurate as reported by past builders.   Its a much more substantial piece that looks really sturdy AND nice.  The tubing and fittings are superior in quality with quick disconnects. 

Mean while, I have been planning the wing kit order.  So far the plan for the wing build:

Standard build
Gretz Mast
3/4" conduit in each wing
Deluxe Fuel Caps
Duckswoth Leading Edge Light in each wing
OAT Probe
Unsure of wing tip lights at this point.
1 quart of proseal.  (1qt on hand)

For now...  I'm working ALOT to save up for the wing kit.

Stay tuned.

Elevator rear spar riveted using RV-10 empennage bucking bar (nice!).  Pop riveted the rib halves. Front spar riveted.  The skins were riveted to the spars.  Trailing edge and foam ribs were bonded and weighted down.  Counter weights attached.  Left trim tab foam ribs were bonded, skin clecoed,  Trim tab placed into the wedge blocks.  Waiting for the bonding to cure before messing with the elevator and trim tab.  Need to order a a new right trim tab skin and spar.  

Here is  a quick time lapse of todays events.

After work today, I finished riveting the the rib halves, and attached the rear spars to the ribs and skins.  Used the RV-10 elevator bucking bar from Cleveland Tools.  When used as instructed in the plans, it works very nicely.  I found clamping the skin to the work bench at the front of the elevator using the wood to protect the skin was even better.  Otherwise, the elevator would move around and rivets weren't as nice.  Here is a quick time lapse of todays work.

It wasn't raining after work today.  After getting home and the sun gone below the horizon, I setup for a quick priming session to touch up spots on some parts needed to assemble the elevators.  Waited about 10 minutes after mixing the 2 part epoxy primer.  PSI set for 20 PSI with HF paint gun trigger pulled, respirator, and eye protection on.  Sprayed the parts, cleaned up the spray gun and took a shower.  Watched a movie (Captain Phillips) with my wife and older son.  After the movie, I brought the parts in and called it a night at midnight.  Tomorrow is another day...  The replacement drill should arrive tomorrow too.

I really need to start taking pictures...

Quick night today.  I promised the wife and kids we would watch Jurassic Park 2 today on Netflix after work today.  So after a quick dinner and a shower I slipped into the garage while the kidos were getting the pop corn and movie ready.  I rechecked the rivets on the rear spar that required bucking with the rivet gauge. A few shop heads were not big enough.  Gave those a few more raps with the 3X rivet gun and bucking bar and all is good now.  Thats it for tonight.

Received an 8 foot PVC pipe today via FedEX from Vans Aircraft.  What a great way to ship the replacement J-channels for the empennage cone.

Also, contacted Cleaveland Tools and they already had a replacement drill in the mail via 2 day priority mail!  Now that is what I call TOP NOTCH service.  They also included a shipping label to return the defective drill!!  Oh yes, I'll be ordering from them again for sure!  Thank you Cleaveland Tools!!  If your on the fence of who to chose for your tools,  go with Cleaveland Tools.  You wont regret it!

I need to post some updated pictures.  I have also been messing around with time lapse videos that will be included in these blogs.

Stay tuned....

Sanded all elevator parts this morning.  Masked off the trailing edge foam rib locations with blue painters tape on the elevators and trim tabs.  Hung the left elevator skins on paracord strung across my side yard just outside of the garage.  Used left over 16 gauge copper wire to thread through the rivet holes to hook onto the paracord.  Perfect for non windy days.  Grabbed two 55 gallon barrels and laid some left over rabbit cage wire with a 1" by 1" mesh on top of them.  This was perfect for the smaller parts.  Used 80cc (combined equal parts) of AKZO to spray the parts.  20 min later, the parts that needed flipping got flipped and sprayed.  20 min later, the parts were bone dry and moved inside for assembly.

Next, I back riveted the rib halves to the skin and noticed a few didn't get a nice coat of prime.  Those remained off to get re primed. Riveted the right rear spar to the rib halves using the squeezer.  I riveted the rib halves to the left top skin backwards.  While drilling out those rivets, the 2 week old Sioux drill took a dump.  Bummer.  That threw me off my game.  I was kind of stuck and couldn't go forward at this point.  I setup for re prime on a few parts and then the sky opened up for the rest of the day.  Went ahead and riveted the right bottom skin to the rear spar.  Some of those rivets required to be drilled out.  Only a few so the Sioux drill worked for those but very very very slowly.   

Can't go further until the last few parts get re primed and get a new drill.  Sent an email to Cleveland Tool to see if they would warranty it and what the process was.  For the most part a productive day that had a few bumps.  The bumps are the learning pains of a newbie builder.  I have to slow down and read the plans multiple time, and double triple check the parts are laid out correctly before doing anything permanent to the airplane.  Sent an email to Vans Aircraft to see if it would be acceptable to up size the drilled out rivets to -4 instead of filling them all up with oops rivets on the rib/skin error.  That is it for today.   Another day of building is in the near future.  Stay tuned...

After work today, I disassembled the elevators to prep for AKZO priming.  Took the skins off followed by the ribs halves, shear clips, gusset and finally the forward spar.  It was a short night since I had already showered.  I didn't want to get covered in aluminum dust.  Tomorrow I'll sand and clean all parts and hopefully AKZO prime all parts.

So today marks another mistake on my part.  Having got the tools yesterday, I went back to working on the trim tabs.  Figured if something went wrong, it would be a cheap part to replace.  Well, sure enough, I was drilling away.....First I drilled some #30 holes on the trim tab tabs.  Then it was time to match drill the skins.  Yeah, I didn't change the drill bit to #40.  Luckily, only the left side got #30 to the skins.  (this is a late entry the blog and have since fingered out a way to prevent that in the future).  Its a crappy feeling when mistakes happen.  I'll send out an email to Vans tech support to see if it's an issue.  I don't think it will be an issue.  I plan to put in the AD4 rivets in for now unless Vans says I need new parts.  For now, moving forward. Will setup for AKZO priming next week depending on weather (tropical storm headed to northern Florida with rain foretasted for all for Florida.  Waiting on proseal to bond the foam ribs to skin.

Still waiting on tools.  Its Sunday and no one is delivering today.  Not UPS, not FedEX, not USPS, NO ONE.  Oh well, I'll skip ahead on the plans and work on something else to make my time productive.  

Picked up 3 hinges and a 2"X8"X 8' that the store cut in half for me.  I could have made the cut at home but didn't wan't to whip out, setup the saw and make a mess for just one cut.  Since I was in the sedan, it was easier to transport too, in the trunk.  

Made a home made break per the plans.  I put in the trim tab and bam, it was bent further.  Not sure why its not bent to it's final angle from factory but oh well, done deal.  I'll set the break aside in case someone wants to borrow it or till the next build....huh???lol.  Oh did I mention I have been loving the build process so far.   Totally up my alley.

Next up was to bend down the trim tab "tabs".  I clamped the skin tight with a c-clamp using wood to protect the skin.  I used a 1/2" scrap piece of plywood about 4" long 2" wide and went at it with a hammer.  I layed the end of the plywood on top of the tab and hit the wood with the hammer firmly. Not blasting away at it but firmly.  As the tab began to bend, the plywood just followed the angle till it was at the desired 90 degree bend.

I used 2 clamps to ensure the skin didn't move.    I did all 8 tabs this way.  Easy peasy.

Next, I cut the elevator counter balance weights.  The band saw made quick work of this task.  Since lead can be nasty, I dawned the safety glasses and respirator.  

Yup, thats me.  Glad I had the safety gear on, The lead was everywhere despite the vacuum connected to the band saw.  

 If you notice I'm jumping all over the place, thats because I'm looking for tasks in the plans that can be done with out the tools in the mail.  Instead of stopping cause I can't get past a step due to missing tool, or what ever the case may be in the future, I skipping along.  When the task is done, I mark the plans the date the step was complete.  Stay tuned....More to come....   Thanks for following!

After spending all morning and most of the afternoon building 2 more tables, I had to put in some time in fabricating airplane parts.  After all, this is about building an airplane right!

Trim Tab Horn

Removed the shaded area using the band saw.  Still need to debur, waiting on scotch bright wheel.  

Skipping ahead: Tail Cone
Still waiting on the bulk of the tools and with nothing to do left on the elevators or elevator trim tabs, started looking over the tail cone section.  Searched for small band saw related work or stuff I could do with the tools already on hand.

Elevator Trim Tabs

After work today, I had my first helpers of the project.  The elevator skins needed more clecos...

Next we photo copied the trim tab rib cutout.  

Carmella cut the rectangles out.  I had some 3m headliner spray glue on hand that we used to glue the templates to the foam.

Next I used the band saw to cut out the 6 trim tab ribs.  This is the first time using the band saw.  Easy peasy. 

My wonderful wife came in and snapped a picture of us pulling the blue plastic off the trip tabs.  She really came out when we were going to bed.  It was 2330.  I smiled and said...."Soon..."

The miter saw in the background is from cutting up 2X4 scrap wood to build more work benches.  Had to use a foldout table for the miter saw which was ok (wobbly) for the quick job.  Ran out of wood so the next morning we picked up more 2X4 and I finished the new work benches.

Elevators

The previous builder started on the elevators and some parts were already riveted.  The tips were riveted, nut plates on one trim doubler were riveted and the control horns were riveted to the front spar.  The plans were marked as to what steps were completed but decided to start from the beginning to double check it all for my peace of mind.  Since today felt like Christmas in May I had to use the clecos to put some parts together.


First was to cut this ribs then celco.  They were already cut, deburred, match drilled, and numbered to include left or right.

Next, The elevator ribs get clecoed to the front and rear spars and bottom skin. All ribs, skins, and spars were previously matched drilled, deburred, and dimpled.

Wow that picture is dark.  The garage is stadium bright which doesn't show in the picture.  Any suggestions anyone?  There a 4 Lithonia LED 4000k 4 ft fixtures in the double car garage.  Each fixture has 2 LED stips in them.  

After this picture, the shear clips when in then I called it a night at 2330.  I was still running on excitement with this first assembly.  I'm sure the tail cone wont go this fast.  The elevators went together quick since most of the work had already been done. Just going through the process of making sure all parts are accounted for and all steps were completed.  Although some parts were already riveted (elevator tip assembly, control horn to forward spar, and right trim nut plates), I plan to prime it as is .  Everything else except elevators was primed by previous builder.

Amazing how strong and stiff these parts get once clecoed together.  Certainly developing the grip of death.