Empennage Fairing

I wrestled with the Empennage fairing for a couple hours toward the latter part of last week.  My plan was to get it to a flight ready state, then come back through and clean it up later.  Well that is sure what I did..  From my perspective it is unacceptable for long term, but definitely safe and fine for the first few flights.   I need to go through and do a lot of fiberglass work on it to make it fit better, but the weather needs to warm up and I might as well do the fairing work when I am doing the wheel pants and the gear leg fairings since they are all fiberglass too.

Here are a few shots.  The current fairing puckers between screws and it doesn’t really sit well on the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer.   But functional and safe..  yes..

Lighting and Emp Work

I have been continuing to work on the empennage and am getting close to being finished with the entire tail apart from the fairing, which will need to wait till the weather warms up due to the associated fiberglass work.   But for now I put on the lower fairing and installed Pulsar SunTail LED position and strobe light.   I am really surprised at how hard it was to get the screws and nuts in to hold that little light, but after about 40 minutes of fiddling with it I finally got it done.

Also, I wired up the glare shield lights which needed to wait until the canopy was on for the last time.  These turned out great and really add light to the cockpit when turned on high and the canopy is opened.  Also, I wired up the defrost fan, but for some reason the circuit trips shortly after it gets turned on.  Will need to look into that one..

I finished the day by wiring up the elevator trim tab and safety tying the hinge pin.

  

A New Look

I installed the rudder got in the cockpit and worked the pedals.  Everything was great, the rudder swung from stop to stop and all was good.  Then I got ambitious and started hooking up the tail wheel chains and cut them too short, so will need to make another order from Vans.  After that I took a look at the blue protective cover, knowing that with the plane at the airport it will have to come off pretty soon.  So I test pulled a piece off the rudder and underneath there was a bunch of residue on the metal..  I kind of freaked out and started yanking blue off the entire fuse.  Lucky for me the only real place where residue existed was on the rudder, so I cleaned it up good with acetone and a microfiber cloth, then gave the whole plane a onceover.   Now the plane has a very shiney new look.

The Empennage goes back on

Now that I am at the hangar and have been able to get it somewhat set up, I started working on the plane again.   I installed the Vertical and Horizontal stabilizer for the last time !   Since I had already fit them previously, all I had to do was torque the bolts down and make sure everything went into place.   I haven’t completely finished the empennage tips, but am assuming I can do them after the fact..  Will do a little research on that before I go too far down the road.

I also swapped my flag because I had it backwards.   Who would have known there is a specific way to hang a flag on a vertical wall, but I definitely want to make sure its hanging correctly.

Don’t mind the clutter in the hangar, I haven’t got it fully fitted out yet.  ;-)

Rudder Stops

I finally got the pesky rudder stops done..  Second time is a charm I guess in this case.  The first ones I drilled ended up allowing too much swing of the rudder.   Correctly built, the stops should stop the rudder when it is 1 and 1/8th inch from the elevator.   You have to get this pretty darn accurate or else the crimped end of the cable up by the peddle will start hitting the first bulkhead.  I am pretty sure it isn't a good idea to allow that first bulkhead to stop the rudder by hitting the crimp on the cable.

In a recent order from Vans I got the Passenger warning placard..  Check this out, pretty cool hey?  Do you think this will scare anyone off ?

Elevator Trim Tab Wiring

I approached my first bit of wiring on the elevator trim servo.  Most cases in aviation you don’t solder terminals or wire joints..  Where possible you try to use crimp fittings because they handle vibration better.  On the trim servo though it is difficult to work with crimp fittings since it fits into such a small interior space.  Also the wires are really small (#26)  so many people solder them.  I used multiple layers of heat Shrink to dampen the vibration.   I also chose to run the wire through the existing manual trim cable hole on the horizontal stab since I am not going to be using manual trim.  I did however drill an additional hole in the elevator as you can see because the servo actuator moves in and out of the existing hole.   Basically I think I got a pretty elegant solution here and of course it will last 20 years..  ;-)   I will be using a D-Sub connector on the top of the aft deck to connect this to the line that I have yet to run through the fuse.

Continued EMP, Vertical Stab and Rudder Bottom Fairing

This weekend I made tons of progress..  I was able to fully mount the vertical stabilizer as well as the rudder along with running control cables running all the way up to the pedals..   The only part that didn't so so well is  the elevator stops, they will have to be re-worked.  The stops are fairly critical to set up the amount of swing that the rudder can travel so it doesn't hit the elevator, but also almost as importantly so that the cables don't ground out on the forward bulkhead that they go through just before the pedals up in the front.  Anyway, I will need to rework them to make sure the rudder stops 1 and 1/8th inch from the elevators..

Below are some pics of the mounting of the vertical stab.  Note that it is Offset at the tip 1/4 inch from center line, to account for torque and p-factor etc from the prop.  This is intended to allow straight flight with no control inputs during cruise..  Also, you can see that I drilled the 3 main holes that go through the stab and the tails spring holder.  These were critical holes drilled blindly, but I was able to get good edge distance on all of them.

I also went on to working the rudder bottom fairing..  This was a bit tricky because you need to remove some of the top forward part of it to ensure the bottom is high enough to clear the tail spring..  I leveraged some other sites (Mike's RV-7 rudder fairing) for information on this, but think I got it fairly well nailed.  It looks good too.. In my case I wanted it removable so I could maintain the light that will be on the very aft point.   I just need to drill a couple additional holes for wiring and I will be good to go.

Emp Mounting Continued

Last night I was able to drill the 4 attach holes for the rear spar of the horizontal stabilizer.  This went much easier than the front spar.  I basically used the pre-drilled holes to back-drill through the spar at #30, then came in again from the rear of the plane to open them up to #12..  Was easy in this case.  Mounting these 4 bolts sure adds strength to the entire Stabilizer.

Next I trimmed the 5/8 inch off the vertical stabilizer and temporarily clamped it in place.  It was a tight fit at the base of the rear spar of the vertical stab..  I had to open up the fuse skin with my hand seamers to get it to fit properly. It sure ended up being a perfect fit between the longerons though.

This sure makes my garage look small, but at the same time really looks good on the plane..

Mounting the EMP

Wow, it has been a long time since I have done anything with the empennage..   Time to pull it out, dust it off and mount the horizontal stabilizer to the back of the plane.  I am only going to mount it temporarily, but while it is on the tail I will wire up the back end of the plane to get that out of the way.

Mounting it seemed pretty easy..  Clamp it to the tail, then measure everywhere to make sure it is straight..  Then drill..  The outside holes went really well, for the inside holes you must use the 90 degree angle drill..  Did I say how much I dislike those drills ?   Well after fighting with it a bunch, I finally got the holes drilled on the forward spar.. 

The rear spar I have yet to do..  However, I went ahead and mounted the elevator and connected it to the stick..  For the first time I was able to make parts of the airplane move !  Bekah wanted to get a video, but probably just to make me feel better..   I figure it wasn't really that impressive, so we will wait.  In the end I was able to control the elevator from the pilot stick.  It was a great feeling..   Now I need to complete the rear elevator stop as well final drill the rear spar to complete the horizontal stabilizer before starting on the rudder.  Sorry for the sideways picture below.  If I angle the camera at all the pictures get posted sideways and I haven't been able to figure out how to resolve it.  Any thoughts?

Rudder/VS Tips Primed

After about 3-4 applications of microlight filler and sanding I decided to go ahead and prime the tip of the Rudder/VS. I think it turned out good enough for now, although there may have to be additional work at the time of final paint. Maybe even some additional work as I am wrapping up the project, but for now I am done and ready to reorganize the garage for the wings. This weekend will be the inventory and hopefully enough time to get started on the countersinking of the spars..

The pics show the final sanding job, and then the finished priming. I put two coats of primer on and hope I didn't get it too thick. The line between the primer and the aluminum is noticeable, hopefully it can be sanded down before final prime and paint.

Rudder/VS Final Sanding

I put 4 hours in this weekend on the VS/Rudder final sanding. It takes about as long as everyone complains about on their sites.. ;-) I started with some light weight fiberglass along the seem between the metal and the fairing (which also covered up the pop rivets nicely)to hopefully add strength and reduce any possibility of cracks in the final paint along the seam. Then mixed the West Marine System epoxy with microlight filler to start building up the low spots. Sanded, then build up the low spots again.. The pic is the filler in place after the second time I added filler. I think in this case 3rd time will be a charm. After this gets sanded down I should be just about wrapped up. I will wait on the Elevators and HS until I hit a slow spot on the wing project.

Wings Delayed - Continued fiberglass

I sent a message to Van's asking about my wings and they indicated they were delayed. I would have hoped they would tell me proactively, but they only told me in reply to my query. It seems they ran out of some skins so I should be expecting the call from FedEx this Friday or more likely next week. The two week delay is OK though because it gave me time to finish all the tips on the Emp, other than the task of filling and sanding the joints.

At this point I have all tips riveted on and the ends closed out. I may try to fill the joints at least on the Rudder and Vertical Stabilizer before the wings come. This task will take lots of time and repetition. After cleaning and scuffing all surfaces, I mix epoxy with some microlight filler which turns into a peanut butter consistency. Then like Bondo on cars, I fill any holes, joints, or gaps.. Once dry I sand, then do it again and again until I have a completely smooth contour between the Rudder tip and the Vertical Stab. Look for pics over the next few days, but as soon as the wings get here, this all stops until a later date..

Misc Emp items while I wait for wings

Ok, the wings didn't get here last week so hopefully I will get a call from Fed Ex on tomorrow for delivery. I ended up doing some unplanned items on the Emp Since I had some spare time. Gave me some additional fiberglass practice and also got me just that much further along.

First I closed out the HS tips with Balsa and fiberglass which ended up being easier than I expected. Working with Glass and Fiber was kind of cool since all work to date has been with aluminum. I made a template out of cardboard, then cut the balsa, then sanded it to fit smoothly. Once I test fit it, glued it in and then put reinforcement behind it. Was really happy how it turned out.

I also final drilled the center of the elevators using a bushing I found at Lowes for .58 cents.. Was quite hard final drilling through the steel on the control arms, but was able to get it done and it turned out pretty nice. No binding as the elevators move up and down.

Empennage gets set aside for now..

I finished working on the Emp for a while, wings should be here this week and I need to get ready. I was able to close out the rudder and both elevators with final rivets. I haven't closed out the Horizontal Stab or Fin yet since I will need to do some additional work with Balsa, or foam to fully close out the fairing. But for now I have a good start on it and can work on the tips during other slow parts of the build.

I also torqued all nuts on the Emp last night and played with Torque Seal for the first time. (Didn't use torque seal on the rudder, but did torque the counterbalance) I think I got this all figured out. My understanding is that you don't put the torque seal on the treads of the bolt, only the nut, washers, and back plate. I had to torque the elevator counterbalance before closing the tip since you can't reach it after words.

More Fiberglass..

Worked on all the tips last night. The Rudder tip is the first one to be permanently riveted as you can see in the pic. All that is left for this one is filler and sanding then more filler and more sanding. The HS and Elevator tips are all cut and ready to be mounted but they need to be closed out first. This piece might not happen in the short term since the wings should be here next week.

Continued Empennage Tips

Tonight I continued working on the empennage tips. More cutting, drilling, and sanding. The rudder tip is almost complete, just final drill and then pop rivet. You can see how I am putting sheet metal in for the rivets to grab onto. Also, Finished drilling and adding the metal strip to the right elevator. Tomorrow will work on the left one.

Fiberglass Tips

Today I started making progress on the fiberglass tips for the Elevators and Horizontal Stabilizer. I won't get them totally complete by the time the wings come, but will at least get them drilled and in place. Here is the general process for the tips...

1) Ensure the fiberglass flange isn't too long, as it can't be resting internally on any substructure.

2) Cut to General Shape.. best tool for this is a pneumatic die grinder with a cutoff wheel.

3) Pilot Drill into the proper location

4) Epoxy the interior with aluminum strips over pilot holes to give the pop rivets something to grab.

5) Final Drill, Countersink Tips, Dimple skins

6) Close off open areas of the VS and HS Tips with Epoxy/Balsa.. More info on that will be coming.

7) Fill surface cracks and sand, Fill and Sand, Fill and Sand, etc... until smooth..