Category Archives: Horizontal Stabilizer

Time: 1 Hour
I spent a few days this week on the road working. When I got home I found that all the plastic gears inside of my garage(the hangar) door opener had disintegrated! So that was the project of the day yesterday. After that job was done I was able to get a little more deburring done on the rear spar and started the layout for the forward spar angle stiffeners. These two pieces have to be tapered based on the plans.

Time: 3 Hours
The first 6 rivets are done! This is the elevator hinge bearing sandwiched between the 2 brackets. The bearing is primed with Dupli-Color self etching primer, yes I decided to prime! There seams to be two schools of thought in priming, yes and no. I decided yes, for corrosion protection and how it looks. To set these rivets I used my pneumatic squeezer, I love this tool and I have only set 6 rivets!

Time: 4 Hours
Today was the first real “build day” on the RV-8. I jumped right in and just followed the instructions from Van’s Aircraft. There were a couple of things that I was completely sure of so a little searching on www.vansairforce.net provided some direction.
The day started with shaping the rear spar stiffeners and match drilling them to the spar. I was also able to get the 4 outside elevator hinge brackets lined up. The last item was the center hinge that has the elevator bearing sandwiched between the two brackets. I match drilled them and primed the bearing.

Time: 4 Hours
Today was the first real “build day” on the RV-8. I jumped right in and just followed the instructions from Van’s Aircraft. There were a couple of things that I was completely sure of so a little searching on www.vansairforce.net provided some direction.
The day started with shaping the rear spar stiffeners and match drilling them to the spar. I was also able to get the 4 outside elevator hinge brackets lined up. The last item was the center hinge that has the elevator bearing sandwiched between the two brackets. I match drilled them and primed the bearing.