Category Archives: Vertical Stabilizer

Time: 4 Hours

I got to work with the last couple of rivets for the VS forward spar. The next step has you cleco the skin on and begin to rivet starting at the center on the forward spar/center rib and work your way out. Then you work around the edge riveting the upper and lower ribs. Once that is done I inserted the rear spar and finished riveting it in place. I was able to use the squeezer for most of these rivets and finished up the rest with the bucking bar/rivet gun.
Next up the rudder!

Time: 4 Hours

I finished up dimpling the VS skin using the DRDT-2 which makes quick work of that process. Then I touched up the skin with some scotch-brite pads to remove any marks I made while dimpling. Next up was to prime the inside of the skins. You really don’t have to do this as the ribs are primed and have enough protection, but I figured a little extra protection can’t hurt and I like the color.

Then the work started on the rear spar. Riveting began on the spar, spar doubler and the hinge brackets. The lower portion of the spar required AN426 flush rivets since this is a mating surface for future attachment to the fuselage section.

Next up was to get the forward spar riveted to the ribs in prep to be inserted into the skin.

When I was done with the work in the hangar I decided to do a little rearranging in the house to make room for a little more permanent hanging space for my completed parts. I was worried that if I tried to store them in the hangar they would get damaged as space is limited. I have a nice wide hallway that has a large blank wall just calling for some cool aluminum!

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Time: 2 Hours

Got a little work done last night on the VS skin. Did all the edges and hole deburring. I will get the skin dimpled next so it will be already for riveting once the ribs and spars are done.

Time: 8 Hours

This weekend saw more work on the VS along with some BBQ’ing and Chicago Blackhawks hockey! The work on the VS was of the boring and tedious type – edge finishing, deburring, dimpling, surface prep and priming. I will let the primer cute for the rest of the week and get to riveting this coming weekend.

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Time: 4 Hours

I had a week off of no building due to my flight schedule and a trip out to California to drive my parents car back to Nebraska. That was a little over 1500 miles in 29 hours, just me and two little yorkie dogs, fun!
Before I started riveting the HS skins I had all my work reviewed by an EAA tech counsler, Bill Shain. This gives an experienced set of eyes a chance to look at your work and document the inspection. When I got home from my trip the paperwork was in the mail. He was happy with my work and said build on! That’s a good feeling!

Today I was able to get in 4 hours working on the VS. I prepped and straightened all the ribs. Then I matched drilled all the ribs and doubler to to spars. I was able to also get one side of the skin matched drilled to the substructure. I will finish that process up this weekend and get some priming done too.