January 23, 2005 - Right Aileron
Over the holidays, while I was watching the football playoffs, I had fashioned the 16 stiffeners for the right elevator.  Pretty mindless.  Van's drilled holes in the angle material indicating where they should be cut.  It's must a matter of drawing a line from hole to hole with the Sharpie, then cutting with the snips. 

We were snowed in this weekend, 5" on Saturday, so I put 6 hours in on the right aileron. First, my least favorite aircraft building activity -- edge-smoothing -- the stiffeners and skin.  I was able to use the scotch-brite wheel on the table grinder for the outside edges, but the inside edges had to be done by hand.  Even the scotch-bright wheel has its disadvantages.  It's a nerve-wracking process, with my fingers uncomfortably close to the spinning wheel.  Fortunately, I made it through all 16 stiffeners without mishap.

Then it was the usual match-drilling process.  As you can see here, I actually cleco the stiffener and skin to a plywood board. 

After wiping everything down with Acetone, it's time to back-rivet the stiffeners.  I havn't back-riveted in a while, and it was a distinct pleasure!  Easy and consistently perfect. 
All done.  Looking good. 
Previous
Home
Next