Construction Log:
Elevator TOTAL TIME:
DATE DESCRIPTION OF WORK
TIME
11/7/99
Laid out ref lines
Cut L angle (rough)
Drilled L angle to rib (one hole egged...bumped up to A5)
Cut/Filed L angle to fit LH IB rib
11/8/99
Laid out ref lines on RH IB rib
Cut L angle (rough)
Drilled L angle to RH IB rib
Cut/Filed L angle to fit RH IB rib
Cut/Filed RH/LH angles to fit spar
11/9/99
Drilled RH/LH ribs to spar
Deburred everything
Riveted angles to ribs
Riveted angles/ribs to spar
Test fitted spar/rib assy to skin (very good fit)
11/14/99
Laid out all rib rivet lines
Made a rivet spacing tool out of elastic (EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE)
Laid out rivet spacing on 2 outer most ribs (4 total)
Messed up LH Mid rib rivet line on TWO sides by a remarkable 50 mm
Erased the line and put it where it goes... proves the theory measure
twice drill once!
Pre-drilled 4 rib stations with #40 bit
Laid out Center line on RH OB rib
Drilled RH OB rib to skin. Kind-of a pain, so done for today
11/16/99
Drilled front flange of outer and middle ribs to skin
Drilled #40 thru #40 skin hole making pilot hole in rib,
then drilled #30 thru both pilot holes.
Made drilling into flexible rib flange a piece of cake!
Very happy with the results.
11/24/99
Drilled front flange of center ribs
These last front flange holes really squared up upper skin L.E.
Drilled #40,#30 combos thru OB and Mid ribs on lower skin
Rivet lines look REAL good. Glad I used the elastic tool!
Once again, very happy with the results.
11/29/99
Drilled #40,#30 combos thru center ribs on lower skin
Laid out CL on lower skin
Laid out Elevator Horn Dblr Extr relief hole on lower skin
The elevator looks pretty cool with 62 clecos in lwr/front skin!
12/01/99
Drilled #20 pilot hole at corner of relief hole
Used Rat-tail file to "saw" relief hole (sorry machinists)
Extrusion fits perfect for now...
we'll see when the upper relief hole is cut!
12/05/99
Cut the upper relief hole for the extrusion using same method.
Fits good (did you expect otherwise?)
Borrowed a Dremel to evaluate the practicality of using one.
This plane may take a while at 15 minutes a pop.
12/11/99
Spent most of the time building a water-leveled jig.
Laid out rivet line and spacing for hinge.
Did not lay out rivet lines for the section between
the center ribs due to the fact that the horns will
need to be placed to determine rivet spacing.
Drilled (#40,#30) every third hole for hinge.
Left side rivet line (every third) got a little close
to the front flange radius, but still OK. When the
rest of the rivets are drilled, I will probably move
then aft a millimeter or so. This was caused by the
front edge of the top skin not being exactly square
with the trailing edge radius. The hinge IS square
with the elevator. The closure of the top leading edge
really stiffened things up. Looks pretty good.
Hopefully I will be able to get the top skin down on the
ribs without too many waves.
12/12/99
Finished drilling hinge to elevator. Set these rivets
back about a mm just to make me feel better. Still
have to do the center section, which I am waiting for the
horns to be placed so I can set the right pitch.
Instead of continuing with the top flanges on the ribs, I
tappered the top of the horn doubler extrusion. Before I
do the ribs (or much more of anything) its back to the part
store for more clecos (probably a batch of 100). The Yard
sells them for $0.25.
12/13/99
Shop maintenance (sweeping!).
Tapered lower horn doubler extrusion with a hack-saw and a set of files.
The hole process took less than 15 minutes, including sweeping
so I am logging the time as "not significant".
12/20/99
Drilled skin to top rib flange (every third). Used a board,
laying span-wise, kind of like a rolling pin. Basically would
drill leading edge center ribs and move out. I would then slide the
board down to the third hole, drill the center and move out, etc.
The skin looks really good, but won't really be able to tell
until the rest of the holes are drilled. Nice to be drilling again!
12/21/99
Drilled the rest of the skin to the top rib flanges. Took
all the top clecos out for edge-distance inspection.
Everything looks good. Read up on the next task, which is
the angle that attaches the front of the elevator to the
horn doubler extrusion
12/22/99
Drilled the angle for the horn doubler to the
front edge of the elevator skin. Angle is centered vertically
on the front edge, however, it still caused a clash with the
top skin. Trimmed the angle under the assumption that outside
edges do not contribute to the strength of the part. Have sent
email to Zenith for confirmation.
12/24/99
Located the center of the cable hole in the upper horn and
drilled a pilot hole. Cut the radius with nothing but files,
as it should be. Proper use of files is a skill that I am
glad I learned.
Positioned and drilled the upper horn to the elevator. It got
real tight getting a drill into the front holes, so just to
be sure I taped the top edges with duct tape, just in case
the drill chuck got too close.
Positioned and drilled the upper horn to the doubler. I drilled
all three pilot holes in the doubler, positioned it, and drilled
the top pilot hole to the horn, and started the second pilot hole.
I then took the horn and doubler off the elevator and finished the
drilling.
A relatively productive day without screwing up any parts!
12/25/99
Located the center of the cable hole in the lower horn and
drilled a pilot hole. Cut the radius with nothing but files.
Positioned and drilled the lower horn to the elevator skin.
Positioned and drilled the lower horn to the doubler.
Made the L angles for top and bottom skin doublers, laid out,
positioned, and drilled.
Laid out rivet holes for the rest of the leading edge skin,
which included the area between the two center ribs and the
areas outboard of the hinge.
Laid out and drilled the top and bottom skin to spar.
Still need the disposition on messed up angle for the horn doubler,
the rudder cutout, and the trim tab and then the elevator will be
DONE!!! Very good day in the Thomas shop!
1/1/00
Either I suck at this, or I grossly under estimated how long
it would take to cut out the center section. I made a really
rough cut, then a few more rough cuts to get as close as a
could. Files were used to finish the cut. It may of just
been a bad day, but it seemed awkward to get the snips and
the files to where they needed to go. Oh well, it is done and
it looks OK, so I guess I'll rack it up to practice.
1/2/00
Well, day two of awkward cutting. The recessed trim tab section
has been rough cut on all 6 edges (front+2 sides; top and bottom).
The four sides have been finished with files (minus any required
tweeking), but the fronts are both real rough.
1/3/00
Got a "go ahead" with my 6T3-7 fix of 12/22/99. Also got
some pointers for corrosion protection and cleaning while
I was at it. Factory response time to my questions has
always been outstanding.
1/9/00
Finished the front edges of the trim tab cuts.
Positioned and drilled the channel and hinge (end holes only)
Positioned and drilled the tab to the hinge (end holes only)
Drilled all of the bottom channel holes.
Re-Learned a valuable lesson that I actually preach about
all the time, but well uh...no excuses I guess. You HAVE
to use the right tool for the job. We'll just say that I finally
bought a left-cut snip (don't tell the wife). This allowed me
to finish up the cuts in short order, as well as regain some
confidence.
1/12/00
Built the control horn for the trim tab.
Made the cut-out for the trim tab control arm.
Positioned and drilled the control horn to the trim tab.
1/15/00
Being a little gun shy still, I was not looking forward to
cutting out a fairly tight square on the bottom of the
elevator. However, after drilling the corner relief holes,
and cutting a quick 'X' in the middle, the cuts went FAST.
I had the access hole laid out and cut less than 20 minutes.
Finished drilling the top channel-hinge-tab assembly.
Positioned and drilled the trim tab actuator in place.
The trim linkage was shortened to 120 mm.
Everything was test fitted. Looks pretty good. A couple
of places are a little tight. They will be filed down
tomorrow.
1/21/00
Wired the trim tab actuator using solder and heat shrink
insulators per MAC recommendations.
Stuck the juice to it and IT WORKED!!! Not that I am
suprised. I am just excited...my first moving part and
my first electrical part all at the same time! Cool!
3/4/00
Almost forgot what an elevator looked like its been so long!
Drilled the angle to the horn doubler carry through. No parts
were messed up this time! Laugh, but the h-stab front spar
was converted into scrap metal on one of these 15 minute
excursions!
5/7/00
Removed all the lables and construction lines.
Disassembled and deburred all the ribs and hardware.
Needed a better deburring tool, because I can't get inside
the elevator skin as necessary. Found one locally that wouldn't
work (it'll never fit in a #30 hole). Decided to build one
myself. The result? A very crude, very ugly chunk of pot-metal
that will debur the blind side of a #30 hole. After I am done,
I will chop it up and deny ever having anything to do with this
hideous contraption!!! (Until then, you can see a picture of it
in the tool photos!)
5/8/00
Primed the elevator and ribs, etc.
5/9/00
CLOSED THE ELEVATOR!!!
Control horns and hinge are the only things not riveted.
This is because the horns still need the control cable holes
drilled and the hinge needs safety pin work.
Very pleased with the results... these are the rewards that
keep you building! Added a couple pictures!
