| Empennage
Construction Log
What
follows is a log of the construction of an RV-9 empennage
or tail. Most of the process seems to be pretty mindless with
a few notable exceptions where you actually have to take a
"raw" material like a piece of angle and build a
part. This allows the thinking builder way too much time to
ponder questions like, why do we start building with the empennage?
There are some popular explanations which don't hold up to
the kind of serious cogitation that you're likely to experience
when committing the actual act of building. Here's where my
mind wondered...maybe your mind
will go someplace else.
It
will likely become painfully obvious that this is my first
time building a plane.
Overview
of empennage construction |
| Date |
Task
Accomplished |
Time
Today |
Total
Time |
| 5/28/03 |
The
empennage is finished. I'm celebrating with a beer. While I
prefer Sam Adams in glass bottles it seems fitting to toast
the plane with one in an aluminum can. |
-
|
202.5 |
| 5/28/03 |
Used
numbered bits and found the next size up and drilled the spar
and spar double so the hole was wide enough to accept the rod
end bearing. It was an easy (and quick) fix. Then fitted the
left elevator to the spar, drilled the elevator horn and then
reinstalled both elevators with hardware. Checked for adequate
deflection and clearance and both R and L elevators passed.
This completes the empennage assembly. |
1.5 |
202.5 |
| 5/24/03 |
Worked
with Gary Clever and installed rod end bearings on the Relevator
and 1 of the 2 on the L elevator. The hole in the spar and spar
doubler didn't quite line up with the plate nut and the rod
end bearing was acting like it wanted to cross thread. We hung
the right elevator and drilled the elevator horn while I pondered
what to do about the off-center platenut. |
2.0 |
201.0 |
| 5/20/03 |
Bent
the trim tab hinge pin and installed the counter balance weights
on the elevators. |
2.0 |
199.0 |
| 5/19/03 |
Riveted
the other half of the hinge to the left elevator. Bent trim
tab skin to allow for downward travel (it didn't take much bending)
and reinserted the hinge pin. I rounded the end of the pin with
the scotchbrite wheel and it sure made reinsertion easier. |
.5 |
197.0 |
| 5/13/03 |
Fit
trim tab to elevator. Drilled hinge, deburred, bent trim tab
ends better, installed 2 rivets in elevator rib (what a bear!)
and primed hinge. |
1.75 |
196.5 |
| 5/12/03 |
Riveted
trim tab horn and lower spar to the trim tab skin. Glued the
foam ribs in place with epoxy. Riveted end tabs together and
then closed in the trim tab skin, spar top, and hinge. |
2.5 |
194.75 |
| 5/11/03 |
Finished
counter sinking the trim tab spar, drilled, deburred, cut and
finished the trim tab side of the hinge. Verified that the assembly
went together without pillowing. Drilled the ends and deburred
them. Primered the spar and hinge. |
1.5 |
192.25 |
| 5/1/03 |
Drilled,
deburred and began dimpling the skin and counter sinking the
trim tab spar and trim tab horn. |
1.5 |
190.75 |
| 4/30/03 |
Bent
both ends of the trim tab over. Clecoed the assembly together
and checked for pillowing. Finding none I quit while I was ahead. |
.5 |
189.25 |
| 4/28/03 |
Ground
trim tab attachment brackets to proper shape for manual trim.
Made a block for bending the trim tab end...didn't like and
made another one. It just wasn't a good night in the shop so
I quit early...before I damaged anything I couldn't fix. |
.75 |
188.75 |
| 4/27/03 |
Beautiful
day. No wings waiting in the wings only a trim tab to finish.
Shirley got some cross country time and I got a tour of the
James River well west of Richmond. |
|
|
| 4/24/03 |
"Life's
too short not to fly." Dick VanGrunsven, Oshkosh 2001.
Good advice so we went flying instead of building. |
|
|
| 4/23/03 |
Re-riveted
the remaining short stiffeners to the elevator. The trim tab
spar fit well. Riveted the inboard and outboard ribs and the
bottom of trim tab spar. Cut, drilled, deburred and counter
sunk the AEX wedge for the trailing edge and double flush riveted
it in place. The left
elevator is essentially done except for the trim tab. |
5.0 |
188.0 |
| 4/19/03 |
I
drilled out the short stiffeners in the left elevator. Drilling
went pretty well. Used the scotchbrite wheel to shorten them
by about 1/4-3/8", rechecked on the outside of the skins
and shorted a few a bit more. Began reinstalling them. Can squeeze
the rear 3 rivets on each and must buck the rest. Again, the
last rivet is not easy to reach....one more damn dent to fix.
Quit early in disgust. Will return when I feel better about
making mistakes. |
2.5 |
183.0 |
| 4/18/03 |
Made
E 921 gussett, 4 trim tab clamps and cut and finished the foam
trim tab ribs. Riveted spar to bottom of skin. Installing
the stiffeners on the wrong side didn't interfer with the
spar...but when we went to install stiffeners on the other
side the rivet closest to the spar was difficult to access.
Fortunately it was just difficult and not impossible. Installed
remaining (top) stiffeners, riveted spar to
top skin. Riveted the counter weight rib to the spar and
riveted the trim tab inspection plate to the bottom of the skin.
Discovered that the short stiffeners interfere slightly with
trim tab spar. Currently debating between using a die grinder
to shorten the stiffeners or drilling out the rivets and shortening
the stiffeners. Tonight I'm leaning toward the second choice. |
7.25 |
180.5 |
| 4/17/03 |
No
work done on the empennage but finished looking at air compressors.
Checked Lowes, Harbor Freight, Sears, and Home Depot. I favor
Lowes whenever I can but they didn't have what I needed in stock
so here's a photo of my new 26 gallon, 7hp, Husky.
It sure is quiet and hardly ever runs compared to my old compressor. |
- |
- |
| 4/16/03 |
Riveted
the plate nuts to the trim cover reinforcement
plate. With 2 rivets left to go the compressor gave up the
ghost. The 5 HP motor appears to have an internal short. The
compressor has been leaking oil pretty badly lately. Spent most
of the evening looking for a new compressor, |
.75 |
173.25 |
| 4/15/03 |
Finished
deburring and dimpling the remainder of the left elevator skin.
Riveted counter weight
ribs together and riveted counter
weight skin to ribs. Riveted inboard rib to the spar and
riveted the elevator
horn to the rib-spar assembly. Prepped for tomorrow's
work by clecoeing the rib-spar assembly to the left skin
and clecoed the plate nuts to trim cover reinforcement plate.
Discovered that on Sunday I'd riveted the bottom stiffeners
to the skin and I should have done the top stiffeners. I need
to read (and follow) the instructions more carefully. This doesn't
look like a serious error. The spar will be a little harder
to rivet tomorrow but not a lot harder (time will tell if I'm
right<g>) |
3.5 |
172.5 |
| 4/13/03 |
Closed
up the right elevator
(except for the last 3 rivets in the rib and fitting the counter
weights). Inspected
for straightness. Primed
most of the remaining left elevator parts. Deburred and dimpled
the rest of the left skin. Installed the backing plates and
plate nuts on the spar. Back
riveted half the stiffeners to the skin. Todd and Rose Young
from EAA Chapter 231 stopped by. Todd has built a Super Pup
and is considering an RV-9. Shirley took Rose flying and it
wasn't long before Todd ended up with a rivet gun in his hand. |
7.5 |
169.0 |
| 4/12/03 |
Made
a device for centering
a drill bit over the mashed rivet. I drilled a 9/64"
hole longitudinally through a 1.5" long 3/8" bolt.
I opened the hole in the head of the bolt to about 3/16".
My plan was to place the shop head of the rivet in the 3/16"
hole and then run a long 1/8" bit through the 9/64"
hole and through the rivet and the original hole. I think that
gave me 0.003" clearance around the original hole in the
rib and spar. I inserted the modified bold into a piece of
copper pipe, which served as a handle
for using deep in the structure. It
worked well. I then cleaned up the remnants of the rivet
and per Van's direction installed a CS4-4 rivet in lieu of the
bunged up rivet and then per my request (OK'd by Van's) installed
a third rivet between the other two. Touched up the primer and
riveted the bottom spar and most of the side ribs to the right
elevator. Deburred, dimpled and cleaned (ready for priming)
the left elevator skeleton. Deburred most of the skin. |
3.5 |
161.5 |
| 4/10/03 |
Riveted
the top skin
to the elevator spar. This is the first major task that
appears to me would have been particularly difficult for one
person working alone. Riveted the bottom
stiffeners to the skin. Riveted counter balance and outboard
rib assembly to the spar. Badly damage one of the rivets as
a result of the awkward riveting angle and general inexperience.
Drilling the rivet out is giving me some serious difficulty.
Quit early tonight to think on the problem. |
3.0 |
158.0 |
| 4/9/03 |
Riveted
right elevator horn
to the spar and rib, back riveted stiffeners to top right elevator
skin, drilled, deburred and dimpled the #30 holes in the bottom
of the spars (right and left). Prepared for tomorrow nights
work by clecoing spar-rib-horn assembly to the right elevator
skin and taped rivets into place so I can hit the ground running.
|
4.0 |
155.0 |
| 4/8/03 |
Found
primer and primed all right elevator
parts and started left elevator parts, drilled remainder
of right elevator,
riveted root elevator rib to spar, riveted counter
balance assembly, made drill
guide per plans. |
3.5 |
151.0 |
| 4/7/03 |
Riveted
both backer plates
and plate nuts to the right spar per plans. Rod
end bearings bolt into the plate nut and are used to attach
the elevator to the horizontal stabilizer. Assembled
left spar, inboard rib, and trim spar to left skin (close
up of trim control access plate) and match drilled parts.
Also installed
filter-automatic oiler-pressure regulator for the air compressor.
Cleaned right elevator parts in preparation for primer (if NAPA
or Sherwin Williams can find more). |
2.5 |
147.5 |
| 4/6/03 |
Dimpled
the entire right and left elevator
skins (left skin only where the stiffeners go). Primed the
left elevator spar and reinforcement plates for the rod end
bearings. Would have primed all the right elevator parts but
ran out of good primer (3 bad cans of NAPA 7220). |
4.5 |
145.0 |
| 4/5/03 |
Had
to remove most of the primers sprayed last night. It appears
the primer was contaminated or coagulated. It had a lumpy finish.
It looks like I have 3 cans of the bad stuff. Drilled, deburred
and dimpled
(d-cubed?) most of the parts for the right elevator and
some for the left. Fit and drilled for the right
rudder horn and assembled,
fit (the first serious fluting task - before,
and after note
change in the gap between the parts) the counter
weight assembly and drilled, deburred, and dimpled the counterweight
skin. Parts are ready to prime. Lots of work, little to show
for it. The assembly of the parts looks a bit more challenging
than previous assemblies in terms of sequence and room to work. |
9.0 |
140.5 |
| 4/4/03 |
Match
drilled stiffeners to skin, removed and
deburred stiffeners and skin. Prepped stiffeners and primered
one side. Deburred R and L elevator spars and associated ribs
and parts. Lots of work and not a lot to show. My mind is wondering
ahead to the wings. Match drilling and deburring will likely
be a monumentally boring task. I'll keep thinking crossing the
rockies in Montanna and exploring the Cascade mountains to keep
momentum up. This part is boring and tedius and it's obvious
why so many kits never get finished. |
7.5 |
131.5 |
| 4/3/03 |
Drilled
out all the rivets on the lower edge of the rudder forward of
the horn, clecoed in the attach strips for the rudder bottom
and re-riveted the assembly.
It went better than I thought and only took about an hour. Cut
and deburred the
stiffeners for the left elevator. Clecoed all stiffeners
into the elevators (left,
right).
While one person can do this, the elevator skins are one piece
and the curl between the top and bottom make it a lot easier
with two people. |
2.5 |
124 |
| 4/2/03 |
Riveted
rudder skins to skeleton. Double
flush riveted trailing edge of rudder. Started in the center
and back riveted
every other rivet, turned rudder over and again from the center
finished the rivets. I drove the rivets slowly and watched the
angle and they come out at least good. The directions call for
no more than 0.1" wave and this trailing edge is well within
limits. There is no
visible wave. Discovered that I left off the bottom end
cap attach strips. Tomorrow I'll have to drill out 30-40 rivets
and install the strips. This is a minor set back. |
5.0 |
121.5 |
| 4/1/03 |
Installed
counter weight. Did not epoxy or proseal it in. It doesn't look
like it can go anywhere. Clecoed
both skins in place and began riveting. Completed riveting
counter weight skin and top rib (except for rear most rivet
which will need to be pop rivet). The homemade railroad
spike bucking bar came in handy for the narrow area in the
rear of the rib. |
4.0 |
116.5 |
| 3/31/03 |
Corrected
counter weight rib attachment (I must have been dislexic the
evening before) and fit counter weight into rib (did not install),
counter sunk rib. |
1.3 |
112.5 |
| 3/30/03 |
Touched
up priming from yesterday. Began assembling rudder skeleton.
Attached lower rib
and assorted parts to spar, rivet on three
nut plates and backing plates. Temporarily installed
rod end bearings. |
2.0 |
111.2 |
| 3/29/03 |
Finished
deburring and dimpling rudder skins, ribs and spar. Counter
sunk both sides of AEX wedge. Primed the skeleton parts.
Cut out and deburred
16 stiffeners for the right elevator. |
3.5 |
109.2 |
| 3/27/03 |
Drilled
rudder skin and started deburring of skeleton. Need to complete
deburring, dimple and countersink skin, ribs, and spar, then
prime before final assembly. |
2.0 |
105.7 |
| 3/26/03 |
Finished
riveting stiffeners to the rudder skins. Went back and reassembled
the rudder skeleton. Found some interference problems with the
stiffeners and the rudder spar. Apparently I didn't get the
angle quite right on the forward end on a couple of stiffeners.
A die grinder, some patient and gentle metal removal and everything
fits as intended. Clecoed
the skins to the skeleton. My earlier
goof with the rivet gun is not terribly visible thanks to
time spent patiently rolling the skin between a spoon and the
back rivet plate (thanks Alfio for sharing that find). |
6.5 |
103.7 |
| 3/22/03 |
Assembled
VS for riveting. Completed final assembly of the vertical
stabilizer by riveting
it together and started to back rivet the stiffeners to
the rudder skins. Got about half done with the left side. |
5.5 |
97.2 |
| 3/21/03 |
Found
a number of parts on the vertical stabilizer and rudder that
needed dimpled or countersunk
and finished those parts except for VS skin (which still
needs some dimpling). Cleaned and primed the second rudder skin.
Riveted VS skeleton together.
Should be able to skin the VS tomorrow and start on the rudder. |
4.5 |
91.7 |
| 3/20/03 |
Riveted
rear spar to HS skin and riveted main ribs to rear spar. Assembled
the bearing and hinges
with six rivets and attached to rear spar. This is the
first completed subsection. Primered the VS and worked on
ding in rudder. Funny thing is the ding doesn't look so bad
now that there are others. I guess the first ding hurts the
worst. No new dings tonight and only one small one yesterday.
We're gaining confidence with the rivet gun and bucking bars.
Plan to work on the vertical stabilizer tomorrow. |
5.2 |
87.2 |
| 3/19/03 |
Riveted
remaining main ribs to forward spar and bottom right HS skin
to the forward spar and main ribs. The bottom right side of
the HS is essentially done. Still need to rivet the same components
to the top side of the skin. |
4.3 |
82.0 |
| 3/17/03 |
Riveted
nose spars to right skin.
It's remarkable how easily the center nose skin rivet went in
and the rivets looked great after being bucked. Riveted main
ribs 2 and 4 to the main spar and fitted the skin with the nose
ribs to the main spar w/clecos. Clecoed remaining ribs to spar
and skin and test fit (w/clecos) the rear spar to the rest of
the HS assembly. No
pillowing observed. Estimate about two evening's worth of riveting.
No dings tonight! |
3.6 |
77.7 |
| 3/16/03 |
Drilled
out rivets holding center nose rib where we put the dent in
yesterday and used a kitchen spoon to roll out the ding we put
in. About 90% improvement. Riveted the center nose rib in again
(the front rivet is a bear!). Riveted
the main spar and all main ribs to the
left skin (and even remembered the shim for the inboard
main rib). As the picture shows, Shirley drove the rivets and
I bucked them. We also taped
the rivet holes where the longer rivets went so we wouldn't
get a rhythm going and forget to change sizes. Now to do the
same for the right side and rivet the rear spar on and the HS
is done (except for the fiberglass). |
12.0 |
74.1 |
| 3/15/03 |
Riveted
rear HS spar.
Started squeezing rivets. Frankly 1/8" rivets are a bear
to squeeze compared to
3/32" rivets. After 3 rivets went with
rivet gun with better results and less effort. Completed
dimpling interior parts of HS skin and started riveting HS skin.
Not as much progress as expected for the time invested. Other
tasks like testing setting the squeezer and checking
rivets slowed things up. Still, it's progress. One more
cosmetic ding on the skin and we're just starting the riveting
process. My EAA tech counselor tried to cheer me up saying his
Cessna had 6 or 8 spots on the leading edge of the wing where
body putty had been used by the factory. This has got to stop....I'm
not building a Cessna! Monday Van's may get an order for some
replacement skins.... |
7.2 |
62.1 |
| 3/13/03 |
Riveted
the doubler
plate to the forward
HS spar and attached the brackets that will connect the
HS to the fuselage. I was surprised at how much work it is to
squeeze those rivets. No wonder pneumatic rivet squeezers are
so popular! Also
primed a few more parts this morning. |
2.6 |
54.9 |
| 3/12/03 |
Touched
up some faults on earlier pieces and cleaned and primed the
rest of the
HS spar parts and the HS spar skins. It seems like one more
night and the primer will be done for the empennage. Have used
the Sherwin Williams self etching primer because its less toxic
to work with than zinc chromate. It seems like decent stuff.
Discussed last night's goof with Van's staff. It is just cosmetic...still
leaning toward replacing the skin. |
1.3 |
52.3 |
| 3/11/03 |
Primed
more empennage parts. Only parts left are the HS and VS spars
and VS stiffeners. Started back riveting the stiffeners onto
the rudder. On the last rivet of the second stiffener the gun/rivet
slipped off the back rivet plate. Major dent (superficial but
seriously
ugly) and no apparent way to fix it. Leaning toward using
the pieces to practice and buy new parts. First night leaving
the shop not feeling pretty good...but this is just a small
temporary set back. |
4.7 |
51.0 |
| 3/10/03 |
Prepared
a tip and main HS ribs for primer, dimpled and prepped rudder
stiffeners, dimples and prepped on rudder skin, prepped some
miscellaneous HS parts. Washed and dryed parts then primed about
half of them. It's slow going with lots more priming and prepping
to do. Not much to show for tonight's effort but am a step closer
to riveting parts together. |
2.5 |
46.3 |
| 3/9/03 |
Clean
up work for the most part today. Countersunk
HS spars, which I'd put off because my drill press had excessive
runout. Got that fixed and ended up doing it by hand with a
cordless drill. The spar flanges are not perpendicular to the
web and that made it awkward to do w/the drill press. Also countersunk
the required holes on the doubler plates and deburred the right
rudder skin. Not much more can be done now without primering
parts. This is a task I have not looked forward to. I plan to
start assembly with the rudder skin and then will likely follow
the sequence in the construction manual. |
4.2 |
43.8 |
| 3/8/03 |
Today
was the first nice Saturday in a month so we took a break from
building and went flying. We may fly a bit less while we build
but I pray we don't. There are few pleasures greater than flying
(note: I said "few" not none) and I for one have no
intention of giving up flying while I build. The few hundred
hours lost building are probably spent more wisely keeping current
and having fun. |
- |
- |
| 3/6/03 |
Completed
rudder stiffeners. Yesterday all were rough cut to length and
shape on the band saw. Tonight the last 8 were ground
and polished. Drilled both sides to skins, deburred all stiffeners
and R
rudder skin. Began assembling rudder skeleton, radiused
rudder horn to fit lower rib and added 3 backing plates to spar. |
4.3 |
39.6 |
| 3/5/03 |
Cut
and trimmed
all rudder stiffners. Ground and deburred stiffners for
the right side and started assembling rudder spar and lower
rib with horn. Fabricated the rudder horn shim. |
3.5 |
35.3 |
| 3/4/03 |
Today
I ordered wings. Current wait is 8 weeks. Nonetheless, it's
beginning to seem like we're really building an airplane. Reviewed
plans and directions for constructing the rudder. |
0 |
31.8 |
| 3/3/03 |
Drilled
and deburred VS. Drilling took about 30 minutes and the rest
of the time was spent deburring the skin, ribs, spars and stiffners.
Lots of deburring. Found a minor problem - drilled the VS on
a table and where the clecos pressed against the skin they left
a few little "smiles". Not much I can do now except
learn not to repeat my error. I must remember, I'm building
an airplane not a watch. |
3.2 |
31.8 |
| 3/2/03 |
Started
to use new drill
press to counter sink holes in HS spar. Had problems with
consistency that I want to identify before continuing. Noted
0.009" run out in brand new drill press measured at chuck.
MT2 taper that chuck mounted on had about 0.0005" run out.
I think I got a poorly bored chuck. |
0.2 |
28.6 |
| 3/1/03 |
Deburred
R&L HS skins,
dimpled edges of both skins and the interior parts of one
half of one skin. Started countersinking spar flanges. May buy
a drill press tomorrow and do then. Assembled VS skeleton, drilled
doubler, hinges, and spars. Attached
skin. Wow! Another airplane part looking done (with lots
left to do). Current plan is to complete all empennage parts
up to but not including riveting, then primer, then rivet. |
6.5 |
28.4 |
| 2/28/03 |
Fit
the right HS skin to the skeleton. The center and inboard nose
ribs were problems but judicial fluting and bending got everything
together. Then deburred both the R and L HS skins and skeletons
and dimpled the main and nose
ribs. Tried to figure out what cutter will be used in the
jig to counter sink the spar flanges. |
4.5 |
21.9 |
| 2/27/03 |
After
talking to Van's we disassembled L-HS and made minor adjustments
to rib fluting. Reassembled, drilled skin to skeleton and disassembled.
Fluted ribs and assembled R-HS skeleton. |
2.1 |
17.4 |
| 2/26/03 |
Drilled
all main and nose ribs, disassembled HS skeleton and deburred
all. Reassembled let HS, cut
HS skin jig and clecoed left HS
skin to skeleton. |
2.6 |
15.3 |
| 2/23/03 |
Reassembled
spars, which have been deburred
and clecoed in the main ribs and nose ribs. I bent the flanges
on the two inboard main ribs to fit. |
0.7 |
12.7 |
| 2/22/03 |
Finished
908 L and R
brackets, assembled and drilled forward and rear spars,
made 2 shims called for in plans, deburred all. |
9.3 |
12.0 |
| 2/21/03 |
Clecoed
front spar (R and L) to spar doubler. Marked and rough cut angle
for attachment points. Worked on finishing shape and size of
angles with belt sander, grinder and files. |
2.0 |
2.7 |
| 2/20/03 |
The
empennage arrives in two boxes. Looking at this photo
it's clear I've got an RV-grin without pounding a single rivet.
It makes me wonder why I'm even building the darn thing. We
inventory the parts as best we could. |
0.7 |
0.7 |
| |
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