Chapter 4 – The Empennage (Vertical Stabilizer)
Lorin’s RV-9A Builders Log
Table of Contents:
Chapter 4 – The Empennage (Vertical Stabilizer)
Mar 5, 2005 – Assembled VS Skeleton & Clecoed Skins
(4 hours today 57.5 total)
Mar 6, 2005 – Drilled, Stripped & Deburred VS
Skeleton (4 hours today – 61.5 total)
Mar 7, 2005 – Removed vinyl strips from VS skin (1 hour
today – 62.5 total)
Mar 8, 2005 – Continued cleaning VS Skeleton (1 hour
today – 63.5 total)
Mar 10, 2005 – Deburred VS skin (1 hour today – 64.5
hours total)
Mar 11, 2005 – Drilled optional lightning holes in VS
Spar Doubler (1 hour today – 65.5 total)
Mar 12, 2005 – Cleaned VS Spar doubler –Started prepping
Ribs (6 hours today – 71.5 total)
Mar 13, 2005 – Prepped & Primed HS / VS ribs (2 hours
today – 73.5 hours total).
Apr 2, 2005 – Primed VS Skin (0.5 hours today – 89.75
total)
Apr 4, 2005 – More VS808 & VS803 Spar Work (1.5 hours
today – 91.25 total)
Apr 5, 2005 – Started Riveting VS Spar (1.5 hours today –
92.75 total)
Apr 7, 2005 – Continued VS Spar & Skeleton (1.25
hours today – 94.0 total)
Apr 8, 2005 – Almost finished VS Spar (1.5 hours today –
95.5 total)
Apr 9, 2005 – Completed VS Spar & then screwed up the
Skeleton (6.5 hours today – 102 total)
Apr 28, 2005 – Received New VS skeleton / started spar
prep (.75 hrs today – 108.5 total)
Jun 6, 2005 – Completed VS (2.5 hours today –150.25
total)
Mar 5, 2005
– Assembled VS Skeleton & Clecoed Skins (4 hours today 57.5 total)
Pulled out all ribs, struts, and hinge brackets for the VS and then spent an hour or so fluting the ribs to get them straight. Several of the ribs seemed thicker than the HS ribs so it took a little more force. Again – take it slow. I was initially pleased with the results but after I started to put on the VS skin it seemed that the holes did not align as well as those in the HS skin. So I went back and tweaked the ribs a bit more.
Fig 4-1 Fig 4-2
After I was satisfied I put the skins back on. I still had a few holes that were ~ ¼ diameter out of alignment. This was easily handled by using an awl to center the hole adjacent to the one being clecoed. By clecoing the ends and center of each rib – I was able to align every hole. I finished fastening the skin on putting clamps in every other hole.
Fig 4-3 Fig 4-4
The drawings point to optional lighting holes in the VS plate but I couldn’t find anything about it in the instructions. I plan to cut out the holes since I want to make my plane as light as possible… I looked through my “tool bin” and found a couple of old circle cutters. I also have a flycutter. Think I’ll ask Van’s what they recommend to use for the lightening holes….
Mar 6, 2005 – Drilled, Stripped & Deburred VS Skeleton (4 hours
today – 61.5 total)
Completed drilling the skins including front hole of Nose rib… marking each hole as I drilled them. Once more I disassembled the VS and started to prepare the ribs & spars. I spent some time scotchbriting each of the structural elements, deburring all holes and dimpling the parts (again – remember, don’t dimple the rib hole one the single tab). Getting the deburring tool into the front corner was not possible – so I took the countersink tip, aligned it and then turned it a few times by hand. Very nice!!
Fig 4-5
Mar 7, 2005 – Removed vinyl strips from VS skin (1 hour today – 62.5 total)
Today I took about an hour to remove the vinyl strips from the VS skin. It would seem that this shouldn’t take as long as it does – but I wanted to be careful and make sure I didn’t scratch the skin with the soldering gun. Like before I used a metal yardstick and a few spring clamps to keep the “cut” aligned. My advice? - Go a little faster and press a little lighter than you think you should. You can always go back and touch up the few areas that don’t get a clean “burn”.
Fig 4-6 Fig 4-7
Mar 8, 2005 – Continued cleaning VS Skeleton (1 hour today – 63.5
total)
I had an hour of free time tonight so I used it working on the VS skeleton with deburring tools and scotchbrite pads. It wasn’t near enough time to get it done – but I did start to make some inroads on the parts. Besides slow & steady is the key here. I’ve heard more than one person say it is better to “touch your plane” every day than to put in a few “marathon weekends”…
Mar 10, 2005 – Deburred VS skin (1 hour today – 64.5 hours total)
The cool thing about deburring skins is that you can do it anywhere (within reason). So – I popped a DVD into the stereo and then proceeded to spend the next few hours watching & twisting. I figure I was only working half the time so I logged 1 hour today.
Mar 11, 2005 – Drilled optional lightning holes in VS Spar Doubler (1
hour today – 65.5 total)
Completed drilling the optional lightening holes in the VS spar today. The 2” diameter holes were made with a fly-cutter and the 1.5” holes were made with an inexpensive set of hole cutters – both sets of tools in the drill press. The fly-cutter holes worked great but the hole cutters made a little chatter. By clamping the work tot eh drill press table, going slowly, and using a little cutting oil – I made it ok. When cutting the holes I stopped halfway through and then turned the piece over to finish the cut. This prevented any breakout. In the end, the holes were okay but a few of them are going to take a little cleanup time. Oh well, it is a small price to pay. I still want to keep the plane as light as I can.
Fig 4-8
Mar 12, 2005 – Cleaned VS Spar doubler –Started prepping Ribs (6 hours
today – 71.5 total)
Spent a couple of hours cleaning up the holes in the spar doubler plate. I started with a half round file to take out the few high/rough spots (these were typically in the area where the hole from one side met the hole being drilled from the opposite side). Then I used a scotchbrite disk in the drill press to remove the filing marks, followed by an edge deburring tool, and finished up with a little elbow grease and a new scotchbrite pad. I really like how they came out!!
I made a quick trip to Home Depot where I picked up a painter’s respirator mask, 5 lbs white cotton shop rags, and a 100 count of latex gloves in the middle of the day middle of the day,. I figure I should be ready to do some priming this weekend and I wanted to have everything ready. I contemplated getting a special drop cloth – but why bother? The box that the empennage skins came in will make a great painting surface!
Even though he weather is nice now (mid 70’s – sorry to you builders in Michigan), I brought the cans of primer into the house just to make sure they will be warm enough. Recall I’ve decided to use single stage, self –etching aluminum primer from Mar-Hyde in the 19 oz aerosol cans for the contact points.
The rest of the afternoon was busy cleaning up the individual ribs and assorted pieces for priming. This involved extra scotchbrite work and some fussing over a few things. The last thing I did was take off all the part number stickers. You may remember I previously marked all parts with a blue sharpie – and put the corresponding numbers on the construction plans. That way I wouldn’t have to remember what went where. After the paper tags were removed – I put on a pair of latex gloves and cleaned any remaining adhesive with acetone and a shop rag.
I’ve always been cautious of oily rags and the possibility of fires so I but the used rag into a metal bucket in my shop. Anal? Maybe… but I’d rather be safe than sorry….
Fig 4-9
Mar 13, 2005 – Prepped & Primed HS / VS ribs (2 hours today – 73.5
hours total).
Okay – time for the prepping the ribs so they can be primed. I took out a new scotchbrite pad and gently scuffed the surfaces of all items I was going to prime. Next, I put on a clean set of latex gloves – and “degreased” all the surfaces with acetone. This included removing all but one of the part ID’s I had put on with a blue sharpie. So, you ask – why not the final one? Well, I had heard that the sharpie markings could be seen after parts had been primed but I wanted to make sure. On the other hand I also wanted to clean the parts as best as I could before priming. I was not concerned about getting the parts mixed up because I had carefully laid out all the parts in order before I cleaned them. Anyway – did the ink show thorough the primer? I’m not sure yet – but I’ll tell you as soon as I find out…
On a separate topic - I had decided early on that when priming - I would wear a respirator and a pair of safety glasses. The reason for the mask is obvious, but the safety glasses were just an extra layer of protection to safeguard against anything getting on my regular polycarbonate eyeglasses. Who knows what self etching primer could do to plastic lenses??
I am very pleased to say that the first coat of priming came out great and the mask worked wonders. I could not detect any smell of the paint aerosol or primer vapors when wearing the mask. But when I took the mask off after I was finished – I was nearly knocked over by the smell, even inside the house. Just for the record – when priming I had the outside shop pedestrian door fully open and the garage door partially open. I didn’t want to open the garage door all the way up in case I would get some contamination on the paint….
Fig 4-10 Fig 4-11
Apr 2, 2005 – Primed VS Skin (0.5 hours today – 89.75 total)
Julie came over and we finished today and we finished dimpling the VS and HS skins. It went pretty good – but a little slow because we were trying to be careful and not to scratch the surface. All-in-all, I’m pleased with the results.
After that – I cleaned the interior surfaces for priming. I was originally planning on just priming the area of contact between the skeleton and the skin – but decided later to prime the whole thing. The little bit of extra coverage looks a lot nicer and it will provide more corrosion protection.
I did get a little carried away with the prep work though. First I put on latex gloves, took a clean rag, and removed all the blue Sharpie pen marks with acetone. Next I removed the inside protective vinyl layer – and then cleaned off all vinyl remnants and the mill rolled alclad marking. Finally I took a clean rag and wiped the whole thing down once more to get any remaining impurities. The rag did have some grey discoloration so I figured there must have been something there. As soon as the sheets were dry – I put on the respirator and sprayed on the primer (one stage Mar-Hyde aerosols).
Fig 4-12
Apr 4, 2005 – More VS808 & VS803 Spar Work (1.5 hours today – 91.25
total)
Completed smoothing out the lightening holes in spar doubler VS-808PP. This meant taking a half round file for the coarse cuts, followed up with a scotchbrite drum in the drill press, and finally a scotchrite pad by hand. Everything came out really well. After that, I set the microstop and countersunk the 21 holes on the spar doubler. The VS-803PP spar is thin enough that it can be dimpled (as opposed to countersunk) – so I dimpled the appropriate 21 #30 holes in the web with the C-Frame, and then used the hand rivet squeezer to dimple the #40 holes in the flanges. I finished the day by cleaning the parts with acetone and priming both sides. Hint -> by using a hot air gun, you can get the primer to dry very quickly (less than 5 minutes).
Fig 4-13 Fig 4-14
Apr 5, 2005 – Started Riveting VS Spar (1.5 hours today – 92.75 total)
Clecoed the VS Spar assembly together – including the hinge brackets - putting clamps in every other hole. As usual everything fit together very well. I decided to follow Van’s advice and put tape over the holes that are used to attach the ribs. This way, I won’t accidentally rivet where I shouldn’t.
Fig 4-15 Fig 4-16
I started with the lower flush rivets using Avery’s hand squeezer. All flush rivets came out great but I could not get the center rivet on the lowest hinge brackets with the hand squeezer. So, it looks like I’m going to have to back rivet them. I’m waiting for a loaned 2X rivet gun to arrive in the mail (thanks Dad). When that comes – I will give it a shot. In the meantime I finished about half of the rivets. By this time it was getting a late and my hands starting to get tired (that’s what happens when you work a desk job). But not to worry – it just means I get to finish this up later….
Fig 4-17 Fig 4-18
Apr 7, 2005 – Continued VS Spar & Skeleton (1.25 hours today – 94.0
total)
I took a day off yesterday and thought I would be ready to finish the aft VS spar today. But after squeezing a few of the 1/8 rivets that attached the hinge brackets – I found that they were not coming out as well as I wanted. So I slowed down a little, finished attaching the remaining hinge brackets that I could reach with a squeezer.
Then I went to work on the VS skeleton. I deburred, dimpled, cleaned, and primed the forward VS spar (VS-802). After that I clecoed the skeleton together. Now all that’s left to do is rivet the skeleton together – and fasten on the skin….
Fig 4-19 Fig 4-20
Apr 8, 2005 – Almost finished VS Spar (1.5 hours today – 95.5 total)
Today I completed attaching all the hinge brackets on the rear VS spar (I had a good start from before). I found I could reach almost all the rivets with a squeezer – but could not get to the middle rivets on the bottom hinge brackets. After thinking about this for a few minutes I realized I could use the C-Frame dimpler with a solid core plunger. This worked really well – but I was a little surprised at how hard I had to hit the plunger (even using a 2 lb mallet).
After that I went back and critically examined each rivet. There were a few that were acceptable – but though could be better – so I drilled them out and replaced them. By the time I finished, I was pleased with the results. I hope to press forward tomorrow and get the skeleton assembled.
Apr 9, 2005 – Completed VS Spar & then screwed up the Skeleton (6.5
hours today – 102 total)
Ever have one of those days when you wish you just didn’t get up?? You can tell I had mixed results today. The good news is I finished off the front horizontal stabilizer spar – using the rivet gun and a bucking bar to set the final rivets in the attachment angles that I could not get at with the squeezer.
Fig 4-21
The bad news is I screwed up the VS skeleton! Everything seemed to be going well. I remembered to clamp each piece tight when riveting so it wouldn’t move and took my time to make sure everything was aligned. But after joining the center rib to the front spar – I was not pleased with the amount of squeeze on one of the outside rivets. I decided to re-squeeze it and set it a little more. Unfortunately I did not notice that the universal head rivet was improperly seated in the die – when I squeezed the tool – the rivet head was sheared in two – with an ugly smiley in the middle. After I calmed down – I tried to drill it out. But the split / mushroomed head made it impossible to get the drill bit perfectly centered and I ended up with an oblong rivet hole – and having to pull the rivet shank with a pair of needle nosed pliers. As a remedy - I figured that I would drill another hole and install a new rivet between the center and the outside (elongated hole). This worked really well. So – I figured I’d put in another rivet in the screwed up hole…. Well that one dumped big time!! I was too frustrated to go on… so I clecoed the skin on and decided what I should do….
Fig 4-22
OK - The more I though about it – the more I realized that I did not like the possible stress riser that I had created. Furthermore, the screwed up joint between the spar and rib would not be visible after the skin was installed – so I would never know if I had a fatigue crack problem or not.
Well, now is not the time to be proud… so I called Van’s and ordered a new set of VS skeleton parts. This was the right decision. It is not worth risking possible structural failure for a measly $50 worth of metal pieces. OK… think I’ll work on the Rudder until I get my order from Van’s. See the next chapter for progress reports…
Apr 28, 2005 – Received New VS skeleton / started spar prep (.75 hrs
today – 108.5 total)
About 2 weeks later…. Well, Vans shipment arrived late yesterday – and I started to work on it as soon as I got home today. All the parts were accounted for. The first task was to debur the edges of the VS spar. Since I had done this before it went pretty quick. Next I drilled and deburred the #40 holes for the skin attachment. I then put the parts aside and continued to work on the rudder.
Jun 6, 2005 – Completed VS (2.5 hours today –150.25 total)
Dad came
down to teach a forum at Golden West this weekend and stayed a few days longer
to help. I took a couple of days off
from work and we focused as much as we could on the empennage – starting with
the VS. After clecoing one side of the
skins we started to rivet. Dad
suggested that we use the deburring tool on all the dimpled skin holes since
that gives a much better final appearance to the final rivet joint (better fit). This worked great!!
All the internal rivets were bucked by 2 people – Dad on the bar and me with the gun. Next we attached the rear spar. Even though I had a pneumatic squeezer, all the edge rivets were done with a hand squeezer since I felt this gave me more control. Using the hand squeezer and having another person hold the part & help to align the squeezer made a quick job. Ta Da!! It’s finished….