RV-9A Construction Log for the month of June, 2003Horizontal Stabilizer
Priming the skeleton of the "HS". Used zinc-chromate primer for corrosion protection since we plan on more than a few Carribean trips.
Ye olde retractable paint booth for keeping the chemistry inside the garage.
Skin and skeleton held together with clecos
Looking down a fresh rivet line..
View to the inside..
Rivet "shop head" inspection..
Looks like an airplane part
Starting the other side..
Here I'm using the "C" frame (red thing) with dimple dies and a hammer to form the recesses in the skin that the counter sunk rivets will set into. This makes the skin smooth instead of lumpy from rivets sticking up. This is typical for airplanes 150 mph and faster.
beginning assembly of the other half..
Assembling the skeleton, main ribs and spar..
Using the rivet squeezer to set the rivets during assembly of a rib to the spar..
Close-up of the clecos..
Making it one big piece..
Horizontal stabilizer is complete. Total time so far is about 100 hours including the work time from last October. A real slow start by most standards. We'll see if I can improve on that.