Layed out, cut and bent all the ribs for the Elevators. Measured twice and still cut one too short? Built a custom bender for the 3/8" tubing. Very complicated, but it works great! I plan to make the trailing edge in three pieces, so I'll have to make two splices. I will splice at the rib to keep it hidden. that way I can use shorter pieces of 3/8" rather than the 9 or 10 feet it would take to make it as one long piece. I also bent a large piece of .120 in a press brake. I will need to do this for the wing spare mounts. Not sure if I'll use this piece, as I had it shipped to Kosovo and back, and it has some pitting. Probably from the salt water. It would probably be ok, but I think I'm going to get some new ?
1/2/07 - 2.0 hours - Total Time 596.5 hours.
Bent the other two pieces and spliced them together. I cut the ends at 30 degrees, inserted a small piece of 4130 rod with a 1/8" gap, then welded all together. The joints will also be welded into the ribs, so I'm not worried about strength at the splices.
1/15/07 - 1.0 hours - Total Time 597.5 hours.
Built the two center elevator ribs I made too short before.
1/21/07 - 2.0 hours - Total Time 599.5 hours.
Lightly tacked the elevator together. I ran out of hinge material, so I tried to make spacers using plywood. It works, but not well enough to final tack. Once I get the L/H elevator tacked, I will adjust my jig, and build the R/H side to match. I plan to order some more steel to build the hinges tonight. I placed an order for the rest of the push-pull tubing, and wing bracing, a couple of weeks ago, but one piece is back-ordered. The total was $400 with $140 of that as shipping because of the lengths. I got quotes, and Aircraft Spruce price matched. This saved about $40.
1/22/07 - 1.0 hours - Total Time 600.5 hours.
Spent some time making patterns for the slat ribs. I also purchased some Aluminum for the slats, push-pull tube hardware, rear seat stuff, rivets, and steel for hinges. I'm planning on building a small jig to practice the assembly of the slats. (out of construction paper first) I'm planning on using the techniques that Zenith uses for the 801 and 701 Slats. The say this is the most difficult part of building a STOL Aircraft!
1/28/07 - 1.0 hours - Total Time 601.5 hours.
Received orders from Aircraft Spruce and Wicks. Some of the Aluminum and Steel was bent, so I'm working through that. My friend Ron stopped by, and let me use his rivet nose pieces. Turned out, he purchased a tail kit for a Zenith Zodiac, which uses the same rivet technology as I plan to use! Pulled a couple rivets with my gun and it worked great! I'm planning on building some small (2 foot?) sections of slat to get everything dialed in, before starting on the real thing. Also started on the hinges for the elevator.
1/29/07 - 1.0 hours - Total Time 602.5 hours.
Continued to work on slat rib template. Cut-out one blank and started on the forming block.
2/3/07 - 4.0 hours - Total Time 606.5 hours.
Inventoried the steel and aluminum tubing for the push pull tubes. Also received the internal wing bracing materials, and trim tube. Continued to work on the elevator. I have taken most of it apart about 6 times. I think this would be necessary even if I hadn't made it bigger. (That threw all the measurements off) Started by building the hinges, and cut and fit and lined everything up. I'm adjusting the jig as I go, so the second one should be identical to the first. I also cut out the tube aft of the rear stick. There is a clearance issue that needs to be fixed there. I have seen a couple options, not sure which one I will use?
2/4/07 - 2.0 hours - Total Time 608.5 hours.
Built two brackets to attach the Push-Pull tube to the aft stick. Tacked them in, then realized I had used the wrong rod end to fit it up. I'll have to cut them out and re-tack. No big deal, but I was building from memory and the plans don't call for the bracket. I think it will work better than cutting into the bottom of the stick?
2/8/07 and 2/10/07 - 2.5 hours - Total Time 611.0 hours.
Squeezed down the push-pull tube and drilled it out. I then re-tacked the brackets on the stick to fit the tube end. I also bent the bell crank ends to to fit the two bearings that will attach at each end. Still need to do some fine tuning before I tack it into place.
2/18/07 - 3.0 hours - Total Time 614.0 hours.
Assembled, and reassembled, the bell crank about 10 times to get the bearing clearance right. Still have to open up the bottom a little, as the bearing shank hits and binds. The dimensions in the plans don't work. None of the bearing and threaded rod ends are the same as the plans. I'm using Aurora Bearings. They are much cheaper the Heim bearings and available through Aircraft Spruce. You just have to cross reference the part numbers. Same with the walking beam.
