June 17, 2004 HOME

Today I got a little more time to work on the elevator tip (left only - don't ask why). I decided to glue it in place, since I will be filling over the seam and don't want any movement. Movement = cracks in the finish. We've all seen those. So, I mixed a little T-88 and smeared it on after sanding both the mating surfaces.

The next step is to drill and cleco the fiberglass to the inside of the elevator. This is done while the glue is fresh and left that way only until it gets tacky.

I left the T-88 to set up for a couple of hours while I worked on non-RV stuff. The fiberglass piece is narrower than the opening it fills, so you have to make sure the clecos are pulling it up nice and tight.

Next, in go the nasty poprivets. I don't know why I hate poprivets, but I really don't want them in my airplane. Logically, I understand their value and I know I have no real choice here, but I nonetheless like the not...

 

 

 

 

 

   

All done. Well, not really. Next is the shaping and glass work on the leading edge of the fiberglass (over the counterweight) and filling and smoothing and painting and...

Now here's a little problem that caught me by surprise. Look at the picture below.

And look at the picture below - again.

If they look like they don't fit, it's because they don't. I only researched the one above part because it's the only one marked (as R-809). The plans call out R-909. Hmmm. Maybe it's the wrong part. I can't find any reference to R-809 in the plans, so I'm assuming it's the wrong part. I sent an email to Van's Support a few hours ago explaining the problem. We'll see what they say. Till then, I'm not working on these parts...

 

 

 

 

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