I made the three vertical stabilizer ribs and started attaching them to the spars.
I drew the correct dimensions on my workbench and am using clamps to get everything in position before drilling.
Started making vertical stabilizer spars. Got to really use some clecos. I worked really hard in an attempt to keep everything straight and centered. Getting parts clecoed together while leaving room to attach more parts was a little bit of a juggling act, but it was enjoyable.
You may notice a maroon scotch-brite pad in the background. I had been trying to find them locally and finally found them at Fastenal.
Here’s a shot showing more of the clecos.
Made some clips and bent a flange on a piece of channel. My shipment of Nuvite arrived and I tried it out on the leading edge we made at the workshop. I was very pleased, but I think I went through the different grades too fast in an attempt to try them all out, so there seem to be some scratches left.
Started working on the tail. I was hesitant to cut the spar channel on my compound miter saw because I was unsure if it would vibrate too much or get caught and bent. I held it firmly and cut really slow and it cut perfectly. I even made the 5 degree cuts on the flanges with the bevel feature of the saw.
Cutting the circle was another matter entirely. First I used my unibit, but this vibrated like crazy and didn’t seem precise at all. Plus it seemed to be melting the aluminum more than cutting and the force I was applying to cut was deforming the metal. Not having a hole saw or a fly cutter I decided to use a forstner bit as a last-ditch attempt. I added cutting fluid and the forstner bit went through like butter. Spade bits probably would have worked just as well except mine don’t have a nice tooth on the outside to cut the circle out.
I have been dreading bending the forward spar fitting for a while. I decided to try using my bench vise and a piece of thick-walled pipe I found in the basement with the correct diameter. I cut a “V” into a block of wood with my bandsaw. Once I lined everything up, the bending was way easier than expected.
I purchased a mostly-unused tail kit from a builder in Georgia. I was able to meet him half-way to save on shipping costs, but I totally forgot about the time zone and arrived half an hour late instead of early like I was hoping to.
He completed the rudder horn assembly to pretty high quality. He also drilled one of the piano hinges.