1097- Main Spar- p.13-3 step 3 & p.13-4 step 4-5

Section 13: Main Spar- 4 hrs 24 mins (Main Spar 20:04, Wings 23:04, Empennage 265:24, Total 308:24)

Rivet count: 26 (Total 5,435)

Lots of countersinking today...lots...but I'll take any progress after six days straight of work. I finished off the rivet holes on the flanges of the main spars. Just have the #6 and #8 screw holes left to go. Also did the CSKs, deburring, priming, and riveting of the web of the root section of the spars. (There's twenty minutes that didn't make it on the video) Speaking of, I was excited to be almost done with the flanges, and then remembered I still have hundreds of deburrs left to do next time. Argh. Though on a positive note, I only have a few sessions left of section 13, and the next one may be the start of the nutplate attaching step. -M

1096- Main Spar- p.13-3 step 2 & p.13-4 step 1-3

Section 13: Main Spar- 2 hrs 2 mins (Main Spar 15:40, Wings 18:40, Empennage 265:24, Total 304:00)

Rivet count: 0 (Total 5,409)

A nervous day as I began "carving" into the main spars. Such beautiful looking pieces, and now we get to countersink nearly every hole they have. I started with the -3 rivet head holes. My collar was still set to that depth which I discovered when I tried it on a scrap piece, so that part was nice.

Before adjusting the collar for a deeper sink (for the skin dimples), I looked ahead and notice the inboard areas of the spars also needed -3 rivet head sinking. Moved on to there. Two of them were not reachable with the collar, so I am appealing for help on the VAF forum to see what others did. 

Next we will continue with the countersinking for the skin dimples, and then for the -4 rivets and -6/-8 screw rivets. -M

1095- Main Spar- p.13-2 step 7-8 & p.13-3 step 1

Section 13: Main Spar- 4 hrs 31 mins (Main Spar 13:38, Wings 16:38, Empennage 265:24, Total 301:58)

Rivet count: 0 (Total 5,409)

Today was one of those days when you do SO much work and have little to nothing to show for it. The day consisted of taking the j-channel stiffeners from the last build session and using the cleco clamps to secure them 1/16" above the top edge of the main spar flanges. Then we match drilled the stiffeners to the hole spacing from the main spar. We remove the j-channels and set them aside for use in sections 16 and 20 a few months from now.

Since the spars are laying side-by-side, I was only able to work on the outside edges at first. It's not on the timelapse, but I swapped the spars with the help of L to work on sides 3 and 4. The last thing after removing the J-channels was to drill to size the rest of the holes on the main spar flanges with the #40 drill. This is in preparation for countersinking in order to accomodate 426-type rivets for nutplate attachment, as well as accomodating the dimpled skins to fit flush.

One interesting thing is that the plans do not call for deburring the main spar flanges. Part of me thinks that it is obvious to deburr and the plans shouldn't have to tell me to do so anymore, but part of me wonders if it is purposely omitted to not mess with the beautifully anodized surface of the spars. I will have to do more research.

Four and a half hours later, I have 8 sections of J-channel with a bunch of holes in them, and two main spars that pretty much look the same as when we started. Yep, it's one of those days... -M

1094- Main Spar- p.13-2 step 4-6

Section 13: Main Spar- 3 hrs 8 mins (Main Spar 9:07, Wings 12:07, Empennage 265:24, Total 297:27)

Rivet count: 72 (Total 5,409)

I was going to start work again yesterday, but just as I was getting ready to go out to the garage, the washing machine was making a horrible noise. Five hours later after troubleshooting everything and becoming familiar with how a washer is constructed from youtube videos, I diagnosed a $40 part. Sure beats a new washer.

So today I finally got to work on the plane again! (with a slight interruption to go fix the washer after the part arrived in the mail. Two years ago to the day was the last time I touched it. Go figure. Surprisingly, riveting was pretty comfortable. May have overdriven a few of them, but not grossly errant. 

We unpacked the main spars, and then riveted the main spar web extensions in place. Then we dug out the old J-stiffeners and fabricated eight pieces. Between measuring, cutting, and deburring all the edges, that took up all of my time. It's am uphill battle to familiarize myself with the shop layout and reacquire proficiency. I also ended up cutting about two feet off the end of the kit provided pieces to make the short lengths. My bandsaw only cuts about a foot at a time, so I ended up making two cuts. Hopefully I didn't need two foot sections of J-channel later! Otherwise, I'll be ordering fresh stock due to my error. At the end of the video, I'm propping up the main spars so the flanges are straight since the next step requires them to do so, and since I didn't want to leave the spars out there to get warped under their own weight. I doubt that would actually happen, but better safe than sorry. -M

1093.1 The Third Workshop

Workshop - 2 hrs 0 min (Workshop 19:56, Total 294:19)
Rivet count: 0 (Total 5,337)

Yesterday was supposed to be the first full day of working on the plane in a very long time. Instead, I spent it working on the wife's car. We popped a check engine light, and the coolant flow control valve was at fault. $90 part, a full coolant flush, and six hours later, the car is back in working order. The plane however, is not.

A big thanks to T. for lending me some tools to get the job done! I met T. a few months back. Some pretty unique circumstances leading up to it. He's a couple miles down the road and also building an RV-10. He is significantly further along than we are. Leaps and bounds further... It's great to have someone around to pick their brain about the project as well as seeing what we are working towards.

However, I did take some time to organize things in the garage and the third workshop in this project is in working order. (Hopefully the last workshop until the eventual move to a hangar)

Making lemonade from lemons, I was able to use the car work to try out a new time lapse program. Up to now, I had been using Webcam Timelapse and taking a frame every 4 secs. At 15 frames per second on the videos, it meant a minute of video equaled an hour of work. I will now be using Video Velocity 3. It's compatible with a better camera than what I had been using. I will now be taking a frame every 2 secs and output a video at 30 frames per second. It is still the same ratio, but a smoother and more detailed product. Stay tuned for the first build video soon! -M