1038- H.Stab- p.8-10 st 1-2, 8-11 st 1-3, & 8-12 st 1-2

Horizontal Stabilizer - 3 hrs 19 mins (H.S. 43:42, Empennage 95:50, Total 109:46)

Rivet count: 170 (Total 1,224)

First time touching the workshop in three weeks... sad. It feels great though! Made it through an entire three pages on this monster work session.

I was sick for a week, and have been swamped with this Master's thesis. Even with snowmaggedon, I still only managed to get schoolwork done and no plane building. I finally found a few hours to sneak away and work in the shop instead. Two more weeks and education can be put on the back burner, for a few months at least. I found out about that job application... and I'll be going to Air Force pilot training at some point in 2014! I'll find out when and where within the next few weeks, but that's where the books will take over my life again. 

I riveted together the skeleton of the H.Stab. All the stringers and inspar ribs attached to the front spar. Then, I riveted the nose ribs to the skins, and then the skeleton assembly to the skins and nose ribs. All that's left is to finish riveting all pieces to the skins, add the rear spar, and a few random bushings. Easier said than done. I'm estimating about 6 more hours of work, and I'm likely on the short side of the estimate. That will have me finishing the whole H.Stab in 50 hours of labor.

Two key points for those who might be preparing to labor themselves.

1) I went with online estimates of other builders and saw they all had about 350 hrs for the empennage and X hrs for each chapter. I had finished the V.Stab and Rudder a lot faster than them and was worried. Now the same for the H.Stab. At least I'm consistent at about 60-70% faster than the sites I saw. You'll have to factor your own work pace, and be prepared to deviate faster or slower. In my case, I may be working faster, but I'm missing out on workdays due to illness, travel, work, school, etc. So I'm lucky that mine offset, but they could all work against you or for you. It's just part of the build and something to be ready for. You can't schedule every little variation, unless maybe if you're retired.

2) I started to rivet with my left hand today. More and more, pieces are getting more difficult to reach, and at times, being ambidextrous has helped immensely. Im still not as good on the left, but getting much better. Recommend you practice with your weaker arm once you get comfortable with your dominant because you will need to use both at some point in your build too. -M