Tailcone- 1 hr 45 mins (Tailcone 62:23, Empennage 237:55, Total 258:51) Rivet count: 8 (Total 3,694) Step 4 actually took place a couple nights ago when my friend C.W. came over and I was showing him around the shop and how everything flows for the build. We assembled the bellcrank assembly and then I let him squeeze a few rivets in. Nothing major as far as progress, but figured I would document it for the build and to keep track of the 15 minutes or so that we spent.
Bellcrank Assembly
I got home from work today in a less than stellar mood. I was hoping a little progress would help, but I was sadly mistaken. I decided to try my theory of waiting for the sun to start to drop before painting. It worked perfectly for controlling heat, but I failed to consider the mosquito population that is out looking for a meal. I even was bit in the face, and let me tell you, it is a lot more painful than one would imagine. The other bit of bad news is that the outflow pressure gauge on my compressor broke. So I won't be able to tell how softly or how hard I'm driving the rivet gun. A weekend trip to Harbor Freight is in order. I made a big batch of primer tonight, and was able to get all the stiffeners, longerons, the rest of the side skin and one of the top skins. I think I might be able to finish off the priming with just one more batch. I still have the frames/bulkheads, the other side skin, and the other top skin left to go. What I did notice after grabbing the parts when they dried is that some places I didn't get the primer as well as ideal. So I'll say two more small batches, and we are definitely in the clear. -M
Tailcone- 2 hrs 14 mins (Tailcone 60:38, Empennage 236:10, Total 257:06) Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686) Dimpling is complete! The new dimple die arrived in the mail today. Since I also found out my checkride isn't tomorrow, that meant we had time to get some work in tonight... I started off with all the flanges of the bulkheads and frames, and then finished up the skins . After a dinner break, I was back at the stiffeners with some welcomed help from my wife. I had her hold the stiffeners and move them from the dimpled hole to the undimpled hole while I focused on the actual squeezing of the dimples. It at least felt like it moved along much faster, and a few new blisters might be testament to the fast pace. Needless to say, I thought I was looking at four more hours of dimpling, and it was done in just over two. Now it's just a matter of waiting for an overcast day to get the last of the cleaning and priming accomplished before we get in the full swing of riveting again. -M
Tailcone- 3 hrs 0 mins (Tailcone 58:24, Empennage 233:56, Total 254:52) Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686) It wasn't as nice of a day as yesterday was. For priming that is. It was a gorgeous blue sky day, but that meant I had to prime parts in the shade under the tree. I will not be doing that again... there was too much dust and bugs to keep track of. From here on out, I'll be waiting until the ideal overcast weather, or I'll just wait until dusk when the sun isn't heating up the metal directly. Spent about an hour or so cleaning the parts that were ready with acetone, then set up the compressor and parts in the yard. I ended up making two batches of primer to get all the smaller parts, bottom skin, and 75% of the left skin. I still need all the frames/bulkheads, all the stiffeners/longerons, and the two top skins and right skin. Of course this doesn't include the random touchups for paint that didnt apply thick enough on all the pieces. I'm thinking three more batches and we'll be set... Now we just have to wait for the mailman to bring some parts in.. -M
Tailcone- 3 hrs 43 mins (Tailcone 55:24, Empennage 230:56, Total 251:52) Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686) It was a gorgeous day outside. I thought I'd be able to get all the pieces dimpled and start working on getting things primed up today, but two things happened. First, I severely underestimated how long it takes to dimple thousands of holes. It took nearly two hours just to get the side skins done. I was also able to get the bottom skin and start work on the first of the top skins. Second, my dimple die broke on me...
I tried to round off the sharp edge and see if I could still use it by being careful, but the first dimple I tried didn't come out great and I wasn't about to risk it with 60%+ of the dimples left to go. An internet shopping experience and $40 later, and I'll have a new dimple die in the mail in a few days. I spent the last half hour or so reviewing the plans and marking off the holes that won't get dimpled. So, three hours of dimpling and I'm not even half way. For every hole on the skins, there will be a hole (or two) that needs dimpling on the substructure frames or stiffeners. So we still have about 4 hours of dimpling left once the new die arrives in the mail. As I marked off what needed dimpling still, I also separated the parts that were ready for priming. I know it will take me at least 4 batches of primer epoxy to get everything done, so it appears I'll at least be able to move forward with priming if the weather tomorrow is as good as it was today. Even so, since I started with the skins instead of the frames, once I do get things primed, I'll only be able to rivet some nutplates while I wait for the remaining parts to get dimpled and primed. Had I started with the frames and stiffeners, then I'd just have to wait to prime and attach the skins, Also, if ever there was an ad for joining an EAA chapter, this scenario would be it. I knew I was only going to be in MS for a year, and a busy year at that, but I'm sure there's a fellow builder out there that would have gladly lent me a dimple die for a few days while the new one gets shipped. Then again, maybe it's a sign of divine intervention since I'm due for a checkride this week. A sign I should be focused on studies instead of on building... Well, $h!t happens. -M
Tailcone- 4 hrs 48 mins (Tailcone 51:41, Empennage 227:13, Total 248:09) Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686) Scuffing and Countersinking are complete! Three hours of scuffing was quite the test of patience and ensuring I did everything completely. The first hour was from a few nights ago, but I was too tired and didn't post the video. After the scuffing was all complete, we countersunk the AEX tie-down, a stop brace, and the two longerons. We taped off a few holes on the longerons to make sure they were left untouched. Easy work! Tomorrow, we'll finish up with all the dimpling, and if the weather is good, we'll start cleaning parts in preparation for priming!!! -M
Tailcone- 1 hr 31 mins (Tailcone 46:53, Empennage 222:25, Total 243:21) Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686) As promised, we worked ahead to get the last few parts (bellcrank and battery brace) done. It was a short workday. Cut pieces, finished edges, deburred holes, and even some countersinking. In all of that, I forgot to scuff the parts, so tomorrow, I'll need to be careful around the countersunk holes. Tomorrow I will also be scuffing all of the remaining parts and pieces of the tailcone. Then, I'll go back and finish the countersinking step from last time. When all is done, steps 1-5 (countersinking the longerons and dimpling most of the parts) that I skipped today will finish up the assembly for the tailcone. Afterwards, it will be a matter of finding good weather in order to clean and prime all the parts before starting the riveting process. I feel like I'm moving along fairly quickly, but I know there will be endless hours of riveting those thousand rivets on the outer skins!!
Tailcone- 3 hrs 12 mins (Tailcone 45:22, Empennage 220:54, Total 241:50) Rivet count: 0 (Total 3,686) After an hour and 40 minutes, we finally finished deburring after spending just under 7 hours over the past three days. Sort of. After all the major dimpling is done, there are still a few more parts that need to be cut, trim, edged, and deburred as well. The tailcone will require over 7 hours of deburring holes. Insane. After that was done, we continued by scuffing some of the parts so they can be primed later on. We then dimpled those parts as the directions told us to. Also in there was a random step to enlarge a hole with a Unibit so we can attach the Tie-down eye bolt later on. Step 8 on this page directs us to countersink a part to accept dimples, but my countersink drill is already set for a #40 rivet. The next time I work on this, I will be going slightly out of order. I plan to go ahead and work on the next group of parts until they are done and ready for scuffing. That way, I can go ahead and scuff all the parts and get everything really dirty with all the dust that gets created. Then I'll countersink the longerons for #40 rivets since that is where I have the drill set to. After that is all done, I'll come back to step 8 and adjust the drill for this depth height. It's one of the few complaints I have about Van's. Some things seem out of order for no apparent reason. However, that's also the same thing that keep it interesting. There's the "blindly follow directions" aspect of building, and there's the "understand and comprehend" aspect of knowing exactly how each little drill, deburr, and clamping fits in to the bigger picture of getting the project done. End ramble. -M
