DATE: 07/24/2024 – TIME: 4:30
OK, I switched from calling it the rudder build to calling it the stabilizer build, which is more accurate given that most of the parts in use are prefixed VS.
EJ Smith joined me today to give me a hand with prepping the VS ribs and front spar and then clecoing the VS-1001 skin to the skeleton in preparation for final drilling all the #40 holes.
When initially attempting to wrap the skin around the skeleton, despite having rounded the nose of all the ribs, it was clear that it was a very tight fit and that indentations in the skin might result. So we took the skin off and worked more on rounding the nose of the ribs and at this point I am concerned that I took too much material off VS-1006 so I am going to check with Vans and my tech counselor to see if I should replace it and start again.
Other than that, smoothing all the slots in the flanges per the instructions in Section 5 of the manual was done with a couple of small files although I think I will purchase a dremel machine. I did try a chain saw sharpener on slow on a piece of scrap but it left a really rough edge so I think a much finer stone or cone is necessary.
I have video and snapshots which I will load a bit later (I need to make storage space first) and will update on whether or not I am replacing the VS-1006 and / or 1013, 1005.