DATE: 12-13-2024 TIME: 08:45 – 10:06 ~ 1:00
We reorganized the shop a little to get better video and snapshots of the work progress continuing with the RV-10 empennage assembly in page 11-4. There are 8 cameras presently in the shop and sometimes it is better to reorient workspace to get the best available angle on what is being done.
We were continuing with step 3, attaching the shims made in step 2 to the F-1008 horizontal stabilizer front spar attach brackets. The instructions suggest using double sided carpet tape as I did not have any but I had a long roll of VHB F9460PC left over from doing the rudder and elevator trailing edges and it worked just fine.
Here ae some snapshots as we place the horizontal stabilizer in position and then complete step 4. That’s my friend Joe Gleason from Lakeland. FL, another pilot, used to host on Sun-N-Fun radio and we stay with him when we go to Sun-N-Fun.
So, after step 4 comes the alignment of the horizontal stabilizer with the fuselage. After doing some reading on Vans Airforce Forums, I drilled a hole at the 2″ mark of a cheap Harbor Freight tape measure and used that to determine the alignment to the rear of the rear spar corners as depicted in step 2 on page 11-5 by putting a cleco through the hole and into the F-1007 at top centre.
We followed the instructions as closely as we could and found that initially we were about 1/16th off, left to right. By the time we were exactly correct, 96 3/16ths I believe, from the top center cleco in the F-1007 frame to each corner, you couldn’t tell the difference with the alignment mark made from the block to the top of the aft deck F-1014. Not that it mattered. The point was to have the alignment correct, not the line.
It’s really not a good idea to use anything that will stretch to do this, like string. I wouldn’t use wire either as, depending on the type of wire, it can stretch or sag to a greater degree than a steel tape measure.
As we were preparing to match drill the F-1008, shims and F-1014 it turned out that I did not have a 6″, extended reach, #12 drill bit so I ordered one from Aircraft Spruce and put everything on hold. My experience with Aircraft Spruce has been excellent. I don’t mind paying for priority mail as there is no such thing as “free shipping” anyway and their delivery times are always short.
The instructions say you “may” need a 6″ drill. I did not feel drilling a skew hole or an oversized hole was worth the risk and I am in no hurry so we put the building process to bed at that point. There are often things you can do ahead, like in this case we could have moved on to page 11-8 steps 1 and 2 and fabricated the F-1095C trim bellcrank brackets and the the F-1095G trim cable anchor brackets but I decided to just leave that until we were on page 11-8.