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Elevator
Date Hours  
3/20/2005 3.8 I cut out all of the stiffeners with my band saw. I bought a new blade for it today and boy, what a difference it makes. It is much easier to control and it slices through it like butter.
3/21/2005 4.1 I ran the stiffeners past the Scotch Brite wheel, broke the edges and drilled all of the stiffener to skin holes. Besides the stiffeners, I Clecoed a lot of the rest of the assembly together to better understand how it all goes together. There is a caveat in the manual that a lot of people messing up on the left elevator (the one with the trim tab).
3/24/2005 3.3 Nothing was accomplished until today because I was down with the flu. I am finally over with it. Today I deburred the holes on the right elevator skin and stiffeners and cut the plastic away from the holes with a soldering iron. I managed to do about 1/3 of this to the left elevator.

I went flying in the Warrior. It might have been the last time since we are supposed to sell it tomorrow or Monday. My plan is to order the wing kit for the RV8 the very nanosecond the Warrior sells.

While at the airport I had a very short visit with Bill (he was on his way up in the RV6 with his grandson). He let me take a quick look at his elevator trim tab.
3/25/2005 3.1 Today it was 85 degrees outside. This inspired me to wall off the work area of the garage so that the small air conditioning unit I have in the window can be more effective. I used  plastic, a couple of 1X4s and staples. I has enough plastic to have two layers and an air gap in between. No, the time spent was not counted toward the building of the plane.

 

I finished cutting plastic and deburring holes. I then dimpled the servo backing plate and all of the stiffeners. I then dimpled most of the left elevator. I put some double faced tape on the c-frame. I did this to protect whatever I was dimpling but it had an unexpected benefit. The paper on the outside of the tape is waxed so the c-frame moves around really easily on the "table cloth" I am using.
3/26/2005 3.2 I dimpled the right elevator skin and prepared all edges. I then alumipreped, alodined and primed the two skins, the stiffeners and the servo motor back plate. After letting everything dry for a couple of hours, I back riveted in most of the stiffeners for the left elevator.
3/27/2005 2.2 Today I finished back riveting the stiffeners and servo motor back plate on the left elevator. I then back riveted the stiffeners on the right elevator. I then bent both trailing edges using my 2 x 8 brake.
3/28/2005 2.8 I am not sure how it happened but there was a very slight bow on the trailing edge of the right elevator. It may have been when I formed the trailing edge. I was able to get it straight while match drilling the holes. The picture below is after straightening
3/31/2005 4.4 I drilled all of the remaining holes. I de-burred and counter-sunk them.
4/1/2005 1.0 The Warrior was sold today. Yippee! Now I can order the wing kit.

I de-burred all edges and counter-sunk the counter-weight. I dimpled the skin for the screws that attach the counter-weight. I countersunk the holes for attaching the inner rib to the spar.
4/2/2005 4.1 Busy day. Today I etched, Alodine and primed the inner and outer ribs, the spar, re-enforcing plates. I let it all dry for about 3 hours which seems to be the right amount of time. I riveted together the sub-frame (spar, ribs, etc.) and then riveted the sub-frame to the skin. I used the squeezer for the outside AD3 rivets and the rivet gun for the AD4 sub-frame rivets.

A lot was accomplished and I managed not to screw anything up.
4/3/2005 1.0  I managed to set the rivets in the back corners. I was able to get my angle bucking bar behind the second to last rivets. I used a concoction made up of a screw-driver, a chisel, rivet gun and the back riveting plate to get the last rivets. There has to be a better way.

That's it for now for the right elevator.
4/4/2005 2.1 I faxed in my order to Van's for the wing kit.

Most of this evening was spent drilling the under structure and the outer rib and lead weight for the left elevator. For some reason drilling the weight was a lot harder that on the right elevator. I used oil and I went slowly but the bit still managed to get stuck. I was able to un-stick it but again it caught and bent the rib flange. I straightened the flange out  I was a lot more careful with the other hole but it too managed to get stuck, then un-stuck and then it bent the rib flange. I bent it back. When I was finished with all of this, I noticed that the holes in the counterweight strap were elongated. I ordered a new one from Van's and I'll try again in a couple of days.

I then Cleco'ed the skin to the under structure. Ready for drilling.
4/6/2005 1.1 I received a tool order from Avery today. I ordered everything that I didn't have on Van's list of required tools. I have a separate order coming in from Vans that includes the new counterweight strap, a lot of Clecos and some hardware. Cleco's from Van's are a few cents per Cleco cheaper than anywhere else.

Today I finished drilling except for the holes that go through the counterweight strap. I'll do these when I get the new one.
4/7/2005 2.8 I jumped ahead a little since I need the counterweight strap before I can continue on with drilling the elevator. It didn't come in today. I decided to work on the trim tab since I  am in need of a challenge (hah!). I understand I am practically guaranteed to screw it up and have to order another one.

I first Cleco'ed everything together to see what kind of access I loose when all of the bends are made. It looks like riveting the control arm would be a lot easier if I did it before bending. The problem is how am I going to get a clamp in place to bend the tab if the control arm is there?

I started by building the forming plug (?) from some scrap MDF. With my now very cool band saw it was a snap. I then bent the bottom side as per the instructions. I clamped everything together and then bent the tab with another piece of wood. The I used the rivet gun with a flat set to finish bending. This doesn't work very well since when the gun hits the middle plug, it knocks it back. If you aren't careful the bend will be too far back. I used double faced tape like the instructions said and my clamps were very tight but it still wouldn;t stay in position. What finally worked was to stick a long piece of wood inside the trim tab and flit it upright where all the weight is being supported by the plug. I finished doing the bottom tab this way and then did the top tab.

It is not an object of unnatural beauty but I think it was done well enough not to have buy another one and to re-do it.

The munchkin holding the drill is my daughter Caroline. She's not happy because she would rather be holding a toy pink unicorn.
4/8/2005 1.4 My order from Van's came in today. Besides a replacement counter-weight strap, a gazillion Clecos came in. Tonight I worked on drilling the strap and de-burring holes.
4/9/2005 7.0 I finished deburring holes and edges and dimpling. I countersunk the upper surface of the rear spar (?). I used the drill press and the results were really good. I etched, Alodined and primed everything. Then I bent the outside edges of the trim tab and the elevator. On a scale of 1 to 10, I think the quality of my bends were about a 4. Lots of room for improvement.

I then riveted the spars and ribs together.
4/10/2005 3.1 Tonight I focused on getting the trim servo installed. I had to file a small notch to get it in and out through the cut-out. I also went back and worked more on the bends in the elevator because when I clecoed it all together, I noticed a lip on the upper surface. I also redid two rivets that attach the outer rib to the spar. I noticed when inspecting everything before closing up that two somewhat folder over. I am getting pretty good at drilling out bad rivets so there is no reason to accept any that are questionable.
4/13/2005 4.5 This first picture below has nothing to do with building an airplane. It is of 400+ tiles, grout and thin set mortar. It is part of my honey-do action item from hell. Christine and I will be tiling the family room. Progress on the airplane will be slow over the next week or two (hopefully). Besides, the wing kit isn't going to be here for a while.

Tonight was rivet night. I riveted the spars and ribs to the skin. I also closed up the bent tabs and riveted them with blind rivets. The plans called for flush blind rivets but I don't see how I could have dimpled after bending.
4/14/2005 2.0 Tonight I drilled, de-burred, dimpled and countersunk holes in the elevator trim tab. I also sut the hinge to size and trimmed off excess off of the trim tab control horn pieces.
4/20/2005 3.1 My back, legs, arms, neck, muscles, bones, cells and all else is still hurting from the tile project. Christine and I finished the living room but still have a few mor to do around the perimeter between our laundry room, bedroom and living room. Then we need to grout.

I took a break from all of that tonight to finish the trim tab. I aligned the front part of the hinge with the elevator. Vans says that you are supposed to use clamps to hold it into position but I don't see how. I marked it then tool then removed the hinge pin and drilled it into place. I then made sure the trim tab was straight on the trailing edge and then drilled, de-burred and blind riveted the tab parts of the trim tab together. I then riveted the top edge of the trim tab and the opposite part on the elevator. I then drilled and put in the remaining blind  rivets that are in line with the rear spar.
4/25/2005 1.2 Christine and I finished tiling and then grouted. I hope I never see a tile again for the rest of my life except ones that are cemented down. We still have a lot of moping to do and then I have to put down base boards. This has nothing to do with airplane building but I thought I would mention what I have been doing for the last few days.

Tonight I finished rolling the leading edge of the right elevator and riveted it together. I noticed that the outside part of the left elevator leading edge had a gap. I drilled out the four pop rivets, re-rolled the skin and re-riveted. It looks a lot better now.

I made a wrench like the one described here to install the rod end bearings.

I installed the rod end bearings to the recommended depth (13/16") and then installed the elevators. As you can see below, quite a lot of horizontal stabilizer skin is going to have to be trimmed off

It is starting to look really cool.
4/30/2005   Cleo Bickford, EAA Technical Counselor, very kindly visited and inspected what I have done so far. I had many questions which he patiently answered. He showed me the right way to use the snips. Before, I couldn't cut anything without bending it to uselessness. He noticed the ding in the rudder skin. He said it wasn't a structural problem at all but it sure was noticeable. Since the rudder is closed up, there isn't a whole lot I can do about it now other than use filler or build another one. He also pointed out that on the skin next to the trim tab I bent too close a stress relief hole. I need to bend a little further away or extend the hole a little further away from the bend.
5/2/2005 2.1

I trimmed the servo pushrod to the right size and tested the servo using a drill battery. I had to trim a little from the skin to get the right clearance.
5/7/2005 1.5

Tonight I spent a lot of time rebuilding my cool air containment area. This is Houston and summer is around the corner. These plastic walls are life support.

I found out today that the buyer of my plane made it OK to the small island in the Caribbean where he will be basing it. He seems happy with it. The Warrior was an awesome little plane.
5/8/2005 2.5

I drilled through both control horns by fabricating a drill bushing. I used some 1/4" copper tubing and a drill bit that perfectly fit the inside diameter. I was able to mark the spot on the control horn where to drill and then drilled a #40 pilot hole. I did this with the other control horn and then dirlled both to the final size.

I cut away part of the flange of the rear spar to allow clearance of the control horns. I measured 30 degrees deflection at the front spar and about 35 at the rear spar.
6/17/2005 3.9 Here's my scheme for adding weight to the left elevator tip. These are two fishing weights somewhat flattened with a stainless steel screw holding them to the outside rib. I then covered them with epoxy.

The tips have been riveted on and I have added filler to the gaps between them and the skin. I also fiberglasses the leading edge of the elevator tip.

email: Luis Luciani