2004-12-28


Previous Up Next
I got the parts in from Wicks today. Nutplates, washers, rivets, bolts. Now I can finish the elevator ends.
One of the problems that I have is that the right elevator is trailing edge heavy even though I didn't remove any lead from the counterweight. That fact, plus reading about how the balance of the elevator changes after you paint, prompted me to come up with a method for re-balancing by adding more weight. There is a tooling hole that goes through E-703 end rib and E-713 counterbalance ribs. I plan on installing a nutplate inside the end of the elevator so that a bolt can be  used to attach more weight. That way, I can balance the elevator without paint and simply by changing the weight that's held on by this bolt, re-balance it later. Like after it's painted. I'm not sure if it need it at this point, but it's easy and cheap to do.

I first clean out the hole so that a AN3 bolt can pass through.
Here is the location of the nutplate. I'm holding it on with a bolt from the other side. I match drill the holes with a #40 drill. This is an AN366F-1032 nut plate.
The flange of the nutplate is pretty thick which allows me to countersink it. 
This will accept a AN426AD3-4.5 rivet.
Here it is all riveted in place. Now I can finish the end off. 
The other side
Now I match drill the holes to a #30 for the CS4-4 blind rivet. 
Bummer! Gorilla glue the strongest in the world? I think not. It's the last time I'm using THAT glue. The drill pushed it right away from the fiberglass. 
Jumping ahead... Here's the end all riveted in place. 
Time to mix up some goop. This fairing filler is so light that this container only contains 2 ounces. The instructions say to mix the epoxy as directed and then gradually mix in the fairing filler until the mixture has the consistency of peanut butter.
Well, here it is. The color is kind of like peanut butter. Irv told me that I should mix it up thicker than I think it needs to be. So I did. When I pick it up with the popsicle stick, it doesn't run off.
I kind of when overboard with it and spread it everywhere. Oh well, sanding tomorrow.