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June 12, 2005 - 5 hrs
May 29, 2005 - 2hrs
May 28, 2005 - 5hrs
May 16, 2005 - 4hrs
May 15, 2005 - 5hrs
May 4, 2005 - 2hrs
In order to make sure that I was fitting everything together with the servo in a neutral position, I temporarily
wired the servo, switch, and position sensor together with a 9 volt battery. A little slow, but works great for testing.
Using the Olfa cutter I cut up to the lines and filed to a smooth finish
I used snips to connect the holes and to make a rough cutout
I used a hole saw to start the hole
May 2, 2005 - 3 hrs
Here the trim tab has the horn and hinge drilled and it is attached to the elevator. You can also
see the layout for the access hole and the slot for the pushrod to go through.
When the trim tab has been shaped it looks like this, only 20 mm high. The hole still needs to be
enlarged to 1/8"
The trim tab horn starts out as a piece of extruded aluminum angle 1" x 2" and 70 mm long
The new Zodiac elevator trim tab design is larger tab added to the rear of the left side of the
elevator. The tab is trimmed to match the the angle of the elevator rudder cut out.
April 25, 2005 - 1 hrs
Fit the strap to the elevator.
April 24, 2005 - 9 hrs
I know you can't see too much detail in these pictures, but I was quite pleased with how the cut came out.
The same idea for the top.
(Please ignore that hole that is a little off the line :-)
The right and left side are done, and I am ready to move to the top
Note: I was using that piece of wood to back the cut as it was made.
One side down, time to move the ruler over and go for the other side.
Again I used the Olfa cutter to cut out each side. I worked it in three sections because the clamps
were in the way. I started in the middle, then worked towards the bottome, and finally towards the top. I didn't
try to cut all the way through the skin just far enough that I could feel a good ridge forming on the bottom of the skin.
A couple of bends and the pieces come right off.
I had a hard time drilling those holes for the top corners. I started trying to use a 1/2" drill bit.
I drilled a pilot hole and then tried to drill the hole, but the drill bit wasn't very sharp and didn't cut well (in hind
sight I think this would have worked if I had stepped the holes up over about 6 different sizes). It left a pretty ugly
edge, but luckily it was far enough away from the lines that I could clean it up. For the next holes I ended up using
a 1/2" counter sink bit.
You can also see the ruler that set up as a straight edge on the my final cut line.
I used a hack saw to start the cuts on the trailing edge of both sides, again staying inside the line.
Here is what the rough cutout looks like
I stayed well away from lines for the final cuts.
It's time to cut out the "V" section for the rudder. I tried using a whole saw like ZAC suggested,
but that didn't work at all for me. So, I just used snips and started in the centering hole made by the hole saw.
From there I just kept cutting and peeling it back like a tin can.
The hinge has been fit, drilled, and clecoed into place
Holes drilled for hinge and fitting hinge to elevator
Started drilling the elevator skin edge for the hinge.
April 22, 2005 - 2 hrs - I didn't get any pictures of this but I trimmed and fit the control horn doubler
to the elevator
April 21, 2005 - 1 hr - I didn't get any pictures of this but I fit the bottom control horn to the elevator
April 20, 2005 - 1 hr - I didn't get any pictures of this but I fit the top control horn to the elevator
April 2, 2005 - 3 hr - I didn't get any pictures of this but I cut the triangles in the skin for the control
horn doubler.
March 31, 2005 - 3 hours
Here is the strip that has been cut away. I am really impressed with how smoothly the cut cleaned
up. Much better than any of the cuts I made on the Rudder using the snips.
Another view of the setup. That yellow thing is the Olfa cutter.
The skin overlapped the elevator top edge from 1-3 milimeters. I decided to try my new Olfa cutter and see
if it was up to the task. Here I have laid the skin flat and propped the elevator out of the way. I secured a
straight edge on the line that I traced on the skin.
March 30, 2005 - 2hrs
Here is a picture of my dad holding up the elevator with the ribs in place. Those ribs sure do make
that skin much stronger
We have fit and drilled all of the ribs to the elevator skin.
March 29, 2005 - 1hr 30min - I am at a point were I need to primer and rivet the stabilizer skeleton before I
can fit the skin to it. The problem is I haven't really decided what kind of primer to use yet. So, I'm going to
start on the elevator while I think about it. (see primer side bar for more info)
Here is a picture of the elevator skin before the ribs have been fit into place
Attached the center channel between the two center elevator ribs
Measured and attached the L brackets to the center elevator ribs
March 21, 2005 - 7hrs
Lined up and drilled the rear spart to the stabilizer ribs
Fit the stabilizer ribs to the front spar
Cutout rear attachment, fit, and drilled to the rear spar
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| Drilled spar doublers and front attachments to front spar |
March 19, 2005 - 1hr 30min
All the parts were included and in good condition. I left the skins in the cardboard box and put them
up for safe keeping.
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| We unpacked all the pieces |
March 18, 2005 - The tail kit has arrived - 1 hr
My father picked up the tail kit from the local Roadway location. This saved me about $50. The
crate was 1.5' x 2' x 8' and about 115lbs, so it wasn't that hard to deal with. I never expected it to arrive so quickly So,
unfortunately, I already had plans for that night. No working on it today.
March 15, 2005 - Received notice that the tail kit has been shipped via Roadway
March 3, 2005 - Ordered Tail kit
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