Tonight I got the elevators finished! I even got to do a little electrical and safety wiring!. Time to move on to the aft fuselage.
Now that the sealant is cured I finished riveting the trailing edges elevators. Here's the right elevator Left elevator trailing edge complete Trimmed and bent the end of the trim tab hinge so it can be safety wired once installed Time to safety wire the hinge.
Tonight I got most of the riveting done on the elevators. The trailing edge ribs are glued in with sealant and now all that remains is to rivet the trailing edge tomorrow, after the sealant cures.
I started the night blind riveting the forward ribs to the forward spar Some new toys for the shop. The pneumatic squeezer and long reach yoke are going to be great additions to the shop.
Today I got more elevator riveting done. I think it should take one more session.
Started with back-riveting the remaining elevator ribs Then I riveted the rear spar of both elevators using this 'special' bucking bar that I bought from Cleveland Tools. It's specifically design for this step in the RV-14. It made bucking the rivets in this location possible. Without it it would have been a tough day.
Tonight I continued riveting the elevators together.
Riveting the rear spar to the top left skin Back-riveting the lower rib halves to the top left skin. It's nice having the steal table. I can just back rivet directly on it, no need to use a back riveting plate. Lower right elevator skin with the bottom ribs riveted on Back-riveting the bottom halves of the ribs onto the lower left elevator skin The trim reinforcement double and brace riveted to the bottom left elevator skin
Today I got all the parts for both the left and right elevators primed. Then I started the process of riveting the elevators together.
Elevator skin primed Spars and other parts primed Riveting the counterbalance ribs together using the c-frame. Elevator spar and ribs riveted together Counterbalance skins riveted on Elevator horns riveted on.
Today I spent the entire day in the shop trying to make up for all the time I’ve been spending on Wendy’s barn, 10 hours today. Below is a list of stuff I got done:
Dimpled Elevator skins Dimpled, Primed and Did some riveting on the trim servo reinforcement plate Countersunk/Dimpled the elevator spars Dimpled the elevator ribs Primed and Riveted the Elevator Trim Pushrod Dimpled, Countersunk and Primed the trim tab spar Dimpled and Primed the trim tab skins Bonded the trim tab foam ribs with Fuselage Sealant Riveted the trim tab together I got so busy I forgot to take pictures till the end when I was riveting the trim tab together
Today was a short day. I spent most of the day installing fence for Wendy’s barn. I did manage to get some work done on the elevators. Most of the work was around trimming and countersinking the trailing edges. Also did a bunch of countersinking on the spars. Unfortunately I only took one picture :(
Back drilling the trim tab hinges.
Tonight I continued work on the Elevators. First I had to trim some of the material off the trim tab skins. Then I made the bends in the left elevator skins, where they overlap near the trim tab. Only I bent both skins in the wrong direction…so I had to take my time and fix that before moving on. Then I finished off the night with clecoing both the elevators together to be setup for the next steps tomorrow.
Tonight I started work on the Elevators. There was a lot of prep work on small parts tonight. First I had to cut and separate the forward elevator rib halves. Then I cut and separated the rib shear clips. Finally I cut and sanded the foam aft elevator ribs.
The forward elevator ribs before being cut and deburred. Notice the black pen lines, they indicate where the ribs need to be separated The rib shear clips, ready to be separated and trimmed The shear clips after being cut and separated Foam block with the paper template for some of the aft elevator ribs glued on with spray adhesive The foam ribs, but out on the bandsaw and sanded, using the paper template as a guide