983RV Life

Author: olanandkate

  • Static Ports Drilled & Trim Tabs Glued

    Static Ports Drilled & Trim Tabs Glued

    I got the static ports drilled but the back side was way too deep for me to get the nut on the back so I’ll screw those in tomorrow. I did all of the priming and assembly of the trim tabs today. I stead of putting them in the wood forms I decided to do a weighed down approach this time to try to keep the twisting from happening. The picture shows my almost final setup. I went back a little bit later and put two by four blocks on each of the foam ribs and put the weights on them. That should compress everything as well as keep them straight.

    Static ports drilled to the size specified
    Almost final setup for waiting for the glue to cure
    Slight change to hopefully equalize the pressure over the foam ribs
  • Elevator Trim Tab Dimpling

    Elevator Trim Tab Dimpling

    Super hot today so didn’t work as much as I wanted. Supposed to be 90 tomorrow so we’ll see. It is prepped for priming and assembly at least.

  • Trim Tabs Formed and Drilled

    Trim Tabs Formed and Drilled

    The trim tabs arrived later than expected. They didn’t come until Thursday which I had other stuff that ended up happening that night. So I finally got a chance to work on it all today. I got the skins bent to their proper angle and then I got the ends bent as well. They still are further in than they are supposed to be. I finally got the first tab to bend properly on the second end of the first trim tab that I worked on but the second tab that folded over it for some reason still ended up further in than it should be. That is a very frustrating step. I kept eyeing over the block and it was not slipping on me, but I also couldn’t get the block as far forward as I wanted with the first tab bent up. I almost feel like you need to bend the first tab a little further out and then the second tab will fall into place. I don’t know. Either way that is all done. I went to final drill the holes but it appears that these new parts are final sized already so that work was for not. I still went through all of the holes just to check but they were all final sized. I then finalized it by bending the forward edge of the trim tab. I’ll work on priming it tomorrow and then hopefully getting to assemble it. I have a car wash fundraiser that I need to go to tomorrow morning with my boy but I have the afternoon and evening to finish those tabs. Fingers crossed they stay true. I used a flat edge and weights on the trim tabs while I was drilling the ends so that it would stay straight. So far they are still straight as can be so so far so good.

    On a final note I did finally finish organizing all of the parts from the wing kit and I mounted the drawers to the wall so I had more table space.

  • Garmin Pitot Arrived & Organization

    Garmin Pitot Arrived & Organization

    I needed to finish organizing the wing kit hardware and I finally got a new hardware bin from Amazon that showed up. My wife also got a new label printer which works very well. So I started splitting up the hardware into their separate bins and putting labels on them. I need to go back and label the ones that I split up and put in bins. Unfortunately that is going to be the harder part because I no longer remember which went where. But I’ll get it done.

    My first real avionics piece arrived yesterday. I ordered the Garmin GAP-26 Regulated version. I wanted to be able to regulate how much heat needed to be applied and also get warnings for when I need to turn it on or it’s not working. I also got my static ports in which I need to install on the fuselage.

  • Laser Cut Parts Issue & Delayed Inspection

    Laser Cut Parts Issue & Delayed Inspection

    Eric called me yesterday stating he did not feel well. This will delay the inspection which is fine. I started working on the trim tabs again and I noticed that the trim tab spars are laser cut parts. I looked and saw burn splatter in quite a few places as well as all of the holes were not perfectly circular. I’ve since ordered new spars but that’s going to take a week or so to come in so that puts that on hold. I’ll keep working on the skins to get them perfect and I’ll use the current spars that I have to help me get the folded edge right at least. The parts for the trim servo mount arrive tomorrow so I’ll be able to continue on that while I wait for the spars to come in.

    I did have to redo my taping work from yesterday. I knew I shouldn’t have done work in haste as I was off on the measurements. I sat down and meticulously got the lines exactly where they needed to be and I scuffed up those areas for the glue to take hold.

  • Elevator Trim Tab Skin Taping

    Elevator Trim Tab Skin Taping

    I only got 15 minute but I wanted to document it. I got the tape on in the places the manual asks us to so that I can buff the area where the foam ribs will be glued. I need to double check the measurements before I actually sand it but I had to head off to church. I plan to get started on that when I get home and hopefully get the skins prepped and the spar drilled and dimpled/countersunk so that I can prime them and glue the foam ribs in on Friday and then rivet and install them on Saturday. Hopefully by then my parts will have arrived on Saturday so that I can redo the few pieces I messed up and finish out the rest of the work this weekend. High hopes!

  • Elevator Trim Tabs Rework Step 1

    Elevator Trim Tabs Rework Step 1

    I finally got a new print out of the templates for the trim tabs. I glued them to the foam and cut them out last night. I did much better on them this time around as I knew the pitfalls with my machinery and also with my impatience LOL. I took my time and slowly cut along the line. These look almost 100% identical to each other and I plan to do a tiny bit of light sanding to get them perfect, but these look great. I won’t be able to work on the plane tonight but I have Eric Muehlberg from my chapter coming over tomorrow to do a spot check on the work I’ve done and give me some pointers or things I might need to redo that I didn’t notice. My reordered parts should arrive on Saturday so that will be good to get back on the empennage trim on Saturday. I am hoping to have the elevator trim tabs done on Friday night or early Saturday so that they are there for the rest of the work since they will be involved in that.

  • Trim Servo Assembly Initial Work

    Trim Servo Assembly Initial Work

    I started work on the trim servo assembly. I ended up wasting some work on trim bell crank tab as I cut too much out of it. I ordered more aluminum from Van’s to remake the one tab I made. I also finished the other tabs that are used to mount the trim cables. All of the rest of the drilling and countersink work is done. I just need to get the aluminum stock in and then I can finish up the last little bit. Then I’ll prime all of the parts and get it installed. I’m going to start working on the elevator trim tabs tomorrow while I’m waiting on those parts.

  • Elevator Push Rod Completed and Rudder Installed

    Elevator Push Rod Completed and Rudder Installed

    I got the pushrod completed today. I just created 60 ml of primer and just swirled it around on the inside. I checked and it created a complete coverage on the inside. I let it dry for an hour or two before putting the caps on each end with the pop rivets. Got the install of the rod completed and had to file down the rear elevator stop to achieve the 30 degrees of up elevator. I already had enough for down elevator. Then I installed the rudder and it has plenty of throw. I’ll have to get the elevator trim tabs done next so that I can get them installed and check clearance for the ruder on them. I also need to double check my throws even though they seem like they cleared enough. All in all I got quite a bit accomplished today even though we had alot of kid stuff to do today as well as my meeting with the EAA 1612 chapter at David J. Perry today.

    • All components installed right side
    • Pushrod installed
    • All components installed left side
    • Filed down up elevator stop
  • Pushrod Prep

    Pushrod Prep

    I got all of the prep work done for the push rod today. I just need to get some primer on the inside tomorrow, rivet it together and install it. I also got a good hack from the Facebook group. I was having trouble getting my spacing washers installed for my elevator horns and someone suggested using floss. That worked great! I’ll have to remember that in the future.