27th February 2008 - Empennage metalwork complete!

Yesterday I welded the control horn onto the left elevator, cleaned up the flux residue from brazing and welded the elevator hinge support tubes to front of the rear spar of the left horizontal stabiliser. Then 120 degree arcs cut out of some 7/8" *0.058" tube were welded either side of the hinges on the elevator spar to locate the hinges and set the clearance between the elevator horn and the tip of the horizontal stabiliser.

Today, I fabricated the ribs for the left horizontal stabiliser (HS) out of the usual 0.019" thick 3/8" rectangular steel channel. These were tack welded onto the stabiliser and then brazed to complete the joints. I had just enough channel left to complete the job and even had to butt weld two short sections together to make the final lower tip rib. Once the horizontal stabiliser was cleaned of flux residue it was time to mount both stabilisers and elevators onto the airframe. I had previously drilled the right HS front mount plate for a range of incidences as recommended in the plans http://tailwindbuild.blogspot.com/2008/08/7th-august-2008-setting-up-hs-incidence.html. This time it was a case of drilling matching holes on the left side. This was done by bolting the right HS into each hole in turn, ensuring that the two HS leading and trailing edges were exactly aligned with the two elevator horns bolted together and then drilling the left mount plate. The proposed position of the HS for the first test flight is 1 degree of negative incidence. This will then be adjusted to obtain cruising flight with no elevator deflection and zero elevator trim force.

After checking that the elevators moved smoothly, without any binding and with the full control range of 30 degrees up and 25 degrees down they were then removed and the airframe returned to the workshop. Next job will be to complete the left fuselage side with stringers, aluminium cheeks and the over-door fill panels.

24th February 2008 - Left Elevator

It was warm enough to work without any heat today so a good opportunity to build the left elevator. First the elevator horn was welded up (top of the first picture) and partially filled with molten lead to balance the finished elevator. I used the same weight as in the right elevator which resulted in a slight nose heaviness which should be counteracted once the elevator is covered and painted. Then the structure was jigged on the building board using drills to set the centre of the spar 1/2" off the board to provide clearance for the hinges, 1/8" under the spar, 5/16" under the 3/8" tubing and 1/4" under the 1/2" tubing. With everything aligned the various components were then half welded to the spar. The frame was then turned over and the welds completed. Next the stainless steel trailing edge was brazed to the frame. The elevator has 4 ribs each made of two pieces of 3/8" rectangular 0.019" wall steel channel. I found a neat way of fabricating these. First the ends were tapered over a 2.5" length using the band saw. Next the forward ends were placed between two jig blocks 3/4" apart to set the spacing for the elevator spar. A nut which was 5/8" across the flats was then slid inside the channels and located about 2" from the jig blocks. A pair of grips was then used to clamp the tapered ends together. The nut inside holds the channels against the jig blocks and creates a gentle curve down to the end. The tapered ends were then welded together, my TIG machine creates a nice stable arc down to very low currents so welding this thin material is relatively painless. The forward ends spring open a bit when the rib is removed from the jig allowing the nut to fall out and when re-inserted in the jig the rib takes up the curve without the internal support. The front ends are then tack welded together. Finally, the front of the rib was cut to final length and shaped to fit the spar using a 3/4" holesaw in the notcher. Each rib was then brazed into place.
Next a datum line was drawn on the workbench and the two elevator spars aligned along it. Then the left elevator horn was bolted to the existing one on the right elevator. Tomorrow, the left horn can be welded into place and I can be sure that the two elevators will sit exactly parallel on their respective horizontal stabilisers.

23rd February 2009 - Panel Wired

I spent yesterday installing the instruments and avionics into the new panel. The concept behind the panel was to use modern avionics but in a panel sympathetic to the age of the aircraft's design. The left side of the panel and avionics are in their final locations, the right side will still be subject to change once a choice of engine has been made. The wiring is largely as per the Aeroelectric Connection Z11 layout. There are three main power buses, an unswitched battery bus, the main power bus, and an endurance bus. Individual fuses for all the electrical components (except those required to be pullable) are mounted on a power distribution tray mounted behind the switches and fuses on the right side of the panel. From left to right and bottom to top the various switches, sockets and gauges are as follows.

Red switch: Three position, off, master on, alternator on
Push Button: Starter relay engage
Socket: Microphone P1
2-1/4" cut out: Fuel level
2-1/4" cut out: Tacho
Socket: Headphone P1
3-1/8" cut out: Trio autopilot head unit
3-1/8" cut out: ASI
3-1/8" cut out: DI
3-1/8" cut out: AH
3-1/8" cut out: VSI
3-1/8" cut out: Altimeter
Avionics stack: Bendix-King KMD-150 GPS-Map
Avionics stack: Garmin SL30 Nav/Com
Rectangular Cutout: System Monitor Display
White Switch: Nav Lights
2-1/4" cut out: Intercom
2-1/4" cut out: Will be transponder, compass used to fill hole
Blue Switch: Strobes
Green Switch: Fuel Pump
Yellow Switch: TBD
2-1/4" cut out: TBD, manifold pressure gauge used to fill hole
2-1/4" cut out: Davtron M811, Clock, Flight timer, Stop Watch
Pullable breaker: Alternator
Pullable breaker: Starter Relay
Red Covered Switch: Emergency electrical power
Socket: Headphone P1
2-1/4" cut out: TBD, EGT gauge used to fill hole
Small switch: Speaker On/Off
Socket: Microphone P2
2-1/4" cut out: TBD, suction gauge used to fill hole

22nd February 2009 - Panel Cut Out

Finally, spring has sprung, or at least it's warm enough to get back into the garage. During the past month I'd been thinking about the panel mock up that I'd built (http://tailwindbuild.blogspot.com/2008/03/blog-post_22.html) and working out how to translate that into a final arrangement. There were two errors in the design that became apparent now that the panel mount is installed in the airframe. Firstly, the position of the radio needed to be higher to pass over the top of the tank but not too high to avoid running into the combing as it angles down towards the window. Secondly, the power distribution tray needed to sit above the lower panel support and be shorter to avoid hitting the front of the fuel tank. Once these design changes had been drafted up and checked it was time to cut the panel. 3-1/8" and 2-1/4" holesaws were used in the bench drill to cut out the holes for the instruments. Used carefully these produce a beautifully clean hole. The two rectangular holes for the instrument stack and for a homebuilt system monitor (more on this later) were cut out using a 1mm cutting disk in a 115mm angle grinder. This produces nice clean holes which are quick to clean up with a file. Then the mounting holes were drilled using homemade templates to position the holes. The templates were produced by cutting 3-1/8" and 2-1/4" holes in pieces of 0.063" steel plate and then drilling though the mount holes of a couple of old instruments into the plates to accurately locate the mounting holes. Next the holes for the switches, breakers and headphone sockets were drilled using a step drill. Finally the cutouts for the VSI and altimeter were shaped to fit round the adjust knobs. The bottom aluminium angle was then match drilled and riveted to the panel to provide additional stiffness.

4th January 2009 - Left Horizontal Stabiliser Ribs

Today I cut and installed the ribs that will support the fabric on the left horizontal stabiliser. These are fabricated from 3/8" "Piper" channel which is mild steel 0.019" thin!These were cut approximately to length and then the fronts tack welded together at the angle required to curve nicely towards the main spar. The front was then cut to the angle of the leading edge and notched to fit round it. The ribs were then bent gently around a spare length of the spar tubing to meet at the rear. They were then test installed and the rear cut to accurate length allowing for notching round the rear spar. The ribs were then installed and tack welded to the leading edge and rear spar to hold them in place. This required very low currents with the thin material so rather than welding the complete joints they were brazed to complete them. Finally the ribs were brazed to the main spar.

3rd January 2009 - Progress at last

I don't know where the last few weeks have gone but I finally made it back into the workshop today. To progress the fuselage I need to get it out of my small workshop and work on it outside but its been much too cold for that recently. Also, I've just completed the first annual on my RV9A G-OPVM. Finally, I've got involved with a project to build a state-of-the-art single seater aircraft designed to meet the new single seat deregulated rules in the UK; 105kts cruise on a 28hp engine!! (see http://www.e-go.me/ for details). Anyway enough of the excuses and Happy New Year to all.

By turning the fuslage upside down and suspending the tail of the fuselage from the roof I've created enough space to complete the work on the tail of the aircraft (you can just see the tip of the fin in the picture). Today I constructed the left side horizontal stabiliser framework using the same jig blocks as were used for the right side (see http://tailwindbuild.blogspot.com/2008/08/6th-august-2008-right-horizontal.html for details). I could just about remember how to weld and happily the two sides have come out identical. In fact the stabilisers are not handed being fully symmetrical and it is only the control horns that differentiates the two elevators. Now I can build the second elevator and braze the rib channels onto the stabiliser frames. Hopefully by then the weather might have warmed up a bit.

22nd November 2008 - Fuselage bottom complete

I started today by final welding the remaining bottom stringer stand-offs. Then all the stringer supports were drilled with a 1/8" drill. The stringers were positioned and cut to length before being match drilled to the supports. As can be seen in the picture these form a nice smooth curve ready to take the fabric. Next the firewall was replaced on the engine mount bolts and the lower part of the firewall was match drilled to it's mounting tabs. A sheet of 0.025" thick 6061-T6 aluminium was then match drilled to the bottom lip of the firewall. The positions of the bends to fit the shape of the stringer support bridge were marked and the sheet bent as can be seen in the picture. The position of the side bends were then also marked and the sheet bent up on each side and cut off just above the lower side mounting tabs. The sides were then match drilled to these tabs. The aluminium side cheeks will overlap the bottom sheet and attach to the same tabs providing a waterproof joint.