27/08/2007 - Left hand stiffeners

And on with the job of creating the left hand stiffeners.  However they are different to the right hand set so I read the plans carefully.  Most of them are easier though and take less time as only small relief cuts are required.  You can see the ones I mean in the middle of the picture, they are the very short ones.  The picture shows all the stiffeners together ready for drilling.

The right hand set of stiffeners and skin could then be drilled, deburred and dimpled where the stiffeners attach to the skin.  I had some help with this bit as Ian had come round to say hello, its amazing how much difference another set of hand makes.

Right hand elevator skeleton

I started on the skeleton next as I need to prime the skins before riveting on the stiffeners.  Being fairly similar to the rudder skeleton I though I would get through this quite quickly.

So reinforcement plates, counterweight ribs and attaching them to the spar went well and then came the counterweight itself and corresponding skin.

Now everything so far has gone together like hand and glove, if it didn't fit, its because I got it wrong.  However this bit don't fit and I have not got it wrong...I think !

I think the counterweight is slightly oversize which is the first problem.  No problem I will be able to gently file until it does.

The second problem is that the holes for at least one of the ribs does not line up with the skin when it is attached to the other rib.  They are a good millimetre (sorry metric boy) out, and everything is square, the two ribs fit snugly together as well.

I decided enough was enough for today and I was consult other builders web sites to see what happened for them.