Was below zero when I went up to the shop so it took a while for the woodstove to warm things up. Sort of a discouraging morning due to the weather and my nagging headcold. I was beginning to wonder if at this pace this collection of parts would ever soar over our Adirondacks. Felt better this afternoon and saw some progress.
Took the VS spar assembly apart and deburred all the holes that were drilled yesterday. Figured out the countersinking tool and after some practice on scrap countersunk the holes in the spar and other parts. Riveted the spar caps and nut plates in place. Deburred and smoothed all the holes and edges in the VS ribs. Very time consuming. Studied the instructions and learned another new skill - rib fluting. Not too hard once you figure out the tools etc. Clecoed all the VS skeleton together. Instructions were to rivet parts but I was chicken to rivet things until seeing the whole assembly together. Boosted my spirits to see something that vaguely looks like an airplane part!
Priming decision - I will prime small parts that Van's says should be - such as bar stock, angle stock, and rods which are not alclad. I will prime anything where the alclad coating gets compromised due to working the part. I am not going to prime all internal parts. I don't live near the ocean, and the airplane will be hangared as long as I own it. My 40 year old Piper Arrow came out of the factory with bare aluminum and it shows no corrosion.
Brackets in re-work. Note properly sqeezed rivets.
