Brief Description: Trim counterweight, right elevator rivet
Tonight I tackled the trimming of the right elevator counterbalance. I looked at various threads from the VAF forum, as the instructions are not at all clear. I decided to use the new drill press I got for my birthday to drill a 1/4" hole to form the proper radius, then used the band saw to cut the lines. I used to lowest drill RPM and went very slowly, and made sure the bit was coated in Boelube. The hole went very well, so I applied Boelube to the bandsaw blade and it made quick work of the cuts. A little filing to smooth everything and it was a much easier task than I had feared. Then I started riveting the right elevator. First the couple of rivets attaching the counterweight and elevator skins that can't be reached once the skeleton in inserted, then I inserted the skeleton and got the top skin riveted using the pneumatic squeezer before I decided to call it a night. One new thing I did tonight was to put about 10 pounds of sand into a mailer envelope and use it to help hold the elevator steady for riveting. That worked really well.
