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Jims RV-8
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Date: 3-14-2013
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Number of Hours: 2.00
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Manual Reference: 6-12
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Brief Description: Bolt Elevator to HS...BANG!
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I had a good day in the shop last night…right up until the millisecond that it was a very bad day in the shop. I have been on a building hiatus for a while, because of travel and wing kit delivery, etc. and I had not been in build mode for 15 days, which is the longest I have been away from the project (not that I think that had anything to do with the “issue”).
I was working on getting the elevators lined up properly on the HS which requires using the temporary pins to get the elevators close, and then pulling the pins out and using the bolts that will permanently hold the elevator to the HS. I had already trimmed the excess skin on 4 sides of the Horizontal Stabilizer and was fine tuning the gaps between the HS and the elevators. I had already inserted the bolts in the left elevator hinge and was working on getting the bolts inserted in the right elevator. I was hanging the trailing edge off the back of the workbench so that I could move the elevator up and down while inserting the bolt into the hinge. This was allowing me the room I needed to get my hands in the small space and work the elevator around while inserting the bolt. I had the inboard bolt inserted, and was working on the outboard bolt. Evidently, I kept moving the whole assembly over the edge while I was making the adjustments until… you guessed it, the left side of the HS assembly fell backwards off the workbench… I was able to hold onto the right side of the HS assembly, but the remaining HS/elevator assembly impacted on the outboard trailing edge of the left elevator. BANG! Now, since I was holding onto the right tip of the HS assembly, there was only the one impact, instead of two. But the damage had been done… I walked away, with my mind in a whirlwind of calculations about what to do next, can it be fixed, can I drill out the skin rivets and only replace the skin, would someone else have a built left elevator that they were selling, how much did this accident just cost me in time and money, and 1,000 other things? I can re-use
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here's what it supposed to look like
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post - BANG!
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straightened some...still ruined
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