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Dave's RV-7A Builder's Log
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Date:  9-16-2017
Number of Hours:  7.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Misc finish work

Another day of finishing odds & ends with the requisite frustration sprinkled in here and there for good measure. I picked up where I left off on the empennage fairing by sanding it down and then filling the misdrilled holes with some Bondo before covering the whole thing with a coat of tinted epoxy. I didn’t have to tint the epoxy for any reason other than I’ve found it easier to see surface imperfections, and since I had some left over from the windshield fairing, I just did it.

While the fairing was curing, I moved back to the aircraft and began the process of drilling and tapping the holes for the lower gap seals. The plans call for using #6 screws for this, but I immediately changed that plan to use #8 screws since the holes all aligned with previously driven rivets and I wasn’t happy with how they were drilling out in the tight space under the horizontal stab. The left side went fine, and the picture shows the installed gap seal. I may or may not modify it to accept the rubber seal (optional per the plans) that is included in the kit, but for now I’m happy with the way it looks. The right side was where the frustration began as I snapped my tap off in the fourth hole while trying to force the process. Another rookie mistake and I should have seen it coming. The tap was getting dull and I thought I could get four more holes done…wrong. A tap extractor has been ordered and I will deal with that next weekend.

With no way to finish tapping the rest of the holes, I moved up to the fuselage and installed the cabin vent ducts, added a modular plug to the ELT leads (with a $30 crimper specifically procured for the task…now the single most expensive crimp on the aircraft), and started working on the cabin heat cable.
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Empennage gap seal installed

Empennage gap seal installed

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Coat of tinted epoxy on empennage fairing

Coat of tinted epoxy on empennage fairing

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