Brief Description: Clecoed Forward Skins--Top Side
Transfer drilled and clecoed the top of the front skins in place along the front spar. This was done for the left and right skins. I started by aligning the front skin edge with the edge of the rear skin at the stabilator tip. I clamped this in place using a cleco clamp. Then aligned the other end so that the line on the rear skins was visible through the holes in the trailing edge of a forward skin. Taped the edges. Verified that the skin was aligned and transfer drilled the first hole into the spar starting at the middle of the skin. I then alternated left and right working my way toward the edges of the front skin. This guaranteed that the skin was lying flat and that no bubbles or puckers would occur.
Repeated this procedure for the other skin.
Cleaned up all the aluminum filings and flipped over the stabilator in preparation for transfer drilling the bottom side.
Leveled the stabilator jig ends (so there would be no "twist" in the stabilator) and verified that the trailing edge of the stabilator was straight (stretched a string). Inserted the center stabilator support (fabricated in a previous step) and verified that the front edge of the stabilator was straight.
NOTE: I used my DeWalt drill for drilling into the stabilator. Many of the holes into the spar are going through a number of layers of aluminum, and I didn't think that the compressor could keep up if I used the air drill. Plus, the additional weight of the DeWalt drill reduced the amount of muscle required to push.
