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Date:  10-24-2007
Number of Hours:  1.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Began fitting the elevators

Tonight I got back from Wednesday night supper at church so I could not get a full night in the shop. However, I carted the elevators down from the bonus room and began fitting them.Even though the tail section was "finished" two years ago, I never fitted the elevators to the horizontal stabilizer or the rudder to the vertical stabilizer. I thought I would wait till the stabilizers were fitted to the fuselage for that job. Well, here it is, time to fit the flying surfaces. I looked way back in the plans, in the empenage section, to find the instructions for fitting the elevators. In the plans, I had scribbled the date I completed the elevators (10/28/05) almost two years ago to the day. First, I had to drill the attachment brackets on the horizontal stabilizer to 3/16" (the powder coating on the brackets made the holes just a tad too small) so that the attachment bolts could slip through. Then, I fit the elevators and pinned them to the horizontal stab with some 3/16" pins (bolts are too cumbersome at this point, with the surfaces coming on and off so often). That is when I saw that some of the horizontal stabilizer skins would have to be trimmed to make room for the elevator counterbalances. The plans tell you that they will probably have to be trimmed. I trimmed one with the dremel tool and then had to stop because I was getting my good clothes dirty. I had not changed from my work clothes after church and Vick would kill me if she caught me in the shop doing dirty work in something other than my "shop clothes". More elevator work later. On a final note, I learned yesterday that my good friend and building buddy Sam Beale just received his RV-7A tail kit. I can't wait to visit his basement and help him begin construction.
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The right elevator, pinned to the horizontal stabilizer

The right elevator, pinned to the horizontal stabilizer

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Here, the tip of the elevator counterweight interferes with the HS skin.  I will trim the marked part

Here, the tip of the elevator counterweight interferes with the HS skin. I will trim the marked part

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Left side of the HS skin, trimmed on the top and drilled, waiting for a trim, on the bottom

Left side of the HS skin, trimmed on the top and drilled, waiting for a trim, on the bottom

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