Left Elevator Complete

Sunday, August 4

Today was pretty straightforward, roll the leading edges of both elevators. Simple enough task. I only got one done today. :o( It seems a pretty simple task for 3 hours on one elevator. I was really taking my time to try and to a better job than I performed on the rudder. I think I succeeded. The left one turned out pretty nicely though. I only rolled one section at a time as trying to do them all at one time would have required me to be the Hulk!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had bunged this elevator by leaving it hanging on one of the garage rafters then opening the door all the way, forgetting about the silly elevator hanging on for dear life and watching it to its best to land softly. HA! DUH!! Well, I decided the side of the skin with the major hangar rash was going to be the side that tucked in the inside of he roll. In other words, roll it first then it's brother would stay on the outside being riveted to the outside of the rash. This effort worked perfectly and covered up the rash pretty well. After forming the edge of the rash side, I got to work with my 3/4" steel pipe. Everything rolled pretty well. I think I would prefer to use the 3/4" pipe where I did toward the narrower section (outboard) of the elevator then transition to a 1" pipe on the wider part (inboard) of the elevator. This way the bends would line up a little better without having to do so much hand squeezing and manipulating.

I got everything (less the right elevator) done to my satisfaction. Additionally, I realized the rod bearings I had left to insert were not quite right. If you're at this stage, NOTE that the upper 2 rod bearings on the rudder are part number MD3614M and the lower bearing is part number MD3616M, a slightly larger size than the other two. So, I pulled the smaller -14M from the rudder bottom and put the larger -16M in and torqued it down. Now I had the 4 rod bearings (MD3614M) remaining and installed them into the elevators with their jam nuts and torqued them down. Even though the parts look the same, give them all scrutiny to make sure you're putting the right parts in the right locations.

Following are pictures of the left elevator rolling, riveting and completion.

Outboard Section, First Side Rolled

Outboard Second Side Rolled, Taped Into Place
& Clecoed. First Rivet Set

Outboard Section, Left Elevator Complete

Working Inboard with the Next Section

First Side Rolled. This was the Road Rash Part

A Better View of the Hangar Rash

This is a Better View of the Pipe in Place & Taped

Let's Roll! I Didn't Get Any Pix of the Roll Itself

The Start of the Taping to Get The Edges in Place

Zeroing in on the Hole Lineup for a Cleco

Once a Cleco is in Place, It Makes it a Little
Easier for the Next One to be Placed

Now to Just Work it Down the Line Until All
Holes are Fastened

All Clecos in Place with Tape to Help. Ready for
Drilling, Deburring & Setting the Rivets

This is What the Pop Rivets Look Like When
Set on the Inside.

All Done! The Inboard Section Looks a Bit
Skewed. I'll Massage This to be More Appealing

Now I just need to get to the right elevator and roll its edges, then install them on the horizontal stabilizer and check the swing, connect them in the middle and work with the counterweights to make them balanced. I love this project!

That's all for now. Take Care & Thanks For Reading!

Day Total: 3.0  HOBBS Meter - 144.8