Let's Get This Thing Going!

Hi Gang! I'm finally back at it after much procrastination. I had previously spent about an hour working on the elevator in preparation of getting it welded, as mentioned previously.

I discovered that a friend of mine at work is a skilled welder. I got in touch with him and asked if he could weld some airplane parts. He asked when I wanted to do it and what kind of metal he needed to weld. I asked what kind of liquid payment ;) he would like and we hooked up and got it done. Thanks Mike! I've been waiting for a good time to start back up and now seemed as good a time as any. I didn't get any pictures of the welds before cleaning and filing.

Today I cleaned up the welds on the fills Mike did for me. I needed to file down the excess weld material to get them back to smooth and flat. After the filing, I cleaned up the surrounding area of powder coat that was damaged by the heat of the welding with a ScotchBrite wheel in my Dremel. All pretty now.

Weld Filled Hole After Filing & Cleaning

Back Side

Next was to make sure my rod bearings were the exact height they needed to be. I think I took care of this previously as when I checked the bearings on both elevators, the height measured right on all 4. I mounted them both, set them in trail with the HS then eyeballed how the 1/4" bold would appear to fit and it looked good. So I took the right elevator off, put the drill sleeve into the hinge bearing and drilled a #40. So far, so good. I took the left elevator and put the right one on and did the same thing. Off with that one and put the HS away so I could work with the elevator horn holes. This is the same procedure as mentioned in a previous post. Just size the holes up with each successive drill bit until it's 1/4". I cleaned the holes with a half round file so a bolt would slide easily and cleaned the surrounding area of any sharp metal. I put both elevators back on and put the bolt in and VOILA! Everything fits & both elevators line up perfectly. Nice smooth movement with no binding. They seem pretty balanced right now. I still need to file the counterweights to the right shape so we'll see how the balance is later. I'm very happy with this.

NOTE: I strongly recommend to the builders out there that are at this point and before drilling to check carefully to see if your bolt appears that it will fit WITHOUT the bolt head and nut being to close to or interfering with the torque tubes. If it looks too close, recheck your measurements on the rod bearings.

The Line Up & Clearance After Installation

After taking everything apart, I then started working to finish the 2nd trim tab that I had ordered awhile back and had just started. I'm about half done with it now. I'm almost to the riveting stage. Just finished the countersinking in the trim spar. I'll pick up there next time.

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

Day Total: 3.9 hrs  HOBBS Meter - 158.3 hrs