July 11 2023

Drilled, clecoed and attached the trim tab.

July 10 2023

Build small parts around the elevator weight arm.

Cutting and marking the horn doubler angle.

Drilling the holes under the right angle was the most difficult part.

I used a right angle drill extender from Harbor Freight.

Cut, drilled, trimmed and installed two L angles.…

July 9 2023

Matched the stabilizer and the elevator with a piano hinge. They move not quite freely but better than I expected.

Started building the elevator weight balance arm.…

The FAA has released the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for LSA aircraft. Among other things, an aircraft’s weight limit would be based on stall speed. This could allow aircraft weighing as much as 3,000 pounds to be classified as LSA. The proposal would also expand the types and usage of LSA aircraft, allowing some aerial work. Sport pilots could operate up to four seat aircraft, but would still only be allowed one…

July 8 2023

Riveted the stabilizer skin. User ratcheted belts to close the skin. Much more convenient than to push by hand.

Almost at the end I dropped a drill bit inside the stabilizer through the rivet hole. The stabilizer is fully closed the there are no holes I could get the drill bit. I did not want to leave it there forever and rattle. On the other hand I did not want to remove a lot of rivets to get it out.

I used a wooden wedge to make a small gap between the skin and…

July 05 2023

Made L angles to attach the end ribs to the spars. The drawing is incorrect. It says to make 56 and 60 mm L angles. They are too short and do not fit the predrilled holes.

The assembly manual is right. The length of the L angles should be 75 mm. I used a long drill bit to drill through the spars. My electric drill does not fit the space.

Attention. I clecoed the ribs incorrectly. On the pictures the rib goes over the spar. The ribs should go between the…

Been working on avionics for the past few months. Wiring isn't pretty as I'd like but functionally its solid. I'll be ready to rivet the dash once my new throttle cable arrives. The one I was going to use was a "cut to length" and I just wasn't comfortable with the set up on a push throttle. Got my prop from the Ukraine. Now waiting for extended hub, bolts, and lugs. I'll have to move the plane to a temporary store facility for final assembly and inspection. Will there be any issues with it…

July 03 2023

Added the skin on the bottom side of the stabilizer. No surprises. Just a lot of clecos and rivets.…

July 3 2023

Back to the stabilizer.

As the assembly instruction says before putting the stabilizer skin the stabilizer skeleton should be fixed on the workbench

and leveled. I used two pieces of scrap wood to fix the skeleton and a number of wedges to level it.…

July 03 2023

Dale an EAA counselor came to check the current work state.

I showed him the stabilizer skeleton and the vertical fin. Dale found the work quality acceptable.

We discussed the ways of corrosion protection, importance to build light.

Dale discouraged me to use iPad as the only integrated instrument. It is not robust enough and can overheat easily.

The non-portable devices are much better. Also he warned me against usging the ADSB-out…

June 16 2023

Cut L angles using the new band saw.

Using a wrapping paper to open the elevator skin to get a hand free access to the L angles.

Using a clamp to fix the L angle position.

Using 12 inches drill bit to make the L angle holes.…

June 15 2023

Postponed working on the stabilizer waiting for the EAA counselor inspection.
Started working on the elevator.

June 14 2023

Finished the stabilizer skeleton up to putting the skin.
Prepared parts for the elevator.

June 13 2023

Continued working on the stabilizer skeleton. 

Partially riveted the back spar.

Removing scratches from the doubler.…

June 12 2023

Clecoed front and back spars.

Made the doubler. Scratched the doubler. Will remove the scratches later.…

June 10 2023

Put the skin on the vertical fin.

Checked the rudder and fin have the correct gap.…

June 09 2023

Assembled the fin skeleton.

Covered the fin skeleton and the fin skin with cortec.

Started putting the skin on the vertical fin.…

June 04 2023

Clecoed, deburred and covered with cortec the vertical fin skeleton.…

June 03 2023

I put the rudder skin the the skeleton. Basically I just repeated the job done on the Zenith rudder workshop.…