More match drilling of the skins today. I also just had a strong sense of deja vu here… As if I’ll be using the phrase “more match drilling….” more than a handful of times in the coming months. I’m sure I’m just imagining things.
Another item on the docket today was creating the trailing edge piece and method to ensure that the trailing edge is laser straight upon completion. If you are not aware, the degree to which this surface is perfectly straight does play a significant role in the control of the aircraft later in life. As this airplane can cruise close to 200mph, any minor or moderate skin imperfections are greatly exaggerated at this velocity. It the trailing edge looked more like a wavy surface, the air would pass over this surface unevenly causing control issues in flight. I’ll sum that up as “bad”.
Therefore I was determined to get an excellent trailing edge. I spent a lot of time reviewing Ed and Colleen’s web page (Good Plane Living) about how they did their trailing edge. My hat is off to Ed on this one – he is an incredibly detail-oriented builder and while he will not take credit for being first on this idea, he displayed and explained it exceptionally well. I understand that it may be a bit of overkill to get this edge to line up, but anything worth doing is worth over-doing right?!?!
Not too much glamour here today, just some quick images of match drilled rudder skins. More details on how I executed Ed’s idea later.
All lined up. Again, pretty proud of that top row of clecos as it is through the piece of aluminum that I had to shape to size to fit the trailing edge.
Match drilling. Pretty spectacular fun if you ask me. Nothing else I’d rather be doing.
Any guesses what I’m doing here? No? Okay – I know it’s a stumper but… match drilling.
Total time today = 1.5 hours
Total time empennage = 18.5 hours
Total time aircraft = 18.5 hours