At long last, I was able to finish my first full part of the plane today. I’d be more excited I think if I didn’t make a mistake. More on that in a bit, but I’ll start with some other points first. I continued to feel pretty confident in my riveting ability, but still a bit deliberate about it all. I just step back and continue to realize that these rivets are holding together an airplane that I intend to fly someday soon (well – soon is relative certainly…). I know they are all fine as they are all within spec using my gauge, but I just continue to look for something to be wrong. Again, get used to me being hyper-critical of my work, but I believe the smallest details count a great deal. On to the one item that happened today. As a note – the close up pictures of these parts give the visual impression that the rivets didn’t set fully into the skin but I assure that is not the case at all. I’m not sure why there is some shade around them, but also the skins look really wavy and that is also a trick the light is playing with the camera.
You’ll notice in one rivet here, there is a small extra crease, one that is not a camera trick. I made a slight ding in the skin. I’ll be calling Van’s in the morning to see what they think about it. I’m pretty sure that it will be fine as I’ve flown planes with dents far worse than this. It’s entirely cosmetic. I’m not trying to punish myself for bringing it up, but merely documenting all of the various ways that building an airplane can be maddening at times. But also incredibly rewarding – like this!
Riveted up, looking good! Pretty excited to get this thing attached to the rest of the plane, which is obviously not built yet.
I’m pleased. Once I get this little crease issue answered by Van’s I think we can move on happily to the rudder!
Total time today = 3 hours
Total time empennage = 33.5 hours
Total time aircraft = 33.5 hours