LABEL ALL OF YOUR PARTS
I have always taken special care to make sure that all of my parts are labeled correctly. On priming day, I laid out paper mats and wrote the part numbers next to each piece. This way, I could keep track of each and every part, its location, and if necessary which side (left or right for the stringers). Once each part received a coat of primer, it was placed next to its home location for relabeling after it dried.
It is difficult to see, but if you look closely you will notice markings below each stringer in the picture above. This level of detail was incredibly important as I moved into today’s work. I started with transferring each part label back onto each part and gathering them up for dimpling.
dimple, dimple, dimple, dimple…
I know it may be difficult to guess what I did all day today without context clues, but it rhymes with “schmimpling.” You may also note that after a full day of dimpling one can be inclined to create words like “schmimpling.” Nothing too glamorous here, just the repetitive task of stabbing a hardened tool die through a pre-drilled hole in aircraft aluminum. I have mentioned this before, but I truly do love using my DRDT2 dimpling tool. It makes a consistent dimple every time and can tackle even large tailcone skins in a reasonable amount of time.
I left the blue idiot tape on there for as long as possible to remind myself not to dimple or rivet these holes. I have not dimpled any holes I was not supposed to yet. Yet.
Making more dimples. The process is definitely repetitive, but at times deeply satisfying.
COUNTERSINK TIME
There were several locations that required countersunk holes. I do not have any pictures of this, but that is likely because by this point I was on a roll. I made sure that all of the parts and pieces received the required dimples or countersunk holes. No time for pictures!
Total time today – 4.5 hours
Total time empennage – 168 hours
Total time aircraft – 168 hours