TIME TO FINISH THE TAILCONE SKIN
It kind of snuck up on me, but I am withing shouting distance of wrapping up major construction on the tailcone. There will be some parts to come back to when attaching the fuselage (as well as pulling wires, final attach, etc.). For the most part, major construction will wrap up today. Then it is on to assembling all of the parts I built in the past year! First step, finish the tailcone.
Anne came out to help pound in some of the tricky rivets left on tailcone. As always, she was fantastic. It really is enjoyable to have someone to work with.
MAKING THE BELL CRANK
There are only a few final pieces to fabricate and bolt in place prior to major assembly of the empennage. First is the bell crank housing and another is bolting some harness anchors in place. Again, nothing tricky, just takes time. I have painstakingly organized every bolt, nut, washer, and part to make sure I get this correct. I will say that some of the bolts give the feeling that whoever designed them or placed the first ones on the first RV-10 had much smaller and nimbler hands than I. Jamming your fingers into spaces and finding the proper angle to get a wrench in has become my new hobby (apparently).
I am at the point where I am debating where to head next. I have my QB wings that I could try and wrap up quickly, but that will also take some more long term planning in terms of wiring and lighting plans. I have not thought that far in advance yet, which certainly appears to my detriment. I know that there are lots of builders that have their whole plan planned out before banging the first rivet. Great job. I’m not that guy. I’d much rather labor over a decision for months and cripple myself by over-analyzing the situation. Which reminds me, I need to go ponder wings vs. empennage attach some more tonight.
- Total time today – 3 hours
- Total time empennage – 198.5 hours
- Total time aircraft – 206.5 hours