Vertical Stabilizer work

Jan 20, 2010 – After the paint cured for the vertical stabilizer parts, I riveted the aft spar doubler and rudder hinge brackets to the aft spar. I also clecoed the stabilizer skeleton together.

After a nap on my Friday (which is currently Tuesday, by the way), I riveted the skeleton together. I found out that rivets don’t go in as neatly when you’re tired, and I had to drill out a few. But I got it done, and I knew I wasn’t going to touch the skin until I’d had some sleep.

The next day, I clecoed the skin to one side of the stab, and riveted it in place. Then I riveted the other side. The instructions say just to cleco the skin in place and rivet, but I found it easier to rivet one side at a time. That gave me a little more room so I could see what I was doing.

I then wanted to seal the aft spar in place, like I did with the horizontal stab. I want to seal areas that are directly exposed to the elements. All I did was spread sealant across the row of fastener holes on each side of the stab. Then I could slide the spar into the sealant, and hopefully not have a whole lot of mess, because I’d be pushing the sealant into the stab. If I spread the sealant on the spar, the sealant would smear when I slid it into place.