December 29, 2015 – I continued with the disassembly of the horizontal stabilizer in order to do the Service Bulletin (SB) mod.
I drilled out the rivets to remove the upper and lower angles that support the center of the stabilizer.
The webs of the stabilizer’s forward spar had to have relief notches in them. This helps to prevent the cracking issue that’s being addressed. Since my tail kit is relatively new, the notches were there.
I slightly enlarged them to the dimensions called for in the SB.
The next step was to cut off the corners of the flanges for the spar webs. This was kinda fun because of the limited access. I used a Dremel to do the cuts. You have to be careful to prevent damage to the spar webs. I used a spare piece of titanium and taped a putty knife to the vertical part of the spar to prevent damage. Then I did my best to clean up the edges and the corners. When everything is ready to install, I’ll clean it all up and re-prime.
Time: 2:30
