Joshua's RV-9A Project

Bought a set of files the other day, so used my short time in the shop today to clean up and deburr the inside corners of the HS spar doublers, and the small holes on the rear spars.

My flight lesson was cancelled today because of wind (20′s gusting 30-35), and the temps were in the low 90′s, so a good day to hang out in the shop. 

Started out doing some deburring on the spars & doublers, lightening holes, etc.  Need to pick up some smaller files, curved/rounded, etc to dress out the inside radii on the doublers.  Then cut & set up the HS cradle and built up the right side in the skin.  The nose ribs took a few tries to get the hang of, fluting them to fit the proper curve.  The rest of it went together nicely, the holes all lined up well and dropped into place.  Reamed the holes to #40, then repeat for the left side.  Remembered to put the spar doublers in on the first try this time…

Wrapped up the day by rounding the point off an old soldering iron and melting lines in the plastic sheeting.  Deburring of all the skin holes is next, then dimpling.  I need to order some primer & find a gun so I’m ready to shoot when that time comes.

Not much to report today.  Having a hard time remembering to write in the log at the end of every day.  I suspect this will be more of a “highlights/lowlights” journal than a blow-by-blow detailed daily report–which I think is OK, as there are plenty who have gone before and done an excellent job with that.  (See the builder sites link list for a handful.)

Allison’s family was here for most of the day, then we went out in the evening and disassembled the HS skeleton I’d clecoed and drilled previously.  Allison worked on deburring the spars while I did some filing on the doublers.

Spent the afternoon/evening making friends with my scotchbrite wheels and pads.  Rib deburring was the order of the day, I made it through the pile of main ribs without too much difficulty.  Biggest deal was figuring out how to get into those teeny nooks between the main flange and the little tab flange that goes inside the spar.  Then I realized I had forgotten about the nose ribs, so back to the wheel I went.  Not bad, really.

Fluting was less of a big deal than I thought it would be, from the reading online I had done.  I used my rivet fan clecoed into the first and last holes (thanks to whoever I stole this idea from), and clecoed to the bench so the rib hung over the edge.  A pinch here, and squeeze there, and the holes were straight in no time.

That being done, it was a short step to putting something together, so I did.  The HS skeleton is assembled, and it doesn’t look half bad (if I might say so myself).  I was able to make the HS-909 shims easily with the belt sander, and drilled them into place.  My only worry is that the holes on the little rib tabs (the rib-to-spar-to-skin holes on the fwd spar) don’t line up quite right…they’re off by 1/3 to 1/2 hole, fairly consistently.  I did some reading online and found a note on someone else’s log that once this is assembled into the skin, everything lines up better.  We shall soon see.

Put the rear spars & doubler together and drilled.  Which is to say, reamed.  I bought into the talk about reamers being better than drills for enlarging the pre-punched holes, and was able to pick up a #30 and #40 reamer with my purchase of secondhand tools.  Happy with the results so far, and my cheapo air drill seems to run fairly true, which I was concerned about.  Not that I don’t still lust after that Sioux 1412 3600-rpm palm drill…

Also put the hinge brackets into place and drilled them out.  I was surprised how easily the steel machined.  I think part of it is that I’ve been used to working with old dull bits, and this whole “sharp” thing is sort of a novelty to me.

Back from the trip to Alaska.  It’s always nice to go “home,” even if it’s only for a few days.  Our flight out of ANC (nonstop to MSP) was cancelled (5 minutes after the scheduled departure time) when the fourth flight attendant called in sick, so we ended up standing in line for a couple hours to get rebooked.  We ended up bouncing through Portland, and got into Minneapolis about 6 hours after we had originally planned.  Making some progress on things around the house, and the siding for the shop is on order at Menard’s (estimated delivery 3 weeks…hard to believe!), so I can take a peek at the project again.  Allison is afraid that once I start, I won’t stop until it’s done.  Even to eat.  Apparently she’s observed some of my past projects…or else she’s been talking to Mom. 

Match drilled the spars that I’d clecoed before we left, and started on the attach angles.  Unfortunately, the drill press I’m using has some wobble to it, and isn’t highly precise for drilling holes, so I’m unhappy with the way the 9-hole pattern turned out.  I clecoed the angles to the spar in the alignment hole, and I think they’d work fine, but I would be unhappy with them forever; they’re ugly, and I’m a perfectionist.  I think I’ll order the practice kit and some ProSeal for trailing edges from Van’s, and have them throw in another piece of aluminum angle…it’s only about $6.

Leaving for Alaska in the morning to visit my mother for a week.  Since I haven’t been doing much else, I thought it would be nice to take her some pictures of progress around the place.  The shop is nearing completion, all the inside work is done, drywall up and painted.  Only waiting on siding and soffit now.  The workbenches have been built over the last few days, and tools are starting to make their way into the toolboxes.  So we cracked open the builder’s manual and clecoed together the HS front spar.  Took some pictures and locked up the shop for the week.  More to come soon.