Elevator riveting
Hours: 5.1 | Posted in ElevatorsBegan the riveting of the left elevator tonight, with the stiffeners, spar skeleton, counterbalance assembly, and the trim access plate. For some reason, that trim access hole just seems very impressive. Maybe it’s the nutplates, or maybe it’s knowing that a moving part will go in there. Also fabricated the small gusset which goes between the end rib and the rear spar; somehow I missed that earlier. Brushed on a light coat of primer so it’s ready to go for tomorrow’s session. Left to do are the tricky rivets around the inner part of the counterbalance assembly, and then closing it up.
I did take a moment yesterday to clean (acetone) and re-prime a small section on the skin where the primer was blotchy and came off very easily. When getting ready to prime, I noticed what looked like stains from our funky water, so I used some of the etch to clean them off, followed by acetone…I suspect that it didn’t get all the etch cleaned off. in any event, I wiped off the loose primer with acetone, scrubbed with some scotchbrite, cleaned again with acetone, blew dry with the compressor, and re-primed, and it’s in good shape now. Lesson learned…be more careful rinsing the parts, and be sure to get the etch cleaned off well.
