Today I got as far as I could with the Vertical Stabilizer. Started off with some help from my daughter riveting the first few pieces of the rear spar. Below is a timelapse of me incorrectly attaching the rudder stops to both hinge brackets. In my joy and excitement, I once again though I knew what was being asked, but I didn’t think it through. I ended up drilling it all out and fixing it later. I was happy to have my daughter helping me out so wanted to share. (For those that are curious, the rudder stops should only be attached to ONE hinge bracket, not riveted between both of them. I knew the rivets didn’t look long enough)
One of the changes I was looking to do was to add a conduit to the top of my Vertical Stabilizer so I can add in a camera. (Details to come as I start to bench test some ideas). Based on posts by both Mouser and Damazio, I don’t feel like what I’m trying to do is really “off the wall”.
I fabricated and installed my doubler plate, and went ahead and drilled a hole for a single conduit to the top of the VS. At first I was thinking of getting fancy connectors and buying more stuff, but decided that simple (and lighter) was the way to go. Funny enough my order of conduit from VANS arrived just as I was starting to do my final assembly so I was able to verify that I did everything right. Only thing that I’m currently waiting for is the Panduit Lightening hole mounts so I can start putting the skin on.
At this point I have my skeleton clecoed together and rivets installed where indicated in the directions. Next weekend I’ll be able to install the Panduit mounts and start putting the skin on. Until then, it’s on to the Rudder.
Timelapse: