New Sioux 1410 Pnuematic Drill

I finally got a Sioux 1/4 inch drill that I had been wanting. I got it on E-bay for $49! Used, of course, but it works great. The best price new I could find was $225. It's much quieter than my others so now our neighbor can't accuse me of torturing cats. NO, I never tortured cats. She just said from across the street, that's what my pneumatic drill sounded like.

Finishing Right Elevator

I've started the easy part, the final riveting of the right elevator. I haven't posted in a while because my laptop battery died. I do all the pictures from my laptop. Got a new one off ebay. I have been working on the plane, though. Since my last post I match drilled, deburred, scotch-brighted, dimpled, primed and reassembled the right elevator.

Right Elevator Match Drilling

Here's the right elevator clecoed together ready for match drilling the skin. That should only take 30 minutes and then it's on to the familiar pattern of deburring, dimpling, priming as required and reassembly for final riveting. I'm looking forward to using the pneumatic squeezer to dimple and rivet.

I mentioned (OK, I bragged) to Paula about how well things have been going together while I was showing her the trailing edge of the elevator below. She was thrilled, as those who know her could imagine. One thing that's surprised me about the build so far is how well the instructions from the manufacturer work. I made the bending brake exactly as described in Van's instructions and the trailing edge came our near perfect. I didn't make it like all the modified and improved versions I've seen on other's websites. I'm sure there are some great ideas out there but I will think long and hard before I deviate from Van's words of wisdom!

Elevator Trailing Edges Done

I finished bending the trailing edges of the elevators last night. It took me three days to bend the first one with all the careful measuring and reading and visiting websites to read about it and remeasuring, etc. The second one took 10 minutes. Life is kinda' like that. Once you've done it, it's easy.



NOT MUCH LEFT NOW! These are all the parts I have left to finish the entire empennage. I have to learn fiberglass for all the tips but most of the remaining work left to do is more of the same. Time to order the wings as there's an 8 week delivery time. I have to schedule an appointment with my aviation Financier.

Bending the Elevator Trailing Edges

After a little bit of a break working on the vehicle in the background (the famous Dodge Dart), I finally got my bending brake made for bending the trailing edges of the elevators. The hardest part was finding a straight board. I make sure I used plenty of hinges as I've read you can't have too many.

It's pretty simple, really. You just put the part between the boards and smoosh it. The trick is getting the correct radius of the bend. Too much and the aluminum will crack, too little and it will affect the flying qualities. I'm getting close to the goldilocks amount.