Vertical stab

Build hours: 129

Parts to complete the vertical stab were completed in an earlier post. The E to F skin was notched to accept the vertical stab and the stab was carefully plumbed to the leveled fuselage. The 1" spacing holes were drill in the F bulkhead and the bulkhead was removed. On the bench, the doublers were drilled and clecoed leaving space for the rudder control hinge. This was a good warmup for all of the riveting to come as we calculated rivet lengths, finished head sizes and practiced on a few scraps. After botching about every other rivet on the test pieces, we became adept at rivet removal and boldly moved on to the vertical stab.

The doublers were riveted where possible on the vertical stab and bulkhead. The rudder hinges were then positioned on the stab, underdrilled and reamed to 3/16" for the An3 attachment bolts. The doublers were riveted on and nutplates were installed with 3/32 flush rivets. Again, stopped and admired...