RV-7 Elevator Details

	5 Oct 2002	Cut and finished the stiffeners. Unfortunately, I cut the J, K, and L stiffeners on the left elevator short so it's another call to Van's. Keep in mind that the long angles are designed to get one of each letter designated stiffener from each angle. Example, you don't get four A stiffeners, but one A, one B, one C, and one D. This isn't very clear in the plans.
	6 Oct 2002	The balance ribs and skins get match drilled.
	6 Oct 2002	Right elevator gets the stiffeners match drilled. Still waiting on a couple new parts from Van's to do the left side.
	7 Oct 2002	Finished match drilling both spars and the balance arms. Pretty basic and no problems. The photo below shows the lead balance weights being ready for match drilling. Lot's of Boelube helped the drilling of the lead.
	8 Oct 2002	Here's the Mac trim servo all fitted. This was actually about a 15-minute job.
	17 Oct 2002	Here are the spar reinforcement plates. A stamping kit from Harbor Freight proved useful for stamping parts instead of using an etching tool. Very nice for marking those parts that can be mixed up or interchanged.
	20 Oct 2002	Had this kitchen organizer sitting around and put it to use. Found it was great for storing all those stiffeners while they dried. Then you can lay out the parts on the same stand for painting.
	21 Oct 2002	All the elevator parts hung out to dry. I tried a new paint this time around and gave the Aircraft Finishing Systems 2-part water-based epoxy a try. Worked fairly well but I believe my cheap Harbor Freight HVLP gun just isn't up to the job. Otherwise, it looks like this new primer doesn't flash off as quickly as PPG DPLF, but does dry very hard and tough. The bonus is that clean up hassle and noxious fumes have been greatly reduced.
	21 Oct 2002	Right elevator stiffeners riveted.
	22 Oct 2002	Left stiffeners and the trim backing plate riveted. No surprises here.
	22 Oct 2002	One of the local RV-4 builders came over today and helped crunch the trailing edges. So far, so good. Nice tight 3/32 radius bends.
	23 Oct 2002	Here's the internal frames for the elevators ready for installation.
	24 Oct 2002	Right elevator pretty much completed except for the leading edge bend. That's pretty much next and it's not something to look forward to .
	25 Oct 2002	Right elevator leading edge bend in progress. I finally figured out how to get this done. Use a .5" diameter pipe to curl the edge about 1/2 way. Then use a 1" to finish it off. Also, curl the edge that will rest on the outer surface first as this will need to be curled the most. This way it lays flat.
	27 Oct 2002	The dreaded left elevator trim tab bend! I used an oak wedge that had the edges rounded and bent per plans. I thought this came out fairly well. Nice and flat.
	27 Oct 2002	Left elevator just about done. Just need to finish the skin riveting then attach the trim tab.
	30 Oct 2002	Here's that oak block in use. This worked really well and I think I ended up with some nice trim tab ends.
	30 Oct 2002	Leading edge fo the left elevator gets the rolling treatment.
	1 Nov 2002	The trim tab gets assembled. The bad part is that it ended up not being in line with the rest of the elevator. Thus these rivets came out and I realigned the tab. It ended up working out OK though.
	1 Nov 2002	Just about done with the elevators!
	2 Nov 2002	The typical RV-7 elevator/ HS problem. Van's lengthened the counter-weight arm slightly and repositioned the weight. No big deal but you do need to trim a bit of the skin off the HS.
	2 Nov 2002	Finally, a big part of the RV. Now on to the fiberglass work. Then we'll call it done.
	5 Nov 2002	I added a page on the fiberglass tips. The later tail kits have a modified balance arm so I thought I'd illustrate the process I'm going through.... Go to the tips...
	7 Nov 2002	This was just a lot of fun. I spent about 4.5 hours trying to get the elevators exactly in line with the center of the HS center bearing. This was a long, repetitive process. Actually, not too much of a process, but more like flailing! What can be seen here is a Al bushing with a 3/32 hole. I then used a drill bit to observe if the hole "wanders" as the elevator is moved up and down. I did notice movement of the center though an arc of approx 1/32. I finally got the right elevator pretty much dead on, but the left would never exactly center.
	7 Nov 2002	After I though I had the bearings centered, I committed to the drilling of the control horns. There was some concern with the left not exactly centered but after enlarging a pilot hole to .250", it turned out well. Both elevators move to full up and down with no binding. Phewwwww!
	2 Dec 02	Plenty of progress over the last several weeks but it's all been the fiberglass thing. See the tip page for the gory details on the Elevator and Horizontal Stab tips. The end is in sight for the Empennage!