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Primed and Ready!

August 5th, 2011

After the last couple of days of real progress, I was anxious to get home from work, kiss the wife hello, and get to the shop to prime the VS parts. It was a beautiful day with a little wind, but I was able to get my priming tables setup on a tarp and get the parts started. I really like the Duplicolor Self Etching. It seems durable and the color is great. Additionally, it is dry and ready in a hurry. I was able to get a good coat on both sides of the parts with much less overspray than the HS parts took on my new primer tables (Details to be in the Shop discussion soon). It may have been a little warm and windy for the paint though…seemed to dry almost too fast at times (like before it hit the part). Once it was all dry, I lightly schotchbrited the coat of primer to knock down the fuzz that the drying left. Smooth and even all over.

Primed and Ready for Assembly

Every so often, my build crew would sneak in and out of the shop. Sometimes to watch, sometimes to ask, sometimes to help. Meet Taylor, the grin in the photo. He is my eldest son at age 10, nearly 11. He has always been my curious but quiet observer. When he was born, we were remodeling a 1926 house in Salt Lake proper. As I look through all the progress photos we took it was fun to seem him in diapers, always with a tool in his hand, trying to help. Great kid. When he heard that I wanted to build a plane, his eyes lit up and he was instantly on board. He was a big help with the shop construction as well. He help set the trusses, set shingles, and general gopher. He loves to just watch and learn. The speed he seems to picks stuff up is amazing.

Primer Dry, Spar Riveted

Later in the evening after eating some dinner, I checked the primer and it was good and dry…so I decided to get a jump on the work for tomorrow. I riveted the skeleton together and then went full speed on the spar. I just love the gold rivets against that green color. Just looks cool. I was able to squeeze most of the rivets with the pneumatic squeezer. That tool is worth every penny. Speed and accuracy is great. I started with the flush rivets at the bottom and then quickly knocked out the AN470’s. Got the hing brackets on and figured I could nearly call it a day.

Last Task for the Night

I was feeling like I was on a roll…so I figured, one more task and then I will call it a night. I clecoed on the skin again for the last time. I then got all the tools out and on the bench and readied them for use in the morning. It is really rewarding to step back at an assembly and see a plane part coming together. So, that finishes the Friday night progress. Time to get to bed and ready for the finish work tomorrow.

Categories: Vertical Stabilizer
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