This past week saw the initial stages of fitting and match drilling the horizontal stabilizer parts.
Front HS Spar Doubler and Attachment Brackets clecoed ready for match drilling.
Front spar completely match drilled with #30 bit.
Tracing the outline of spar ribs as a template for the cradles.
Completed cradles. I used 1/2″ copper pipe insulation foam to cover the 5/8″ plywood cradles. The wood is USA-made birch plywood of high grade. It came from a throw-away set of shelves, the board were scavenged from the good pieces.
Skins inserted in the cradles after removing vinyl strips on the outside, completely removed vinyl on the inside. Note how the cradles are held with clamps – I wanted the ability to position as needed on first fitting. This allowed the cradles to fit between ribs to allow easy access.
Forward spar and ribs ready for insertion…
Inserting the spar assembly into the skins.
Clecoes being applied.
Ready for deburring the skin edges and match drilling the holes.
Another angle showing everything lined up.
I manually prep the skin edges with a flat needle file before using a 1″ diameter Scotchbrite wheel in an electric drill to finish off the smoothing. It could be done on the raw sheets, but I prefer having the skins stabilized with spars and ribs clecoed in place. My confidence in not bending or kinking an edge is much greater with this setup.
All done, next steps are with alodine / priming.