Rudi's Sling TSi

Horizontal Stabilizer - Parts Prep (Part 1)

After the empennage kit arrived and inventory was done, I got started on the horizontal stabiliser. However, the two parts that make up the rear spar were on back order.

I got started by peeling the plastic off the various parts, and then cleaning and deburring. The parts did not need much in the way of deburring, with many of the edges already extremely smooth.

Next, I started dimpling the skins using the dimple tool. I marked out the holes that needed dimpling to ensure I don't accidentally dimple holes that don't need it.

I realized pretty quickly, however, that the dimple tool is not going to work for the ribs and other small parts, so I ordered a hand squeezer from Aircraft Spruce:

The final step was to prime all the parts before assembly. However, I realised that that was an inefficient way of going about it, so I started only priming mating surfaces, then I prime the full assembly once it is all riveted together.

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