Day 179

Today we worked to get the empennage fairing finished. We started by cleaning up the perimeter all the way around. The composite part we received was a little rough. We went around and sanded it all straight and smooth with some 80 grit sandpaper to start. Then we went and smoothed the underside where it rested against the plane.

Once that was all looking and feeling better we mounted it back onto the plane. We then followed the measurements in the build manual and drilled and Cleco’ed everything on. 34 holes total. There wasn’t shown any spots on the underside of the horizontal stabilizer to hold the back of the bottom piece, so we measured out and mounted the bottom similar to the top. This way it wouldn’t flop or vibrate around.

Next we removed the cleco’s and took the fairing back off. We then enlarged the holes on the plane to fit the M4 rivet nuts. Once drilled, went around and deburred the holes to make sure everything was smooth and clean. We then one by one pulled the rivet nuts (34 of them…) applying red locktite on them all to make sure they won’t move.

We also drilled out the holes on the empennage control covers to facilitate the M4 bolts. Then scuffed them ready for paint and bolted them onto the plane to check their fitment.

We then sanded the entirety of the outside of the empennage fairing with 220 grit sandpaper until it was all smooth. Then lastly scuffing the whole thing so that it is ready for paint. We then enlarged the holes to facilitate the M4 bolts.

Lastly we remounted and bolted the fairing on to make sure everything would fit once it was all painted and ready for final assembly. Soon we will be able to map out how we want our two tone paint scheme to go. Then we can start preparing for paint. It’s all starting to really come together!