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Done with the ailerons and flaps, except for the 4 tricky rivets. Here is a picture. I think Adam has a better picture from his real camera, I will post it tomorrow.

Here is my aileron balance setup:


Unlike Ryan I did not get it perfect the first time. Took out about 1.9 oz.


I used the drill press and a 5/8" drill. Used the drill stop feature to make controlled removals.

Not pictured - a lot of dog work. Deburring, edge finishing, sticker removal of a bunch of ribs. I am sort of remembering that I hate ribs.

Here Adam is riveting on gussets. He prefers the PRG 410 to the bent mandrel/wedge trick.


He is halfway through the aft ribs. I am working the belcranks.

Bellcranks!


Adam and I were interviewed this evening by a gentleman representing Northwest Quarterly magazine. They were doing a story on the airport community and wanted some homebuilders in it too. They liked the father/son building partners angle. We may show in the next issue.

I did mention to the reporter how proud I am of Adam for the skills he has gained. I am a huge believer in building airplanes with your kids. Or hovercraft, or human hamster wheels, or loft beds, or whatever.
http://youtu.be/vR79HXuOP2Q

Bryan, I've enjoyed watching Adams progress as much as your own through your updates. Heck his progress mirrors my own in some ways, from novice to chief riveter.

Thanks Ryan! The beauty of the kit is that you can be both a novice AND chief riveter. He is no longer a novice but he has held onto the riveter title.

We have been at this two years. Here is October 2013:


Adam just riveted up the aileron bellcrank ribs:

To trim the root ribs, I made a tracing of the rib pattern. I used Matthew's hovercraft windshield, some ply, 3 saw horses and a trouble light to make a light table.


The key things to trace were the tooling hole, chord line, and trim pattern. I found out after I made two patterns that all 4 ribs, 2 forward and 2 aft have an identical pattern. Also note I used a hole punch where I had marked the tooling hole.


Adam finished drilling aft spar parts. We have some deburring and edge finishing to go yet.

To keep from getting confused on the root rib gussets, I laid them over the plans and marked them all. They are all different. Some have the same shape but the flange is bent to make them mirror images of each other.


Also in the picture you can see our old tech logbooks.