Getting ready

[Bryan Cotton]

Welcome to the gang! Where are you located, G?

[Gmoney]

Waiex B is the kit! I am located in West Tawakoni TX.
Really looking forward to the project.
G


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[Gmoney]

My tail kit ships Friday! Man am I looking forward to this..


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[Gmoney]

Debured and cleco’d together. I need to make a couple bends this weekend and see if I can’t get them knocked out.
G


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[lakespookie]

Make sure you double check the bend direction, i was a little unclear and ended up bending one of the horns in the wrong direction and had to replace the horn because it is a structural element did not want to risk losing a tail.

there is also an AN bolt hole that you will need a diffrent drill bit from the standard bits for rivetting as the AN bolt is a hair thicker than any of the standard bits and it will be way to tight otherwise. I guess you could wobble the bit to widen the hole but i would suggest just getting the one off bit they are not that expensive and easily available at a hardware store.

[lakespookie]

Also maybe ask for some suggestions on how to do the ruddervator tips i ended up just doing the best i could to make it match but i am not 100% happy with how they turned out they are not unsafe but i felt like a better system or approach has to exsist for how to cut/line those guys up its kind of hard to measure and match them since its a curved surface and i dont 100% think they are exactly the same. i am sure they come out of some mold but they are a composite part that is subject to some variablility. Other than that its pretty straight forward of a build. It will go way quicker than you think and the wings/fueselage are at about an 8 to 10 week lead time so i would start looking into putting that order in sooner rather than later unless you want to sit around waiting on the next kit. But that really depends on how quick you build the tails went together much faster than I expected. I think I got them done in under 80-100 hours total. also for the tips a dremel is gold, and for the bend you can use thick wall tubing or an impact socket in the about 7/8th to 1inch range should get you the right radi.

[Bryan Cotton]

I guess you could wobble the bit to widen the hole but i would suggest just getting the one off bit they are not that expensive and easily available at a hardware store.

In general it's a bad practice on aircraft to wobble drill bits for clearance. For structural bolts you want round snug fit holes.

[lakespookie]

I guess you could wobble the bit to widen the hole but i would suggest just getting the one off bit they are not that expensive and easily available at a hardware store.

In general it's a bad practice on aircraft to wobble drill bits for clearance. For structural bolts you want round snug fit holes.

you sir are not wrong, And i purchsed larger bits for my aircraft. I dont recall if its structural or not at this point this was a year ago just something that i thought of as being a challenge.

[GordonTurner]

Even better os to get the correct reamer for each bolt size. I have one that is the exact correct size for the rivets, and one each for an3, an4, and an6. The bolts have a very very slight range of size, so for the important seeming ones i try a few bolts and find one thats tight.

[Gmoney]

Thank you all for the hints and tips. Had family drop in for the long weekend. I have three 1” impacts on the ready for the bends.
I can already tell you I need to order my next sub kit. I am going to get the fuse kit next.
The fiberglass tips. I will install initially but if the wait is long for my next kit I plan on making some carbon ones. At a first glance they look simple enough to make a set of plugs.
Thanks again. More pics on progress next weekend.
G$


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