February 26, 2006
Despite the fact that my finger has a #40 size hole in it, I managed to get a lot done today.
First I built the little structure for the trim tab servo. This is really easy, but you do have to pay attention to the measurements and not getting your lefts and rights confused.
Next, I moved on drilling the trim tab hinge. An extra set of hands really helps here. I don't have any pictures of the process, but it's really straight forward. I just used a long straight edge to make sure the tab was even with the trailing edge of the wing, and then I shoved it back and forth until I got a reasonable looking alignment with the inboard and outboard ends of the tab. Vans calls out a minimum clearance. I added just a touch "for the wife and kids".
Sometimes I drill like this...
...and sometimes I drill like this. Note the intense concentration. On a good day, the drill doesn't need to spin at all. I can make the bit penetrate the aluminum by shear will alone. Just in case, though, I used LOTS of clamps.
So that wasn't so bad. It actually looks kinda' nice.
I plugged everything in and used a 9V battery to make sure it all worked. This is the very first piece of the plane that actually moves on it's own. Yeah!!
Dave Cleveland stopped by tonight. He's my EAA chapter's president. Very interesting man.
We decided that the wings have been sitting in the crates long enough. Here's Ellen and Dave tearing into the skins box. As usual, everything is packed in super tight and held down with excessive amounts of industrial strength duct tape.