Empennage - Vertical Stabilizer - Day 1

So, today was the first day we began building our own airplane. Be warned that the caption of the below photo is a bit incorrect though, since the beginning of the build is neither called step one, nor is it on page one. It is called Section 6, which quite logically occurs immediately after sections 1-5. Sections 1-5 cover many of the prerequisites to embarking on such a project, including company/aircraft information, terminology, methodology, and just general information about exactly we've gotten ourselves into. Van's indeed seems to be very thorough in guiding their builders along, and I for one am very thankful for that! For all intents and purposes, though, Section 6 is really Step 1 for actually building something.

Page 1, Step 1!

I gathered all of the necessary parts for the vertical stabilizer, stripped off the blue vinyl protective sheeting, and began following the instructions that lay before me. I cut some aluminum angle to make R and L spar caps, and before I knew it I was neck deep in drilling/deburring, watching things take shape before my eyes!

These are the two VS spar caps, just after cutting them with the bandsaw.

The top of the spar caps, tapering away as you go upward.

The lower part of the same spar caps, beginning to get clecoed into place.

The VS rear spar, with caps, hinge brackets, and doublers all clecoed into place.

 

Adding in the front spar and the rest of the VS skeleton.

 

Clecoed and final-drilled the skin into place... just to have to take it all back apart again for more deburring, dimpling, and then priming for final assembly!

I've chosen to go with Rustoleum self-etching auto primer because it's relatively cheap, easy to work with, and my research seems to indicate it provides decent protection for the money. I considered other techniques like alodining or using a higher-dollar 2-part primer, but quite honestly I can't justify the cost in both time and money spent. Lots of planes are built around the world without any primer at all, and so I'm really not too worried about choosing this route over some other methods preferred by the primer purists-- this seemed like the best middle-of-the-road choice. For those who may not be aware, primers tend to be a volatile subject among aircraft builders... lots of differing opinions out on the forums that lead to lengthy discussions and spirited debates... me, I chose what I hope/believe is best for my purpose, but may not be the route others have taken or would/should take. Unless asked specifically, I promise this is the last time I'll discuss primers and choice/rationale here on this site!!!! ;-)

Priming is done, so that means it's time for rivet #1!!! Too bad it was for kind of a boring part: the rudder stop tabs. It was a good place to start, though. Here's the final part after putting the six rivets into place:

The first part I riveted together for my very own RV-10!

A few dozen rivets later, it was Sarah's turn to take a shot at it!

 

She's been busy assembling her Van's toolbox practice kit, but she took a quick break from that to help out with the front VS spar doubler plate. She did a great job!

After riveting the spars together and then (most of) the skeleton, we're ready to attach the skin! Time to call it a day, though. I have to say, things seem to be going more quickly than I thought they would. I'm not in any kind of rush, and would much rather take longer and make a quality build than go quickly and make mistakes... but today seemed to go very smoothly and we cruised right along through most of the steps. I can only assume that the SportAir workshops we attended are responsible for a lot of this progress made... all I can say is, if you're thinking about building a plane, take the class!