Horizontal Stabilizer 8-2-5 to 8-4-1

With the first set of horizontal stabilizer parts primed, I went ahead and riveted the doubler to the rear spar, paying attention to holes that were to be left open.

Rear spar riveted from the back

Shop heads will be on the inside of the horizontal stabilizer

I then riveted the brackets to the rear spar (manufactured heads on the bracket side), and also riveted together the inboard hinge bracket and attached it to the spar with bolts.

Rear spar brackets attached

Inboard hinge bracket assembled

The next task was to fabricate a couple of front spar attachment brackets from a thick piece of aluminum angle. I began by marking out all the bracket dimensions.

Front spar attachment bracket dimensions marked

I then used the band saw to cut the brackets, taking several breaks during the cuts because the aluminum really heats up while cutting.

Cutting the aluminum angle on the band saw

After deburring on the belt sander and bench grinder, I was left with two nicely shaped, accurately sized left and right brackets.

Two attachment brackets ready to have holes drilled

Completed (for now) front spar attachment brackets

Next I gathered the front spar caps and stringers (6 pieces) and marked the ends for cutting. The cuts were made on the band saw and all pieces were deburred using the bench grinder wheels.

Front spar caps and stringers cut and deburred

Build Hints

• When cutting thicker aluminum, lubricate the saw blade, use gloves to handle the aluminum as it gets hot and cut slowly and steadily.

Time Taken:     5.5 hours

Dates:                August 4 - August 18 2022

Horizontal Stabilizer Total Time:   8.5 hours

RV-10 Build Total Time:                  65.3 hours

Priming Total Time:                     8.8 hours (not included in build time totals)