Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

Next steps for the elevator assembly involved back riveting the trailing edges. I followed the same method as with the rudder trailing edge, but this time inserted all rivets along the top side of the elevator so that the shop heads would all be along the bottom trailing edges (and therefore less visible). After taping the rivets in, I flipped over the elevator and used a narrow flush rivet set in the rivet gun to partially set the rivets. Starting from the middle and working towards the ends, I partially set each 5th rivet, then each rivet in-between, and finally the remaining rivets. Rivets inserted and taped along top trailing edge Rivets partially set along bottom trailing edge I then removed the tape, flipped the elevator over again, and used the pneumatic squeezer and trailing edge squeezer set to finish setting each rivet, again starting from the middle of the trailing edge and working towards the ends. Acorns in dimples after squeezing rivets flush Top side rivet heads set flus...

While waiting for the elevator trailing edges to cure, I made a start on the tail cone, the first big section of what will become the airplane fuselage. The first step involves fabricating a tie down bar from a stock piece of extruded aluminum. Part of the fabrication also involves tapping an 8-16 thread to 1-1/4" deep. I decided to tap the hole first prior to trimming the bar, as doing so would allow me to tap the other end if my first attempt didn't go according to plan. To tap the hole, I first had to updrill it to 5/16" diameter as that is the hole size required for an 8-16 tap. After ensuring everything was perfectly level and aligned on my drill press, I proceeded to drill the hole (at a slower RPM of around 1300) using plenty of cutting fluid. I drilled slowly, backing out the drill a few times to allow aluminum shavings to exit, and the enlarged hole came out perfectly centered. Using the drill press to upsize the hole for tapping I then put the bar into my vise a...

Moving on with the elevators, I decided to trim the counterweights to the size specified. I began by marking the cuts on the weights using a sharpie, and then proceeded to cut the weights on the bandsaw.  Lead is relatively soft, so the bandsaw had no trouble cutting through with a wood saw blade. I just had to be careful to vacuum up the small chips that came off as I was cutting. I also wore gear to ensure that I was protected from any flying chips of lead.  I had to pay attention to ensuring that the saw tracked along the cut line as the lead was being cut. On one of the weights, the saw blade wandered a little and I ended up cutting a little more off than I planned to. No big deal though because after making these cuts, I was able to pair up the 4 weights so that the total weight of each pair were within a few grams of each other. Next I had to trim the raised portion off two of the weights. To accomplish this, I clamped the weight into the vice and used a chisel and hamme...

Prior to using tank sealant to attach the elevator foam ribs and trailing edges, I decided to work on the trim tabs so that foam ribs could also be sealed in those at the same time. Since all the holes in the trim tabs, spars and horns are already final drilled, I decided to skip ahead a few steps and debur the holes now, since I would not need to touch them again until riveting. The only holes I did not debur, and will do so later, are the holes on the close out tabs as these will need to be match-drilled. Deburring the skin holes, especially the inside, is significantly easier prior to finishing the skin bend. I then used my homemade bending brake (constructed a month ago) to bend the skins as close as I could to their final positions. I applied the bend gradually, and frequently checked by holding the spar in place to see how much further I needed to bend, being very careful not to overbend. Trim tabs bent to their final positions Bending the skins using the brake worked very well. ...

Now it was time to finish up with riveting on the inboard and outboard ends of the elevators. The first step was to rivet the inboard ribs to the rear spar. Although space was tight due to the angle of the inboard rib end flanges, these were easily set using the Main Squeeze and the 4" thin nose yoke. Shop heads holding the inboard rib end flange to the rear spar Manufactured heads (sitting in the dimples) holding the rear spar to the inboard rib end flange  Next I tackled riveting the inboard ribs to the elevator gussets. Although space was tight, I managed to buck the rivets to spec without issue. I did put duct tape over the manufactured head of the rivets while setting them and that helped to minimize scuffing of the rib and rivet head, which will be touched up with primer later. I also found that my decision to. leave open the 4 holes along the bottom rear spar allowed me to push the bottom skin back just far enough to get my fingers under the bucking bar while setti...