4 hours.
Got the stiffeners riveted on to the elevator skin, then went to work on the spar. Deburred the spar and ribs, drilled reinforcement plates. Cut down/ground down the counterweight to fit, per plans, then clecoed in the counterweight skin.. Drilled the skin, countersunk the counterweight. Looks like we get to have another paint day pretty soon. But once this is done, only an elevator and a trim tab stand between me and the end of phase 1 of the kit.
need to check the sequence for what to do next, but I think it’s assembling the skeleton, then drilling the skin.
« Archives on September 25, 2006
Right Elevator, stiffeners and skeleton
I’m legal again.
Did my BFR at Proteus yesterday. Dang, am I rusty. N400JW is a Piper Archer with a threadbare crushed-velour interior and a fading paint job that I have been flying, off and on, since 1998. It fits like a comfortable old sweater or a favorite pair of jeans. But it took me two tries to hack a basic 45 degree 360. This is what I get for not flying in over a year. But the instructor signed me off, which he did after the skillz came back. I’m a good pilot, but I need a hell of a lot more practice before I feel as safe as I did when I was flying all the time. But renting that ship for an hour a week for a year is about what one of the major kit parts of the RV costs. Slow build. So I’m in a quandary.. I don’t like being this out of practice.. it’s not safe. But I need to get on a regular skills maintenance program of some sort.. And I need to sort out tailwheel/aerobatic training somehow.