So, the Vertical Stabilizer (VS) is the first "real" part of the RV-14A that I'll be tackling, and having skimmed the plans, it looks like it should be one of the more straightforward sections. Good thing Van's starts out with the VS - some of the other sections would be far too daunting (kudos to the early builders, who had to start with the wing kit first, since the empennage kit wasn't available back then).
Building an aircraft, even one as supposedly straightforward as a Van's RV-14A, is a lesson in humility. Although I read ahead in the plans, I did not realize that my initial tool purchase should have also included the following, which I bought recently: small-diameter female dimple dies (I now have both the 3/32" and 1/8" sizes, just in case) ... I need those soon to dimple the ribs in the vertical stabilizer, since the clearances are less than the standard dimple dies. After a nice exchange with Annette at Cleaveland Aircraft Tools, I purchased a slew of other tools she recommended: a special bucking bar (long; used for the empennage somewhere ... works on RV-14s and RV-10s), a trailing edge drill jig, a special #40 countersink, an angled male dimple die (used on one of the trailing edges), a 12" back rivet set with a back riveting bucking bar (beefy!), a substructure dimple die set (dimples the spars/ribs/etc. a little deeper, so the skins mate better), a tank dimple die set (dimples a little deeper, to permit the Proseal to seep into the rivet pocket), and a few other tools that I'll discuss in later posts. Again, I can't speak highly enough about Annette at Cleaveland Aircraft Tool - a level of customer service I'd imagine folks had in the '50s and '60s, but that I've never experienced before.
At the pace I'm going, a 5 year build sounds about right - the first day, it took me 2.5 hours to go through only the first page of Section 6. I'm (finally?) on page 3 now, and can start to see the semblance of a real aircraft part. I clecoed the 4 rib sections to the front and rear spars, clecoed the skin to that aggregate spar assembly, final- and match-drilled all the holes, and voila! Progress:
For the FAA (i.e., documenting my fat mug in the shot):
Once I mocked-up the vertical stabilizer with clecos, it was time to dissemble all the parts, de-burr (a combination of a file for the fat edges of the doubler, an edge tool for the skins, a scotchbrite 6" wheel on the grinder for major burrs and bad edges, a scotch-brite flap wheel mounted to my drill press to buff the edges (real time saver!), a dremel tool with various grit scrotchbrite-type small wheels, and a piece of a 1" wide roll of 3M P400 sandpaper for the little bits that can't be reached any other way. Oh, and the drill holes were all de-burred with a manual deburring tool from Cleaveland Aircraft Tool (2 turns per hole, each side x umpteen holes). As you can tell, deburring took quite a while. Maybe I am being to anal about "stress risers," but at this point, I'd rather not cut any corners.
Then it was dimpling the skins and the ribs. The skins used a standard 3/32" male/female die set either in the DRDT-2 or the hand squeezer, whichever fit best and was easiest to handle. I must say - the DRDT-2 is worth it's weight in gold - VERY easy to use, and contrary to some of the posts online, you can get a nice dimple ... just make sure to set the dies very close to each other (I have them touching). Make sure to mark holes that DON'T get dimpled and don't get rivets. Next, I'll be priming and doing the final assembly - I'll save that fun for the next post.
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