Plates and Gussets

Monday 25th February 2008 2 hrs 45 min

Match-drilled E921 gusset to E-907 elevator trim sapr and E905 left elevator root rib. Deburredn adn edge-prepped it. Match-drilled ETT-602B trim servo mounts to the E-616PP cover plate. Deburred and dimpled holes in all three parts. Dimpled E-616PP cover plate for #6 attachment screws. Removed primer from left elevator skin where trailing edge wedge will be glued.

Setting up the trim servo mounts took quite a while and a lot of care to make sure the orientation and placement were correct. Some builders mention difficulty in getting the cover plate into its position when the trim servo is mounted on it. I tried it out and I believe it will go in okay. The clecos holding the mounts and servo in place make it hard to be sure but if there is a problem, I will fix it later on.

Dimpling the inspection plate introduces compound curves into the cover plate, which I simply bent out by hand. Back riveting the mounts onto it will also help flatten it.

I used the 'Dremel' (actually a cheap Chinese import copy) to remove primer from the inside trailing edges of the left elevator skin where the trailing edge wedge will go. it was easy enough and gives a good result but I went through 3 wire brush bits in less than 3 feet of edge and I still have about 12 feet to go. Hopefully, actual Dremel brand brushes will be of a higher quality.

These trailing edge wedges can't be primed as they will be glued with tank sealer before riveting. That makes them the only non-alclad part of the emp that will not be primed. I haven't seen any discussion of this on the various forums. Presumably, as the top and bottom faces are covered in sealer, it is only the leading edge that is exposed. I must research this a bit more.