Since I have to wait on priming the Horizontal Stabilizer (Horz. Stab.), I started to work on the Vertical Stabilizer (Vert. Stab.). The process is very similar to Horz. Stab. I started by clecoing the spar doubler to the rear spar. Next the rest of the assembly (ribs and front spar) are clecoed in place. Next all holes are match drilled to final size. This creates the skeleton of the Vert. Stab..
Just like before, the skin is then attached to the skeleton. After everything is clecoed together, the skin is match drilled to final size with the ribs and spars. Moments like this when an assembly is together is a very gratifying feeling. It’s a feeling of accomplishment and noticeable change. But this feeling is short lived, because you take it all apart and debur, dimple, and machine countersink the parts. Then it is ready for primer.
N249DA 