Wing tie down bracket nutplates, Priming, and Riveting

 So today I got started by drilling the nutplate mounting holes in the tie down brackets.  I used my awesome nutplate jig to get this done!

 Then I countersunk the back of the brackets for the nutplate mount rivets.

 Finally I needed to do a small batch of priming so I can finish assembly of the spar parts and move on to ribs!

 All primed.

 Next I riveted the nutplates to the tie down brackets.  I used the squeezer for this task.

 And then used the gun and bucking bar to rivet the tie down brackets to the spars.

 One spar done.

 Next spar done.

 Then I started riveting the spar extension to the spar.
I used the gun and bucking bar for this task.

Done!

Final Tail Cone Priming

Primed the rest of the tail cone parts and the avionics shelves that I built.  Glad to that is over!  Priming = easy.......  Prep for primer = hard!

Tail Cone Priming Part #2

Scrubbed my fingers to the point of almost being unbearable.  My nails are rubbed off to the quick!  Anyway, I got all the misc. parts, the smaller bulkheads, the longerons, and the J stiffeners all primed today!   I still have the large bulkheads to go.  One more session and I should have it.

Tail Cone Priming Part #1

 After all the parts were deburred it was time to try my new air powered Jitterbug that I picked up at Harbor Freight.  Water and electricity don't mix so I could not use my electric one for this task.  Turns out it worked great!

Here is a quick video on how I am using it.  Wet the parts, sprinkle on some BonAmi and go to work.

Parts all prepped and waiting on them to dry.

This is how I mix up the AKZO for a priming session.  This stuff starts to separate rapidly so it is important to mix it good so the solids are in suspension.

First batch of parts all primed!  Sorry about the blurry pic!

Final trim tab prep

 Started today by deburring all the trim tab parts starting with the skin holes.

 Then I worked on the spars.

 And the trim tab control horn assemblies.

 And the skin edges.

 Then I dimpled the trim tab control horn assemblies.

 Next I dimpled the bottom row of holes on the spar.

 And dimpled the holes in the skins.

 Then I countersunk the top row of holes in the spars per the directions.

 Next I primed the trim tab parts.  Control horn parts....

 Spars....

Skins...

Next is on to assembly!

Primed Elevator Parts

After a couple hours of scratching everything with maroon scotchbrite followed by an acetone wipedown (trying new prep method) the elevator skeleton parts are primed.

Elevator skin priming!

I did not have much time but I managed to get the elevator skins primed this morning before heading off to eat like a pig at multiple locations.

I hope to get the rest of the elevator parts primed tomorrow.

Primed Horizontal Stabilizer Parts

Scrubbed everything with Bon Ami and maroon scotchbrite and then after drying, primed with AKZO.

Parts drying....tick tock!

All primed and ready for assembly!

Horizontal Stabilizer Priming...and a few other things!

 Started this evening with scrubbing all the HS front and rear spar parts with BonAmi and maroon scotchbrite pads.  Then lay the parts out to dry.  I speed up the drying process by blowing off the parts with compressed air and turning a large fan on them.

 While I wait for them to dry, I scuffed up all the powdercoated steel hinge brackets.  These will get painted with the plane and if you don't scuff them now, it is very hard to do properly later.

 Next while waiting I started prepping the ribs per the directions.  You have to cut some of the flanges off of 4 of them.  2 get 2 flanges removed and 2 only get 1 removed.

 I used the bandsaw to make the necessary cuts.

 Here they are all cut.

 Next I bent the nose of the two ribs that had both flanges cut off per the directions.

 And on the same two ribs you have to tweak the end flange a bit.

 Mixed up 12oz of AKZO and it is cooking off in the PPS cup.  Love this PPS system.  Very easy to cleanup!

Parts all primed!  I ran out of primer on the very last part of the last pass on the spars.  Got lucky!  That is it for today!

Primer day!

Started tonight with final deburring of the skin holes.

And the skin edges.

And countersunk the AEX trailing edge.

Then my daughter and I scrubbed all the parts with BonAmi and maroon scotchbrite.  Rinsed well with water.

Parts are then layed out to dry.

To speed the process of drying I use compressed air to blow off the water.

Skin one...

Skin two...

Mixed up a batch of AKZO and ran a bit short.  Loving the PPS system!  Ended up mixing a bit more while the parts were drying on one side.  Ended up with a little extra left over.  I hate wasting this high dollar stuff.  Hopefully I will zone in on the amounts to mix soon.

Skins all primed.

Parts all primed.  Assembly starts tomorrow!