|
CONTOUR SANDING THE VERTICAL STABILIZER TO THE HULL
The next photo shows me employing #100 sandpaper to make the initially cut to tighten the union between the
vertical stabilizer and hull. I then shifted to #240 to finish it off. As I was doing this I periodically checked that I was keeping the stabilizer piece perpendicular to the hull with the aid of the
right angle triangle.
USE OF REGESTRATION PINS BETWEEN STAB. AND HULL
After achieving a tight fit between hull and vertical stabilizer I set about installing two brass pins into the stabilizers root.
The objective here, as with the wing/cylinder fit, is to come up with a pin-in-hole fit between the parts thus achieving mechanical strength of the union and correct alignment of the parts.
(As it
has been decided to produce from these masters commercially available kits and that these would find their way into the unskilled hands of common kit assemblers, I felt obligated to make the DOVE parts
as 'user friendly' as possible).
|
|
INSTALLING MACHINED PINS INTO THE ROOT OF THE VERT. STABALIZER
Turning to my bin of K&S brass round stock I selected a length of one-eighth inch diameter and a piece of
three-sixteenth inch diameter rod. In the lathe I turned the end of each to a round taper and parted them at about one-inch lengths. These two different sized 'pins' were be inserted into the root of the
vertical stabilizer master, becoming the means by which the stabilizer would index correctly onto the hull.
Suitably sized holes were drilled into the root of the stabilizer and the pins inserted.
Each pin projecting past the bottom of the stabilizer one-quarter inch. They were fixed in place with a small amount of thin formula CA adhesive.
MATCHED HOLES IN THE HULL TO RECEIVE THE REGISTRATION PINS
I carefully marking off onto the hull the location of the stabilizer pins. I then drilled oversize holes into the hull, each hole a bit deeper
than one-quarter inch in depth.
Preceding the filling step, to prevent sticking the stabilizer and hull together permanently, a piece of wax paper (Reynolds Cut-Rite Wax Paper, available at most
food stores), with two holes punched through it to let the pins pass through, was cut out. The wax paper would be sandwiched between stabilizer, filler, and hull during the next operation.
To
tighten up the fit between stabilizer pins and hull holes, and assuring exact registration between pins and holes, I mixed some Euro-Soft and poked it into the holes. While the filler was still malleable
I quickly slammed the vertical stabilizer down (assuring that it remained in horizontal and vertical alignment as I did so) onto the hull.
After the filler had hardened, the stabilizer was pulled
clear of the hull and the wax paper mask discarded. The hull was give a sanding to remove what little filler had squirted past the holes in the wax paper. What was revealed were two perfectly matched
holes that tightly fit the pins of the stabilizer.
Reinserting the stabilizer onto the hull confirmed a tight fit of the pins and perfect alignment of the two pieces. Mission accomplished.
The stabilizer, wing, and wing cylinder masters would all be used to create intermediate and production RTV silicon rubber tools. From those tools would be made production or intermediate tooling. That
process will be covered in substantial detail in a later installment of the article.
TO BE CONTINUED
Next I'll cover the work performed to build up two air brake blanks from GRP. This will be an interesting
exercise for those of you interested in how to perform glass lay-up See you in part 19
|
