Monthly Archives: January 2020

HS Structure Assembly

The horizontal stabilizer assembly started by fitting together 2 sections of rear spar channel with the center section sandwiched by doubler plates – front and back. The result is over 8ft long. Appropriately sized cleco fasteners temporarily hold the parts together. A laser level helps to confirm that the channel is true – straight and free of twist.

The rear channel components were permanently fastened with a combination of 4.0 x 10mm and 3.2 x 8mm pulled rivets. Assembly continued with ribs joining with the front spar channel and clecos hold the front components as they are fitted and fastened in a similar fashion as the rear.

I’ve found that when 2 or 3 parts are sandwiched together with many rivets, it can be a little tricky to get a relaxed fit. Many overlapping holes must align precisely, in order for the rivet shanks to fit through all of the layers easily. I try to take whatever time is necessary to get the best concentric alignment of as many holes as possible, so that little or no reaming is necessary. The kit parts are punched very precisely and overlapping holes will likely line up, given the chance.

My assembly process starts with just a few clecos, while test fitting rivet shanks in many or most of the holes. Then I loosen and reset those few clecos until there is good natural alignment of as many holes as can reasonably be achieved. Eventually, a majority of the holes will line up perfectly, leaving only a very few that may need a little reaming to easily accept a rivet. Straight-shank chucking reamers seem to do a great job. Use the exactly right sizes. #30 and #20 are common.

The HS structure, without skins, is somewhat delicate. I’ve used a couple of stiffeners, from a Vans Aircraft workshop (skills practice) kit, clamped to the innermost HS ribs to provide support while the entire structure is riveted.

The HS structure is symmetrical. At some point, a decision must be made as to which side will be the top and the other side, therefore, the bottom. For my HS, continuity of how the rib flanges relate to the spar channels has turned out to be somewhat better on one side than the other. The side with the best potential for smooth skin support was chosen to be the top. I used a black permanent marker to make indications inside the front spar channel, where they can be seen during the various assembly phases.

With the HS top chosen, left and right HS panels become apparent. 2 Heyco 0.375in snap-bushings have been placed in the rear forming holes of the 2 innermost left-side ribs and anchored with some dabs of gray RTV. The nylon snap bushings are intended to protect the pitch trim servo wire (cable) as it passes through the ribs. I’ve elected to use nylon snap bushings instead of the rubber grommets supplied with the kit.

EAA Wing Stand – Construction

It was time to get an EAA wing stand built. The container with my quick-build kit is on a ship, heading my way. It’s going to be sailing in to Tacoma, WA on or about February 5. A few days after that, I’ll have a shop full of Sling 2 airplane sections – wings, fuel tanks and fuselage. I’ve got to have a place to store both wing panels.

My good friend Charlie used a rainy day to help me. He’s been working hard, building his new home. I enjoy that he lets me help him sometimes. It was nice to have his craftsman expertise and company for my project.

The new portable propane heater can be seen in a couple of the photos.

Horizontal Stabilizer – Prep and Prime

I’ve temporarily set aside the rudder and moved on to preparing the parts for the horizontal stabilizer (HS), after finding a poorly formed rudder hinge bracket, about a week before TAF folks returned from holiday break on January 13. Once they were back and after a few emails and phone calls – TAF (USA) has a new part on the way to me.

The preparation processes for the HS are the same as I’ve detailed for the rudder (RD). Several days of indoor and outdoor work have all the parts ready for assembly.

We got some snow and for a couple of days, it got too cold in the shop for painting. Inside the shop temperature dropped to 42 degrees F – overnight. I really needed more than my electric 1500W ceramic and 1200W infrared heaters.

I made a good deal a small portable propane heater and was able to continue with priming all of the HS parts. In the morning, I can bring the shop up to 60 degrees F in just a few minutes.

Rudder – Prep and Prime

Preparing the rudder parts during the last few days of December and on into the first week of January 2020, involved increasingly familiar processes.

Inside the shop, deburring of all edges and holes was done with my Avery Speed Deburr tool and Scotch-Brite C/P 7A wheel. Light scuffing with a fine (red) Scotch-Brite pad seems to help make subsequent chemical treatments more effective. Initial parts degreasing was done by wiping with a splash of acetone on a paper towel.

Outside the shop, degreasing continued with Extreme Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner, using a soft clean rag, followed by a water rinse from the garden hose. It’s winter on the Olympic Peninsula and my well water is very – VERY – cold. My hands, wearing only thin nitrile gloves, are almost frozen. A few minutes in the shop to dry the parts and then it’s back outside to apply Alumiprep 33 with a silicone basting brush and freezing hands, while hovering over a black plastic mortar tub. Rinse, dry and repeat – this time with Alodine 1201.

It’s cold and it takes until the afternoon to get the shop inside air temperature above 50 degrees F. It’s something of a hassle to run my paint booth vent fan, as there are some gaps that let cold air in. Without the venting, I quickly and lightly spray just a few parts per day – often only one side. Then I have to abandon the shop until the next morning. It took several days to prime all of the rudder parts.

For me, degreasing and chemical treatments take hours and hours – most of it outdoors. I’m trying to use absolutely minimal amounts of material, not make a mess, and get satisfactory results. I just can’t afford to make or deal with dipping tanks. I tried to save time by not etching with Alumiprep. Unfortunately, I’ve found that even with thorough degreasing, there were places where the Alodine instantly sheeted off un-etched aluminum surface. Those parts got re-scuffed, etched and then re-treated with Alodine. I’ve tried not scuffing and short-cutting other steps – only to find that results tend to reflect the level effort that I put in.

The parts quality of the TAF Sling 2 kit is frankly remarkable – excellent in IMO. I could probably get away with little to no deburring – certainly much less than I’ve been doing. Priming is truly in the realm of optional effort. I’m taking it slow and having fun doing it all.

Somewhere on the TAF website there is a recommendation to start your building journey by ordering only the empennage kit and putting it together over a weekend – just to see what you’re in for. Maybe someone could take the parts out of the box – rivet them together over a couple of days – and end up with serviceable tail feathers. I suppose it’s mechanically possible, but highly unlikely, even for an experienced kit builder – if they haven’t previously built the empennage for some model of a Sling aircraft.

I believe a significant limiting factor of how fast you can go – is missing information detail. There are certainly a few pitfalls that only careful consideration will allow you to avoid. It takes time to understand. Achieving correct part orientation, relaxed fit and knowing exactly where and where not to rivet – is very important. If you get ahead of yourself, it’s going to take considerably more time, effort and cost for rework. Be careful. Strive to get things right on the first go.