Boy this was a tough day...one of my helpers is completely wiped out. Maybe it was the paint fumes.

Builders note: This is a handy tool which is easy to make. It is a rivet measuring tool. You can buy one for about 30 bucks...or make one like this. The notches along the right side of this piece of scrap metal are cut to the proper height for 3/32 and 1/8 " rivets...that the length of the rivet that should be sticking out through the pieces of metal you are joining. The holes are drilled to the proper diameter for the 'shop heads' of the rivets. I wish I had made this sooner.

Now lets start to put it all back together again. The h.s. is removable (not recommended during flight). This is the aft attach bracket.

Change the orange air hose to the blue one...because the orange one is hooked to the oiler for the air tools and I don't want any oil in the primer. Put on the martian costume. I thought the repirator was on tight enough. It wasn't. When I finished, I had green primer on my nose around the edges of the respirator...a sure sign that there was air flow there. Next morning I felt like I had drunk a bottle of Jack Daniels...it took me until noon to remember my name. The respirator will be tighter next time.

I took the outdoor pictures while I was getting ready to paint. You notice the weather was lovely and I like to do this outside where there's plenty of fresh air. Now that I'm ready to paint, it's raining outside...so I had to build a painting booth by suspending this tarp from the runners for the garage door.

Builders notes: Most of the parts have sticky labels on them like this. Eliminates any confusion about which part is which...but they are a pain to get off. Goo Gone is pretty good at doing the trick. Squirt the label...wait a minute...peels right off.

TV in the corner.

Some of the most important tools for a big project like this are not for the airplane, but for your brain...or soul. The iPod is absolutely indispensible.

These are the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. That's a BIG hill back there...providing an invigorating hike.

If you look past the junk in the other direction, you look out the window to the west.

You look out across the city of Wenatchee and the Columbia River. The hills on the other side of the valley are about 8 miles away...almost as far across as the Grand Canyon...(we get fewer tourists)

Timeout for a sidebar. I have great windows in the shop. Here's one of them. If you look out the window...

I was amazed that it all seems straight and without a twist. That was all pretty fun. What's not fun is the next step...taking it all apart and cleaning out all the burr holes created by drilling and then doing the 3 step corroision proofing process. Notice the colored tags that I have put on each of the ribs. After you have taken it all apart and primed the pieces...you have to put it all back together again exactly the same way it was when you drilled it.

Check level again...blocks underneath help.

The process is repeated at the other end...the skin on this end overlaps the skin that was put on first.

Proper use of the aerocrafters tool belt saves a lot of time because you spend a lot of time putting clamps and clecos in...or taking them out. (gasp...I can't hold my gut in much longer).

Get it straight along the trailing edges and at the corners...hold your breath...and drill the skin...placing clecos as you go.

It should read the same angle all along the h.s. Of course it doesn't...so you shim the wood blocks at both ends and eventually you get it.

Eliminating twist in the h.s. is very important and tricky. The digital level let's you know where you stand.

These snazy orange tie downs are great for getting the skin to fit snugly. Builders note: don't overtighten these (as I did) or you will have too much skin overhanging the trailing edges.

The right skin goes on...keeping this assembly straight is critical because the elevator will be mounted to the h.s. I have clamped steel angles to the aft end of the h.s. to try to achieve this.

This is where we left off...but now the missing ribs have been installed.

Back to the horizontal stabilizer. As you will recall if you have been following this from the beginning, I had to interupt the h.s. construction while awaiting parts. I built the elevator and trim tab. Now back to the h.s.

Here are two of the hinges being prepared for mounting. It's critical that the hinges by straight and lined up properly. Otherwise, the elevator could be restricted in it's motion. Note to other Sportsman builders: A music stand is a great way to hold the instruction manual. Keeps it up out of the metal shavings, and countless items that accumulate on the table, gets it out of the way, and you don't have to bend over to read it. I havn't figured out a way to keep from misreading the manual however. I'm sure this never happens to you other guys, but it's amazing how often I read something three times, but don't understand the meaning until I have screwed it up. Not the fault of the manual...just the nut behind the wheel.

Before mounting the hinges, the holes in the elevator spar which were cut to lighten the elev. need to be sealed with aluminum tape.

It's time to attach the hinges to the elevator, the trim tab, and the horizontal stabilizer (I'll have to do the h.s.later since I havn't finihsed it). First you take these long pieces of piano hinge (aircraft grade, of course) and cut them into the appropriate length. The Dremel cutting tool makes short work of this.

Here it is riveted in place. Seems quite strong and doesn't look quite as bad as it does in this picture. By the time it's painted, I hope it will look alright..if not, I'll just build another trim tab.

I decided to see if I couldn't come up with solution that was both strong and not too cosmetically ugly. I cut a square of aluminum to use as a backing. I also cut a small strip to go inside the underlying rib which was also similarly maimed.

This is the back of the trim tab. Inside there are small ribs. These two attach to the control rod that moves the trim tab...a pretty important function. The yucky hole top right is the result of a 3X rivet gun. This gun allows adjustment of the pounding action of the gun from a gentle tap to an explosive force that could move a mountain. I think it's what John Henry was up against when he 'died with a hammer in his hand, Lord Lord, he died with a hammer in his hand." Anyway, it inadvertently got turned up and took after the trim tab with a mind of it's own. Honest...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Here is a closeup of the control horn. Pretty cool, huh? By the way, I know this project seems like it's moving slowly, but I didn't lose an entire year. The date should read 4/5/2005.

Here is the trim tab partially assembled. The control horn (which I made from aluminum T stock) is pointing to the right. It will be attached to a servo arm which will extend through the slot on the bottom of the elevator to the right.

The gap which you saw in the last picture is where the trim tab is mounted. This is kind of like a 'fine tuning' control for climbing our descending. This is the trim tab before it is put together.

Here it is standing up.

This is the other side of the elevator. You have to get a bucking bar inside the elevator through this opening which is very tight. The opening by the way will be where the electric motor (servo) is mounted that will operate the trim tab. I am going to make another yoke and remount it. I got an offset rivet set from Arnie Clark for the top that allows you to rivet around corners. Hopefully that will do the trick. This is also a place where an extra set of hands would have made a big difference.

Which you can also see here. Driving these rivets is tricky.

Then they are rivetted to the elevator. The angles that are used to attache the yoke are pretty banged up here.

They are assembled temporarily like this.

That yoke is made from these pieces.

Here's the elevator nearing completion. Notice the control yoke sticking up in the middle. This will be connected to the stick which will make the elevator go up or down.