Author: Leonard Westermeyer

Rear Spar Preparation

The work started with the assembling of the rear spars with the reinforcement bars which had to be trimmed to fit the curve of the spar and the points rounded.  The Scotch Brite wheel on the grinder did a good job of polishing the bars.

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Modified reinforcement bars clecoed into the rear spar.

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Then front spar was assembled, involving the modification of the front spar channels and the bending of the spar to match the spar doublers.

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Aft view of front spar assembly.
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Fore view of the front spar assembly.

Time:  6 hours.

Inventory of Empennage Kit

On Thursday, January 12, I inventoried the Empennage Kit and found it complete except for one substitution which was a factory error.  I talked to Customer Service on the phone and they promised to send out the correct part right away.  Great support!

Here are the boxes of the Empennage Kit on one of the 2′ X 8′ work tables which I built:

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I also made a table extension for the DRDT-2 Dimpler and covered it with some carpet which I bought at Home Depot.  A two foot strip cut off of the 12 foot roll at Home Depot cost less than $6 and was enough for the extension table and for the work table as well.img_50061

Time:  4 hours

Trip to Aurora to pick up Empennage Kit

I drove to Aurora, Oregon from Spokane, Washington on Tuesday January 10, 2017 to pick up the Empennage Kit from the Van’s Aircraft factory.  I didn’t realize that I was heading into the biggest snowfall in a decade in Portland.  Overnight about 5 inches fell and another 12 inches fell by noon on Wednesday, closing down my return route, Interstate 84.  I put on my chains and drove back on an alternate route south of Mount Hood, arriving home after about 10 hours of driving.

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My Jeep on Wednesday morning in Portland.