I had a lot of fun working on the stabilizer and finishing it out. I did the rudder first, but this is the first part I did after a kamikaze run to San Antonio on April Fool’s Day to get my crated empennage parts before a state shutdown (I thought) would trap them at the Estes terminal until May 4th. I worked on it during April and by late in the month I was finished:
Skeleton laid out
Completed CH750 Stabilizer
The elevator took a lot longer, some extra time in actual hours — but mostly in calendar days. Reasons abound: There was the trim tab complexity; there was a minor fabrication issue with a factory part that needed some back and forth emailing with Zenith to remedy properly; I made a mistake that required a replacement part. Also I wanted to figure out a technique to keep the skeleton from inadvertently moving when I pulled the clecos to drill the skin. Tools had to be researched and ordered. Etc.
Because of the electric trim tab I had aircraft wiring stuff to learn. I wanted to do it as close to aircraft standards as possible. I did a lot of thinking about standards vs experimental acceptability. HomebuiltHelp and the Zenith instructions are pretty clear: Solder the wires.
But I wanted to do a connection I could non-destructively pull apart for eventual maintenance. And there’s another reason: If I get the wiring backwards on the stick it offers an easy way to change it back to correct operation. The upshot was I decided to connect the Ray Allen servo wires to the lead wire using D-Subminiature connectors. I spent some time looking into high quality crimping tools. To me it’s not about being in a hurry. Every minute I spend in my shop helps me move past the tumult of the moment — so much political upset in the time of Covid. Outrage in an election year — cities on fire.
I’m a science person. To paraphrase William Wynne, just as physics, gravity, and chemistry are utterly unforgiving with aircraft, my shop is unforgiving when it doles out serenity: Regardless of the latest controversy, upset, smotherings, marches, rioting and looting, inside my shop is a problem I can personally solve right now — right now. I do not have to wait for the tumult to pass. I don’t have to fruitlessly argue, debate, cajole, or become enraged. TV pundits have no voice in my aircraft assembly building. None.
Instead, The Elevator: Right here, right now — and my hands making it the way it needs to be made:
Ready for Disassembly and Deburring