The fifty 5/32" clecos that I ordered arrived and I was able to test assemble the entire horizontal stabilizer. I also got a sense how tight riveting will be from the rib side since the nose and middle ribs butt against each other in the forward spar.
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| Having little fun with AC/DC playing in the background |
On to serious work:
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| Half-way there |
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| All the way there |
In the first picture above, you can see the dark spar doubler plate connecting the left and right spar channels. That was the primer test piece. After 24 hours, it passed the tape test. I started with blue masking tape and realized this stuff is made to come off easily. So I applied some very sticky clear packing tape, making sure to press it down on the primer. It came off without a single speck of primer or residue.
I then conducted a scratch test. The primer scratched off easier than I expected, that is, with not too much force. So, I will conduct the scratch test again after 72 hours of lay-up.
A note on assembling this in the "lay flat" position: The rib flanges end up supporting the weight of the assemble when it's laying flat on the bench. I suggest blocking up under the spar channels to keep the weight off the rib flanges.
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