After a few more days of drilling I was nearly ready to take the skins off and prep them for riveting. The only thing left was to updrill the holes in the rear spar. The first step was to bring the ailerons and flaps home from the airport. Next I consulted the plans to find how the control surfaces are meant to be aligned. As I was reviewing the plans I found that the hinge had been riveted 1/2" inboard of where it was should have been.
It was determined that this would cause more difficulties down the line if I didn't do something about it. My dad told me that I would need to drill out the entire hinge line, and for a minute I was excited. "I had never drilled out rivets before!"
I assembled the required tools
- Drill
- #30 Drill bit
- Drill Lube
- Punch (for removing the mushroomed part of the rivet)
That night I learned the secrets of drilling out rivets. Reduced speed, High pressure (20-40 pounds it felt like) Well lubed drill bit, and a hole lot of patience.
After 30 or so rivets and 2 hours I came across the last 4 rivets. These would be no easy task as they were guarded by the Aileron's counterweight mount. This would require a new tactic but I had no idea what that would be! My dad however was an expert on rivet removal, He pulled out the dremel and began plugging it in. This was the perfect solution as it allowed me to grind the head of the rivet clean off, along with a fair bit of the hinge's aluminum. (but the hinge was scrap anyways). The thin cutting wheel of the dremel made it easy to reach the previously out of reach rivets. Before I turned the tool on to cut, I rehearsed the cut physically to make absolutely sure I wouldn't damage the counterweight mounting bracket.
Now that the hinge was off, I needed to prepare the new hinge for installation. It turns out you don't have to carefully measure your hole positions for a Sonex hinge, because you can use a template to easily drill perfectly spaced holes.
I've found that much of building is about saving as much time as possible while still making things perfect.
I drilled and clecoed both ends then the middle. Once the template was securely anchored, I went down the line drilling each hole.
A glance at my watch revealed I had yet again fallen into a building stupor and again it was past 10PM, Oh well Who needs sleep when they have an airplane project, I know I can get by without!
Thank you so much to everyone who has aided me.
Mr John
Paul Shadwick
Stan Whitfield
Ron Sipple
Ralph and Joyce Shultz
Paul and Beth Duff
Paul Hockin
Nicholette Shultz
Gordon Fern
Anon Anon
Jeannette Shultz
Mike David
Jonathan and Julia Wolfe
Jon Palmstrom
Laurie Burns
Donna Mickel
Dana Baker
Mrs Nadine
Eric Johnson
Tammy Reap Hayes
Jeff Shultz
Brandon Lenart
WP Maesh
Michael Couillard
Mr Anonymous
Joe And Judy Green
Mrs Brenda
Mrs Cathy
Paul and Vickie Laberge
Judy and Roger Kemmerle