So the turnbuckles arrived and I jumped right into finishing the rigging. Left landing wire in place, and time to figure out how to make the lift tangs for that infamous fifth wire that goes from the front of the fuselage to the interwing strut mount.
Let's gather our supplies - steel for making the tangs, check. Wire? Check. Swag tool (known by other names, all unprintable)? Check. Swages? Uh, wait a second. I've got three in my little bag where I keep them. Start tearing through everything looking for that fourth one; darned things tend to get away. Maybe one is in the shed where I store all the aluminum parts for the aircraft.
The wife actually came into the backyard to bring me some water, and innocently asked "what's that for?" as a large diameter bit of tube that's two feet long rolls out from behind some plywood. She said it was scary to see me just stop, stare at it, and then go pale.
S21 is the label on the part. It goes into the main spar at the compression strut where the interwing struts go for reinforcement. If I've failed to install one of them, the whole wing - ribs, drag/anti-drag wires, compression struts, everything - will have to be taken apart. I had put on the build table each of them in a check list and made a mark as they went in to ensure I didn't forget them.
It's a slow march out to the aircraft, where I look down the spars.
One each in both spars for the left wing. Breathe, I tell myself, as I walk around the aircraft to the right wing, and peek with one eye down each spar.
One each in both spars - all four are in.
That darned Robert Baslee stuck an extra one into the kit materials; normally I sing his praises for putting in extra stuff in the materials kit, but that was just cruel. I called him about another question and mentioned that he was trying to kill me with good gestures, and we chuckled about it.
Anyhow, until I either poll my EAA Chapter members for a swage, find one hidden about, or knuckle down and order some, the wire thing is put on hold. Again.
Might as well cover the "real" rudder, the one I'm actually going to use on the aircraft. Breaking the seal on the bag that holds 32 yards of Ceconite was another building rite of passage. I decided to use the wrap method, since A) that way I can use the full with of the fabric with just one cut to the roll, and B) why not, the shape is amiable to it!
Pics either tomorrow or Monday, but I was very pleased with the first side's efforts. I made the tight ninety degree bend without so much as a pucker, though there is a tiny glue ridge underneath that won't show when the other fabric goes over it along with a tape. I even managed to make the cut in the fabric for the control horn in the right place! I won't say covering is fun, but it certainly is rewarding - instant visible results to one's work.
With the 1915cc VW engine and prop a couple months from delivery, I'm going to put covering as part of the build process, splitting the time in half.