Tonight I worked on yet another F1 Rocket Mod, and again on the horizontal stabilizer. As shown in the diagram below, this mod is to add a small clip (bracket) on the front side of the forward spar where it attaches to the tip rib.
I started with a piece of aluminum angle I bent. The material is 3/4 inch x 3/4 inch (2024-T3 x 0.040). In the image below you can see the left bracket is in place on the front side of the spar.
I measured out the edge distance and identified where 3 rivets would go on each flat of the angle. I also marked where the edge of the spar was in relation to the fastener holes.
Before I drill any holes through the spar, I want to make absolutely sure I have sufficient edge distance here. I marked the end of the top flange of the spar because it doesn’t go all the way out to the tip rib and also (as shown in the picture below) drops down below the top flange in the area used to form the forward spar flange that attaches to the tip rib.
I have my calipers set to the minimum edge distance dimension (1/8″ rivets) and as you can see, I still have a wee bit of margin here.
Make sure you check the edge distance on all of these corners for both the left side and right side brackets. Once I knew the edge distance was good, I proceeded to drill the pilot holes.
Tonight I also had my little helper out in the shop with me, Miss Maple! Being her first time in the shop, it didn’t take her long to get board and tired of listening to me, so she was quickly off to sleep.
Please comment, I love to hear from my readers. Thanks again for coming along for this ride, you make my work worthwhile.
Leave a Reply