It finally arrived – things start going back on for real!
Aircraft restorer, Rosie, and her husband would soon be here to move the stabilators to the hangar and begin reattaching.
Weather had been moving through the area for several days, the rain had left but wind remained which worried the restorer about getting the stabilators from the house to the car.
With talk of gusts to 50 mph, can understand why he was concerned. Okay, he wasn’t the only one.
It wasn’t long until everyone arrived, Rosie hadn’t mentioned anything about snacks because we planned on stopping for lunch this time – better grab some water and energy drinks out of the basement fridge and get some snacks set aside too.
Heading into my basement laundry room, I feel a lot of water beneath my feet and look up to see a large puddle in the middle of the basement. Ugh – no, we are working on the tail – I do not have time for this right now.
I get the water and energy drinks out of the fridge and look around the basement; dirt and water in some areas but not everywhere, thank goodness. I’ll get stuff ready to go upstairs and hopefully figure out what to do about the basement along the way.
The aircraft restorer arrives not long after I had everything staged. We look at the basement again and grab a shop broom getting the worst of the water back down the drain from which it popped up.
About the time Rosie and her husband arrive, most of the water has been pushed back down the drain and the dehumidifier has been plugged in.
The wind gusts are not as bad as forecasted, thank goodness. There had been talk of three persons carrying the surfaces out to the car – we found it was not necessary and two were more than sufficient.
On the short drive to Moraine, I was likely driving below the speed limit because of the precious cargo. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, except the clouds flying by with more and more spots of blue to be seen through them.
Getting to the hangar, we got everything set up more quickly than before – must be into a routine with this stuff.
The project stands that held the stabilators at the restorer’s hangar came with and holding them sitting on either side of the tail.
The aircraft restorer unbolted his toolbox from its home in his hangar and brought the entire thing with to make sure any tools needed were on hand. He even remembered the Kroil and breaker bar, though neither would be necessary for reinstallation. A torque wrench and borescope would both be more necessary and were indeed on-site as well.
I had my iPad on hand holding the manuals and the aircraft restorer brought the hard copies as well to be on the safe side.
In preparation for the installation, the old bolts had been turned into bullets to help hold the stabilator in place while positioning other holes and installing. Safety wire had also been run through the stabilators to allow for attaching to the control cables and fishing through.
As we began the installation of the stabilators, it became apparent what could go wrong when attaching the surfaces.
We had ensured when attaching the casting that it was only hand-tight to allow for movement necessary for installing the surfaces.
The two attach points needed to be both aligned before the bolts could be installed. Having a filed-down bolt holding in place at one point allowed for easier installation of the other point than replacing the modified bolt with a real bolt made for fewer headaches.
With grunting and movement of the attach points to and fro, the second bolt settled into place after snarking more than we would have liked.
Watching the aircraft restorer and Rosie work together their shorthand built over time illustrated the mutual respect and understanding they had. When asking for tools Rosie had a very good idea of what was needed and if she didn’t a mild comment from the restorer referring to a previous project was all that was needed.
Passing out waters, and mandarins we took a short break before jumping into attaching the second stabilator.
The second stabilator went on with some fuss but as Rosie says we didn’t learn any new words.
Pulling out tongue depressors and a dental pick, both are used to get a rubber seal to seat properly between the skin of the airplane and the stabilator to prevent chafing. In some areas, the tongue depressor was easier to use mushing the seal into place while in other smaller areas, the pick was a better fit.
Taking a break for lunch was the best thing for our sanity. Having a moment to talk over what had happened and what was still necessary both for the day and for the next proposed workday was making it all feel more real – my sister was really going to fly again.
Returning to the hangar, the winds outside had picked up and we pulled out the space heater turning that on before opening the torque wrench and looking at conversion charts for pounds of torque as opposed to inches of torque.
Rosie was deep in thought examining the chart before discussing with the restorer what the proper setting on the torque wrench would be for this situation.
Getting into the tail to torque was tight even with Rosie’s smaller hands. She used a normal socket to get most of the pressure applied before switching to the torque wrench for the last few turns. Hearing the click when torque had been applied was beyond satisfying.
No movement! Everything was solid! Areas of paint were missing around the stabilators showing where the tail was moving.
Pulling the control cables through the stabilators came next. Attaching the cables to the fish wire in place made the process go more smoothly.
One got crossed into the wrong pully on the pilot side but was rethreaded without issue.
The cables going to the copilot’s side got snarled up like spaghetti while trying to pull one through which separated the line from the cable. After the first cable was successfully pulled through the second was reattached to the line and pulled through.
The tape on the ends of the lines hanging down from the stabilators looked like streamers.
Putting the inspection plates back on and the tail cone is when it really hit me – this is really happening.
No more need for wrapping the tail cone in moving blankets, the small areas that still needed protecting were stuffed with shop rags instead.
We could fly this spring if all goes well.
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