Over the past several weeks, I have been moving forward with progress on the Elevator.  The spar and rib replacements arrived, but I had plenty of work in the interim getting all of the parts prepped, and primed.  I switched to PPG primer, and I am really happy with the application, and covering.  I still have some of the duplicolor that I will use as I need to.

With the new spar, I had to reassemble the elevator and drill the rib, skin, hinge reinforcement, and root and end rib holes to match the parts that had already been drilled.  This process took a while, repeating a lot of work already done.  Priming the redone parts got me back to the point where both elevators were back in sync, and I could work on both of them in tandem.

It has been quite a while since I have done any back riveting on this project, and I forgot how easy it is to get a real nice shop head.  The rib halves are back riveted to the skins.   You have to be careful and make sure everything gets put in the right spot.  Since all the rib flanges must face outward on the elevators, you wind up putting one type of rib on the left bottom skin, and a different type of rib on the right bottom skin.  Follow the plans, check twice... no problem.

One of my other problems was the dilemma of the #6 dimple.  I got a new set of spring back dies, with the correct #6 die, and they worked without issues.  The trim access plate looks great now.  I got an e-mail from Isham, and they would like to make sure I have the correct dies.  Even though I didn't buy from them.  Great customer service.

A while back, when I ordered some tools from Avery Tools, I went ahead and ordered a special bucking bar for the RV-10.  The plans specify the design of the bucking bar that is used to rivet the rear spar of the elevators where access is difficult due to the trailing edge.  The bar is well designed, and allows you to do a beautiful job bucking those rivets.

With the rear spar riveted in place between the skins (leaving the skins loose where the trim tab hinge will be fitted later), you start the process of joining the rib halves with pop rivets, then pop rivet the front spar in place.  There are a LOT of pop rivets to be pulled during this process, which I did over the course of about 2 hours.  After all the pop riveting, my hands and wrists were sore for the rest of the day.

When riveting the forward spar to the skins, you leave the last few rivets on either end undone so that you can peel back the skin and reach in to rivet the root and end rib assemblies in place.  On one side (Bottom, Root), I got carried away and riveted the skin in place near the root of the rib.  Thankfully, you only need access to rivet the elevator gusset in place, and I was able to reach it from the top skin.  I am still working on riveting the root ribs in place, then I will move on to finishing the elevators with the end rib/counterbalance assembly.

The elevators will be finished soon, then on to the tailcone.  I need to decide on the next kit and get it ordered.