That's just a bunch of sticks dad!

Last week was a hectic week to say the least. Preseason baseball practices for two of our boys, LM and CJ. We did however get our rib material and replacement piece of lumber (completely my mistake. NOTE: follow the builders manual to a T when cutting material!) Thanks to Team MiniMax our order came just 8 days after placing it. Unlike some of the other aircraft suppliers, Team MiniMax actually cares that they have your business and you're having a successful build.

So our first order of business was to inventory our shipment of material. Everything came in as ordered! During the counting of the rib material our 4 year old, CJ, walks by and asks what I'm counting. When I tell him what they're for he looks at them skeptically before replying, "no way, that's just a bunch of sticks dad." That kid cracks me up.

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Our next order of business was finishing the rudder. I hand cut the hinge slots, tapered the rib stock and cross pieces and finally glued and stapled them all together. It is on the workbench waiting for me and my staple puller. When I'm finished pulling the million staples out I'll do a final sanding before setup/drilling/attachment of hinges and final assembly to the vertical fin.

(Rudder minus cross members while shaping the rib profiles)

I'd already built my rib jig earlier in the project while waiting for material from a previous supplier. I double checked and made minor adjustments to match the full size prints. I cut all the first rib pieces, including gussets, and dry fit everything together. After I was satisfied it was correct I made copies of everything so I can cut the remaining pieces for the other 23 ribs of the aircraft. I ended the week gluing and stapling the initial rib out of the jig. As long as everything still lines up correctly I will continue on with the rib building process. I plan on building one rib a day and making sure my helpers get in on the action. I shouldn't be the only one with sticky hands should I? That T-88 epoxy definitely has a learning curve, but I think I've got it figured out by now.

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So far we are nearly to a finished vertical fin/rudder assembly and our first rib is out of the jig! I'll have to check my builder's log, but what I do know is the time I'm spending hanging out and bonding with our kids is the real value of this project. If you think it is too, and wanna help as we go along please feel free to donate. Anything helps.

Until next time, fly safe!