Jen's at work, so back to the vertical stabilizer...
Last night I discovered that an integral VS part is on back-order...one of the main VS ribs. Can't do too much without it, but with the ribs I do have I did file and debur the edges, drill out the pin hole, and flute the edges. I proceeded to drill the ribs I have to the rear VS spar. Here you can see the middle rib clamped in place, with the sheet scraps keeping the rib flanges flush with the spar flanges. The picture didn't quite come out as clearly as I'd hoped, but if you look carefully you can see the red centerline on the rib flange showing through the 3 rivet holes. This helps alignment for drilling.
Here's another view of this clamped contraption.
With two ribs drilled to the rear spar and everything deburred, here's a "mockup" of the VS. Obviously missing that one lower rib, but once I have that it's all downhill from there. Picture this rotated 90 degrees clockwise and you've got a vertical stab.
Damion came over and shot while I bucked the rest of the rivets on the horizontal stabilizer. He and Tom helped me get the sucker out of the jig. Here it is in one piece on the bench, with just 152 rivets to go (148 skin-to-spar and 4 where the 1/4" bolts interfered while on the jig).
I spent about 45 minutes squeezing those remaining rivets, and now the HS is complete! Incredible experience...yet I have so far to go. Here's a shot of Tom and Damion in front of the once again empty jig.
The next morning, the hammock flew...