Week 1: Kit Arrival and Horizontal Stabilizer Assembly

After a long 10+ month wait (largely due to the global Covid situation) my empennage, wing, fuselage, and landing gear kits finally arrived! The canopy/finishing kit is still outstanding, but it will be awhile until I am ready for that one.

I immediately got started inventorying all the parts in the empennage kit, the factory packing list indicated that everything had been double checked when the kit was packed and it was all accounted for and undamaged.

I then started working on the first component, the horizontal stabilizer. I had considered not doing any priming since The Airplane Factory uses the more corrosion resistant 6061 aluminum and I do not live in a coastal environment and only doing a CorrosionX treatment after the airplane is completed and painted, but ultimately decided to prime the mating surfaces as the kit instructions recommend. This will provide some additional protection, and also should be a benefit if I ever decide to sell.

After a little bit of trial and error, I decided the best method is to scruff the areas to be primed with ScotchBrite pads, then immediately do any necessary dimpling then clean with MEK (with the garage door open and wearing a respirator/butyl gloves) and then immediately apply the self-etching primer.

After the first 19.5 hours of work I have all the horizontal stabilizer parts primed, the frame assembled. I am waiting for the correct size plastic bushings before I install the trim motor wiring (the factory provides rubber grommets, but I think plastic bushings will hold up better over time), and also allow the skin primer to cure for 24 hours before they are fitted to the frame.