Empennage – Jesse's RV-7A Build

Documenting the build of my RV-7A

Finished Horizontal Stabilizer

I received the Torque Seal to finish off the rear spar. I opted for orange (many colors available). This stuff

It’s assembly time! I began with the rear spar. I found that all of these rivets could be squeezed using

1/1/2021 – Since it’s winter and I have a heated garage without a paint booth setup, I’m running the parts

I spent quite a few hours deburring all edges, holes and dimpling. For the long, straight edges I used a

With the left side done, I proceeded to complete the right side. This went a good bit faster now that

I got the build back up to speed with where I had left off, which was clecoing the HS skeleton

6/1/20 – Bent the HS-702 tabs to 6 degrees per plans. Clamped HS-00001 spar doublers to the HS-702’s as well

5/30/20 – After waiting for about a week for additional Clecos, they arrived. I also receive a Scotch-Brite 6″ 7S

With my shop all setup, most of the needed tools acquired and parts ready to go, it was time to

The empennage/tail kit has arrived! Two big boxes, one larger than the other. I believe the total weight was listed