Building the Stabilator and Working on the Fuel Tank

Third Year, Isaiah Montgomery, works on the stabilator

These past few weeks, students have been working on section 9 of the Vans RV-12 build plans. Section 9 is the construction of the Stabilator. The stabilator is a full moving stabilizer. In most aircraft, the stabilizer is divided into horizontal stabilizer and and elevator; however, for the RV-12, it is all one part. It has been a little challenging constructing the stabilator due to having to rivet around its rectangular prism form.

Last week, students also opened up the fuel tank box and inventoried the items to prepare for the construction of it. This week, students started the actual construction of the fuel tank. The fuel tank will be one of the longest items of the build to complete in terms of time it takes to complete. Some students have volunteered their time over the holiday break so they can work on the fuel tank and decrease the time it takes. Of those students, some will be coming in several times to make sure they can get as much work done as possible.