Van's RV-9A in Aurora

The Big Picture

The Big Picture
Flying! 8/28/2011

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

1.6 hrs
Weight down and match drilled the right aileron. Drilling the stainless steel counterbalance tube is a real chore. Those drill bits better be sharp or you'll be there a while. I found that it's bad to stop drilling to put more boelube on. The steel must harden as it cools and then the bit won't bite again. Once you have metal flying, just keep going. And if the bit won't make shavings right away in a clean hole, toss it. Immediately after punching through the hole, just put the hot drill bit on the boelube stick. It'll melt and flow over the bit. I think oil works better, but requires gravity to keep it in place. This drilling is past vertical, so adding oil isn't too convenient.