Building the empennage

Discover the foundational steps of my RV-7A build, starting with the empennage kit. This section details the construction of the horizontal stabilizer, elevators, vertical stabilizer, and rudder, along with the essential fiberglass work.

The empennage is often the first kit builders receive from Van's, making it a critical starting point. This initial phase involves constructing the horizontal stabilizer, elevators, vertical stabilizer, and rudder. It's where many fundamental building skills, such as riveting, deburring, and fitting parts, are honed—skills that will be used throughout the rest of the aircraft project.

Empennage Total Project Hours: XXXX

Horizontal Stabilizer (on hold due to parts backorder)

4/8/2026 (2 hours)

Rear spar
Steps 1-4, rear spar cleco, drill, deburr

4/9/2026 (2 hours)

Rear Spar
Steps 5-12, hinge brackets - mount to rear spar, drill holes, deburr, then rivet. At this point in the manual, i need to start assembling the skeleton, however, the front spar and a rib are on backorder. Will pick this back up after parts are received.

Vertical Stabilizer

4/11/2026 (2 hours)

Skeleton
Manual section 6-5, steps 1-7, skeleton assembly, skin fitting, fluting, all drilling of ribs. Skin match drilling will come next. 

4/12/2026 (6.5 hours)
Manual section 6-5
Match drilled skin to skeleton, deburrred all, dimpled skeleton and most of skins. Will complete on the c-frame dimpler once i get a new spring for it. Prepped skeleton for priming. 

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4/14/2026 (2 hours)
Manual section 6-5
Finished skin dimpling with Gunnar. Started VS rear spar riveting. We had a couple of bad rivets that needed drilled out and set again but all in all ... went well. Gunnar learned quite a bit today!