The ailerons went on hold for awhile as I waited for some riveting assistance. Started on the pushrods, and managed to bung up not only the small steel pushrods, but the large-diameter aluminum ones as well. Part of the problem was a simple mistake in reading the plans, the other part of the problem was more insidious. Sorry, there are no pictures here – I don’t think I need any.

The plans-reading problem was pretty basic – I forgot that following the plans doesn’t necessarily mean that all those standard-practice things, like edge distances, still apply. I fitted the threaded ends into the large aluminum pushrod tubes according to the plans, and wound up drilling holes that didn’t meet the minimum edge distance on the threaded ends. I should have been paying attention…and I wasn’t.

The second problem was the almost imperceptible rush to get something, anything, done…and that led to a lot of mistakes. My job is pretty stressful, the last two months have been worse than normal, and the next two will be worse still. That stress was bleeding over into my building, and worse, my family time. After screwing up the same part for the third time, my wife pulled me aside and wisely recommended that I slow down the project while things are so hectic…which is what I’m doing.