Today is an exciting day as the my latest parts shipment containing the Stewart 51 Vertical Fin, Rudder and Fuselage Formers.
Both the Vertical Fin and Rudder are Quick Build assemblies. The Vertical Fin is completely riveted with the exception of the rear spar (which is pop-riveted on) and the assembly of the hinge assemblies. The Rudder is assembled, however only temporarily with pop-rivets. The Fuselage Formers are stamped out with no holes drilled.
Packed Well For Transport
As you can see in the picture below, the parts all come packed really well. There was no damage to the parts whatsoever. The parts are made by High Performance Aircraft International (HPAI) located in the Czech Republic. HPAI not only produced the Stewart S-51 Kits but also all the kits for the TeamRocket F1 Rocket. As you will continue to see throughout this project, all parts made by HPAI are top-notch.
The Cost!?!
The total cost of this shipment was: $4961.59 USD (5085.97 CDN)
Parts cost: $3742 USD ($3866.38 CDN)
Crating / Shipping / Fumigation: $650 USD
Brokerage: $57.00
Canada Customs: $512.59
A Closer Look At The Parts
This first picture shows the three hinges for the vertical fin. The two triangle pieces are the lower and mid hinges and the long piece is the upper fin hinge that is eventually riveted to the upper fin rib. These hinges are made out of 0.250 inch 2024-T3. The machining is beautiful. You can also notice the large holes where the spherical bearing will be pressed into.
In the next picture I’m holding one of the hinge assemblies together.
This next picture shows the balance weight box for the rudder. It is assembled and temporarily held together with pop-rivets. This is common to much of the Stewart 51. If it wasn’t fully riveted and “Quick Build” it would come predrilled with pilot holes and held together with the pop-rivets. Still, this plane is very much not a Quick Build!
In this final photo, I’m just showing the interior of the rudder balance weight and it’s structure.
Please comment. As always I love to hear from my readers. Thanks again for coming along for this ride, you make my work worthwhile.
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