(page 6-02) Rudder hinge: an actual part....               

I'm still a bit unsure about the issue of priming. Opinions seem to vary from "prime everything in sight" to "prime only the mating surfaces that aren't Alclad... and maybe not that." I suppose it boils down to whether or not I want to build an "archival" airplane guaranteed to last 60 years. Everything considered, that probably doesn't make sense.

I'm using Rustoleum self-etching primer in a rattle can.  It seems to scrape off too easily with a fingernail, probably owing to my improper preperation of the aluminum.  Cessna and Piper seem to use minimal (if any) priming on the interior surfaces, and the tail cones I've looked in seem pristine, even on 50-year-old airplanes.

I'm way behind schedule on building. The semester is essentially over, with only the grading of final exams left. The Spousal Unit (my beautiful, understanding and supportive wife, Karen) is heading up to the frozen north to visit family for a few days. I have assured her that upon her return there will be a completed part in the garage which anyone would recognize as an airplane part. She allowed as to how she'd be much rather see progress made on the deck rail. We'll see.