Tack Welding First Side of Stabilizer

 The first side is now tack welded. I didn't weld the front spar to the ribs at this point or the spars and leading edge at the end without the ribs.  I also shouldn't have trimmed leading edge tube at the far end until I flipped it in the jig.  It turned out it was the right length, but again I think it was more dumb luck.

 One thing I noticed when I flipped the Stabilizer in the jig was that by sliding the front spar along the blocks it put a bend in the rear spar.  To make sure the rear spar was straight I clamped it first and then clamped the front spar so that the rear spar was straight.

 Everything is clamped ready to fit the ribs.

 When forming the bend at the front of the ribs I held a piece of 1" tubing in the formed end at the rear so I could see that the bend would be made in the plane of the rib.  Otherwise the bend will wander to the left or right.

 Shims under the bottom rib tubes hold them tight to the spars and leading edge.  The pieces of tape are there to hold the top rib tubes in place while I carry the jig outside for welding.

I'm on a temporary hold on welding.  When I was shutting down the tanks after tack welding the first half I noticed the oxygen line was loosing pressure before I bled it off.  The problem was a scratch in the seat of the tank valve.  I forgot to leak check the tank when we got it replaced last fall with a fresh tank.  I've lost half the oxygen while I've been welding.  I probably won't make that mistake again.