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Elevator Fairings

Blizzard

Active Member
Got all the elevator parts clecoed together and thought I'd see how how the fairings would eventually fit in. I was expecting them to nestle perfectly inside the E-903 Outboard Tip Rib. Not even close. As much as a quarter inch gap between the two surfaces. Am I missing something? Wondering how that much gap would ever be dealt with come time to match drill and fit them in place?
 
Gap where and in what direction? Maybe post pictures? I seem to recall I only had to trim the aft flange on the fairing to get it to fit in place, but my kit is from 2009, so things may have changed.
 
Got all the elevator parts clecoed together and thought I'd see how how the fairings would eventually fit in. I was expecting them to nestle perfectly inside the E-903 Outboard Tip Rib. Not even close. As much as a quarter inch gap between the two surfaces. Am I missing something? Wondering how that much gap would ever be dealt with come time to match drill and fit them in place?

Did my elevators fairings a week ago. same as yours. it seems like the curve is not straight, so either no gap at front, or no gap at aft. but don't fit together.
i had to shave off some of the middle part to fit perfectly, which i intend to fill with microballs later to make smooth

Oren
 
it sounds like yours were too large to fit inside the contour of the tip rib. mine are too small. it's as if the fiberglass fairings need to be opened up more to match the contour of the opening they fit into ???
 
Food for Thought

I have been told by an advisor that if, during storage, the tips are not stood on the edge, the fiberglass will change shape over the long haul.

Do those with more brain cells than me have any thoughts on this?

Good luck,
Mike
 
Got all the elevator parts clecoed together and thought I'd see how how the fairings would eventually fit in. I was expecting them to nestle perfectly inside the E-903 Outboard Tip Rib. Not even close. As much as a quarter inch gap between the two surfaces. Am I missing something? Wondering how that much gap would ever be dealt with come time to match drill and fit them in place?

From my experience with the RV8, the fiberglass tips supplied in the kit must be fitted to the elevators and horizontal stabilizer just like metal components. At the moment, the fiberglass pieces have no structural stiffness and they can be easily bended and fitted to the metal tips. You may even have to sand down the edges so they will fit nicely to your parts. Assuming the fiberglass tips are manufactured perfectly, there is no guarantee they will fit perfectly to all the horizontal stabilizers or elevators because the builders introduce small inconsistencies to their final metal parts.

The tips are made thin enough so you can mold them to close tolerance with the metal parts using clecos. Imperfections can be filled using epoxy+microballoons to save weight. However, microballoons applied by hand tend to have voids but you can finish the surface to perfection using lightweight Bondo before painting. All the classic Glasair and Lancair need a lot of fiberglass fitting+sanding that make you wish you are building a Vans airplane.

A note on the tips. You should follow Vans instructions of stiffening the fiberglass tip with a piece of fiberglass sandwich foam core. This will truly make the tip structurally stable before you microballoon. I use the pink foam from Home Depot.
 
Again...great info and feedback. I think mine will fit properly once I fit a foam core inside that matches the contour of the tip rib profile. I'm going to trace the tip rib and then use it as a template to cut a piece of foam core to put inside the fairing and see how it works. I think will solve the problem. Thanks everyone for the help.
 
HS and Elevator fairings not flush?!

This fiberglass work is a huge PITA! Getting so aggervated so I quit for the night. I drilled and clekoed my elevator fairings. Seems like a great fit. I then drilled, TRIMMED, and clekoed the HS fairings....

My problem IS THE HS TIP FAIRING IS STICKING OUT 1/4" APPROX FURTHER FROM THE ELEVATOR TIP FAIRING. HAS ANYONE ELSE CAME ACROSS THIS.

They should be more even and streamline, right? Here are a few pictures.
 

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Mine fit about like that. I reshaped them slightly using heat then used a flox/micro mix to make the elevator tips fair properly.

Not a big deal in the grand scope.
 
OK I’m glad someone else has the same problem and it’s not just me. So did you build up the elevator fairing towards the front gradually to blend w the HS….
 
Hi John,

Mine were kind of like yours. Too skinny…..so I fattened them up with a some wire I was able to twist and thus suck the ends in. Hopefully the picture is self explanatory. You can see the before and after shots. It’s a pain but take your time. BTW the wire gets removed once I had the fiberglass inserts
floxed in place. I used scraps from door trimmings to close in the tips.

Keith
 

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OK I’m glad someone else has the same problem and it’s not just me. So did you build up the elevator fairing towards the front gradually to blend w the HS….

As I recall, yes. The other option is to reshape them using heat, then slide them outboard to match the horizontal stab, redrill them, and rework (fill) the portion of the joggle that exposes.

Remember, those joggles are there for convenience. If they aren't where they need to be, you can move 'em in either direction by adding or removing material.
 
Tip tips

I wrote an article for Kitplanes on Tips. There's a link on my blog (below). A couple tips.
If the tips are a loose fit, heat them with a heat gun but not above 200. Slip it over the outside of the part and leave it to cool. Snug fit is fine as they fit inside anyway.
Excess can be removed. Fill the tip with flox the thickness of the amount needed to remove. Sand to the new shape.
Tips are easy. Try a Pepto Pink cowl!
 
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