I applied 3M VHB tape to both sides of my RV-14 elevator and trim tab trailing edge wedges. I removed the backing on the side that contacts the bottom skins and secured the wedge in place, clecoing the sandwich (top skin, tape with backing, wedge, tape without backing, bottom skin) to a long straight piece of aluminum angle with holes drilled out. When I left for the weekend, the trailing edges were all perfectly straight, as far as my eyes could tell, and still perfectly straight when I returned.
I let the tape cure for 4 days, and today I took out the clecos. I found my edges were all bowed slightly in one direction, perhaps 1/8th of an inch over the length of the piece. Annoying.
I re-clecoed the top skin and saw the bow improve slightly, but it's still there. I can remove the bow using very slight hand-pressure. Annoying.
Is the VHB tape doing anything to help keep the trailing edge straight, as section 5.8 seems to indicate it should? It sure doesn't seem so. And allowing the tape to cure while it's all secured to the aluminum angle didn't seem all that helpful either.
I haven't riveted yet. Is everything I described above just fine and things will work out as long as I stick to the plans? Or is there something I need to do special to insure a good STRAIGHT result?
I let the tape cure for 4 days, and today I took out the clecos. I found my edges were all bowed slightly in one direction, perhaps 1/8th of an inch over the length of the piece. Annoying.
I re-clecoed the top skin and saw the bow improve slightly, but it's still there. I can remove the bow using very slight hand-pressure. Annoying.
Is the VHB tape doing anything to help keep the trailing edge straight, as section 5.8 seems to indicate it should? It sure doesn't seem so. And allowing the tape to cure while it's all secured to the aluminum angle didn't seem all that helpful either.
I haven't riveted yet. Is everything I described above just fine and things will work out as long as I stick to the plans? Or is there something I need to do special to insure a good STRAIGHT result?
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