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tail assembly

B

bobnoffs

Well Known Member
after i finish the construction of my tailcone the manual goes on to give fitting and assembly instructions for all the components that have been built. i am wondering what others have done.
........ assemble everything %100 and then disassemble ,now knowing everything fits ..or
........put the rudder, hor, stab. in a safe place until that trip to the airport. everything has fit so well it seems that assembly in my shop is unnecessary.
what have others done?
 
Tail Assembly

I assembled mine as I built it. Everything fit, but there is that business of how many washers go where to make it just right. I just wanted to do it in the shop so I could change something if needed - and see if I had done something dumb. I do something dumb quite a bit so it was not a question for me.

That said, I was amazed at how well things fit. If you feel confident and lucky you could go ahead and skip the in-shop test fit of the tail and do it all later in the hangar. I think the first time you really NEED to have the tail together is to rig the elevator and rudder controls but that could also be done in the hangar.

I did defer fitting the tail cone assembly to the fuselage until later instead of when the manual said. There were some steps where access was better if I did that later. That change worked well for me.
 
Maybe a mistake, but I have not yet fitted the rudder and stabilator, thought I would do that only once when at the finishing stage. I also deferred attaching the tailcone to the fuse until I could no longer wait. That worked out very well, allowing me to work in the tailcone and the rear of the fuse much more easily.
 
I too have not test fit the Horizontal and vertical stabilizers. I did attach the tail cone to the fuselage early, but mounted the assembly on a rotisserie which allowed it to rotate 360 degrees. This made installing the fuselage/tailcone accessories, wiring, etc. very easy.

Good luck with your project.
 
Joe did it the RIGHT way! I just HAD to put the wheels on, then suffered and suffered putting all the stuff inside the plane. My advice: leave the wheels and engine off as long as possible, and get the thing on a rotisserie! There are lots of things to do and crawling around in there is no fun at all, when you could be doing it sitting on a stool.
 
I have not done the test fitting.

I decided to wait on that until I'm ready to put all the sub-pieces together. I did flag my plans with a red stick on flag for every place that I needed to go back too later.

Also, in a couple of places where it was easy to check on what washers go where, I did do a test fit and then annotate in the plans what the results were.

I don't have a lot of room, so the tailcone is hanging from the ceiling in the garage. I also have a missing dining room underneath the right wing, spar and ribs until I can get the left wing skinned and completed. The wing stand will take up a lot of space in the family room. The office has the as of yet unused wing skins as well as the emp parts. The guest bedroom has the unused fuse parts. The big finish kit parts are inventoried and still in the crate in the garage.

I may not even put the tailcone on until it gets to the airport.

Bob
 
The stabilator can be a bear to fit. I fit it right after I built the tail, but later thought the first install was a waste of time. BTW after flying off the PAPs I added a 4" diameter inspection port on the side of the fuselage near the tail. It greatly simplifies stabilator removal and installation.
 
Hmm, could you take a photo of where you put it and any recommendations?

RFSchaller said:
The stabilator can be a bear to fit. I fit it right after I built the tail, but later thought the first install was a waste of time. BTW after flying off the PAPs I added a 4" diameter inspection port on the side of the fuselage near the tail. It greatly simplifies stabilator removal and installation.
Click to expand...
 
I'll get one tomorrow Don. I modeled it after the one on my Cherokee. Just be careful not to cut into the stiffeners between skins.
 
Don, here's a pic of the inspection port. I came uncomfortably close to the edge stiffeners so You might go slightly smaller. I cut a 4" diameter hole and riveted a doubler ring on the inside with six #8 nut plates to hold the cover. Same design that my Cherokee has. 110 hours and no problems. Along with 5 others on the belly it makes annuals a breeze.

Rich

IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/160eh3k.jpg[/IMG
 
rich, i have a few questions about your inspection hole.
#1....you said it is very close to a bulkhead and you may want to make it smaller. why not move it aft an inch/
#2. i am just now starting on the tailcone so this may have an obvious answer in later plan books. you said ''5 other inspection holes in the belly''. are these part of the build plans?
 
Bob,

It's not the bulkhead proximity that's a problem. It's the taper between horizontal rivet lines as you move aft. The skin edges have a stiffening bend so you have to stay away from the rivet lines or risk cutting into the stiffener bend. If you go too far aft the taper keeps you from making the hole large enough to be useful.

The other inspection ports I put in are: one on each side of the elevator cable wear block (facilitates replacement) and one under each control stick (allows control hardware inspection).

Rich
 
I don't understand how it can help stabilator installation. Do you reach in there and back to the stab?
160eh3k.jpg
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Don,

The port allows you to remove the balance arm and leave it in the fuselage or have a second person reach in to support it while installing the stabilator.

Rich
 
OK, I understand now, thanks. Since I have not yet installed mine, had not thought about that.
RFSchaller said:
Don,

The port allows you to remove the balance arm and leave it in the fuselage or have a second person reach in to support it while installing the stabilator.

Rich
Click to expand...
 
For what its worth - -

I use a standard folding leg table, put a packing blanket over it, and put it under the HS. With no front wheel pant, a small floor jack under the fork, raise the nose until the HS just nicely lays on the table. You can take the bolts out and pull the table back as desired. I have installed it several times by myself with no problem. Very stable while putting washers in place if needed.
 
Yep. The washers can be a pain. Try putting a small rare earth magnet (really powerful) on the bolt head. It will keep the washers from dropping out as you wiggle the whole thing. I installed mine by myself, so it can be done. It just isn't fun!
 
Gandalf said:
Steal a tongue depressor from your doctor and you can do this:

washerPushTool.jpg
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I did with mine, and documented in a post about a year ago. I didn't even need to steal anything...I used a manila folder and cut it out to do the same task :D

Superglue the washer to the manila 'tool', insert the washer, and pull it away after alignment :D:D
 
How crude! I bought this fancy thing from Avery specifically for that purpose, but it appears it will not hold nuts with a nylon lock on them, may have to save some ice cream sticks afterall.
2d97536.jpg
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DonFromTX said:
How crude! I bought this fancy thing from Avery specifically for that purpose, but it appears it will not hold nuts with a nylon lock on them, may have to save some ice cream sticks afterall.
Click to expand...

I think the crude tool they were describing was to hold washers...
Avery makes special tools for that also
 
When I looked at their site, that one i have is for holding BOLTS. I also have their washer holder set, that works very well. It appears nobody makes one for holding nuts!
 
DonFromTX said:
When I looked at their site, that one i have is for holding BOLTS. I also have their washer holder set, that works very well. It appears nobody makes one for holding nuts!
Click to expand...

The tool I use for holding nuts is a plain box end wrench with a little bit of tape on it to keep the nut from falling out.
 
Shucks, that ought to work OK. And I was looking for an excuse to buy a new groovy tool .
 
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Guys - cut a 3 inch long, 1/8 inch wide sliver of aluminum - from al. sheet as thin or thinner than the washer. Butt it against the washer edge and use a little piece of blue tape spanning the washer and the sliver. Easy and free!
 
BUT if you do that, you will deprive yourself of the enjoyment of buying a set of these washer insertion tools!
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I love my washer insertion tools even if I only used them a few times.

Building the RV-12 is fun and a excuse to buy some unique tools.

My wife understands, doesn't always agree, but understands.

Happy Sunday everyone.
 
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