What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Stabilator Dimensions?

Piper J3

Well Known Member
The stabilator on the 12 is 8'-0" wide. I need to know the cord dimension and won't be able to go to the hanger for several days. Anybody know the cord dimension for the stabilator?
 
Stabilator Cord is 31"

Jim

The Stabilator Cord is 31"



Joe Dallas


The stabilator on the 12 is 8'-0" wide. I need to know the cord dimension and won't be able to go to the hanger for several days. Anybody know the cord dimension for the stabilator?
 
Last edited:
I've never worked with vinyl wrap before - it looks intriguing. I'd be tempted to do an entire airplane if starting with an unpainted structure. Looks like artistic creativity would be limitless and cost very reasonable...
 
I'll be stripping parts of mine and wrapping. The stabilator is probably the best paint on the plane, so that's not where I'll be starting. I talked to a guy last week who had wrapped his RV-12, but didn't catch his name -- I'm trying to find him again. We work for the same company, but a lot of people do.
 
I suspect you could do a wrap-as-you-go program. Maybe wrap one wing and fly a little bit and then wrap 2nd wing the following week, etc. until finally completed. Wouldn't lay the machine up for extended period of time and "RV smile" would remain in place. :D
 
Last edited:
Actually, the wings and tail are not all that bad. It's the fuselage that has real problems. The paint job was pretty poor, and there appears to have been little to no metal prep done. I'm not seeing evidence of primer or even scuffing/sanding, at least on the bottom of the fuse.

I haven't really decided for sure how to approach the job. My citrus based stripper seemed to work great on painted metal, based on my testing on the inspection panels. If that holds true for large areas, I'll strip and wrap the fuse and probably leave the wings and tail for later. Unfortunately, it seems that paint stripper, paint, fiberglass and vinyl all seem to work best during ideal flying weather! Sure would be nice to have a heated hangar during the dead of winter, or one that doesn't flood every time it rains.

The 3M vinyl bright yellow is a pretty close match for the paint, so I can wrap it in stages without it looking odd.
 
I received 3M 1080 G10 Gloss White Vinyl, Felt Edge Squeegee Application Tool, and 3M Rivet Brush RBA-3. I have an industrial forced hot air gun to smooth the vinyl over the rivet heads. Now I need to wait for warm dry weather. NE has been getting hit with cold rain for better part of a week with more rain in the forecast. Should be fun...
 
I've never worked with vinyl wrap before - it looks intriguing. I'd be tempted to do an entire airplane if starting with an unpainted structure. Looks like artistic creativity would be limitless and cost very reasonable...

In my opinion, a vinyl wrap is much more practical and gives awesome look. My vinyl wrap project was installed by Gatorwraps and I am very satisfied!
 
I started wrapping the Stabilator. First I did the end caps which were very easy. Next I took off the trim tabs and painted the hinge and control horns. I wrapped the trim tabs at my kitchen table ? wife wasn?t too happy but result was good. First tab took about 90 minutes to complete.

I?m not completely satisfied with the rivets yet. I used a special 3M Rivet Brush RBA-3 and poked pins holes next to the rivet head to vent trapped air. So far the best way to do rivets is with your fingernails. I?m going to make a series of progressive ?dies? on a lathe using nylon for the base material and try to convince the vinyl to conform better to the shape of the rivet head.
-
fekima.png

-
2chktfm.png

-
2r60itu.png
 
Fixed my "rivet" problem. The bare aluminum stabilator was polished with a compound that accumulated around the rivet heads causing poor adhesion. Solution was to wire brush each rivet so they are clean. Vinyl smoothes nicely around the rivet heads now. I use my finger nails to push the vinyl sharply against the base of each rivet. I still want to make a plastic tool to speed up the process.
-
s26scp.png
 
Back
Top