Florida Boy
Member
Working on the HS tip fairings with the elevators temporarily hung and the assy. attached to the aft fuse. Elevator center pivot spacers and washers are all in place just as they will be for final assembly.
When I first hung and swung the elevators a week or two ago the gap between the counterbalance horns and the outer tip of the H/S looked very uniform and parallel and had a good 1/16" to 1/8" clearance in the trail position.
Elevators have been off and put back on since then and now I find an uneven gap looking fore and aft along the inside of the counterbalance rib when in the trail position. I even have a very slight interference between the counterbalance rib and the H/S skin edge on the left side. Gap is 1/8" or better in the aft and touching in the front end--only on the left elevator.
Question 1: What could've changed to create this gap non-parallelism and misalignment?
I also notice in initial fitting of the H/S tip fairings that they both project significantly beyond the elevator tip fairings which are already riveted in place. When the H/S tips are snugly seated into the stab, and up to the mold recess line the left H/S tip extends a full 1/4" beyond the elevator tip and the right side is 3/16" beyond the elevator tip. Doesn't sound like much, but it's visually a very noticeable misalignment.
Question 2: How best to address this misalignment? Should I try to dress down the molded recess in the tip fairings and trim the overlap back to 1/2" as called for or what?
Hoping someone else has encountered this issue and found a good explanation and/or fix.
Thanks.
When I first hung and swung the elevators a week or two ago the gap between the counterbalance horns and the outer tip of the H/S looked very uniform and parallel and had a good 1/16" to 1/8" clearance in the trail position.
Elevators have been off and put back on since then and now I find an uneven gap looking fore and aft along the inside of the counterbalance rib when in the trail position. I even have a very slight interference between the counterbalance rib and the H/S skin edge on the left side. Gap is 1/8" or better in the aft and touching in the front end--only on the left elevator.
Question 1: What could've changed to create this gap non-parallelism and misalignment?
I also notice in initial fitting of the H/S tip fairings that they both project significantly beyond the elevator tip fairings which are already riveted in place. When the H/S tips are snugly seated into the stab, and up to the mold recess line the left H/S tip extends a full 1/4" beyond the elevator tip and the right side is 3/16" beyond the elevator tip. Doesn't sound like much, but it's visually a very noticeable misalignment.
Question 2: How best to address this misalignment? Should I try to dress down the molded recess in the tip fairings and trim the overlap back to 1/2" as called for or what?
Hoping someone else has encountered this issue and found a good explanation and/or fix.
Thanks.