Fill tips on ailerons, flaps and elevators ?

Is it worth it ? Sure looks cool ! Not hard to do with glass and foam. Raises some questions about drainage / corrosion and access.

But, does it do anything positive and sensible about efficiency, speed or handling. It is a significant amount of work. Any experience in brain trust ??

I've done this on all three RV. There is no gain other than cosmetic. For me it changes the look from "in progress" to "done".

I do leave a drain hole on the aft corner on each surface. All aluminum is primed before filling. I use a block of foam glued in with micro. After set I add a couple of bids of glass on top. The last 1/32" or less gets a skim coat of mico.

Carl

Larry DeCamp said:

Is it worth it ? Sure looks cool ! Not hard to do with glass and foam. Raises some questions about drainage / corrosion and access.

But, does it do anything positive and sensible about efficiency, speed or handling. It is a significant amount of work. Any experience in brain trust ??

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I didn't do mine, and I like the look. I was not sure it would be worth the effort, and was a little unsure about how to avoid corrosion. Also, thought I might need to get back in there some day. My painter painted in there so it doesn't look unfinished. That said, if I was doing it again, I'd probably close up the tips on the hstab and the vstab, since I know a bit more about fiberglass now than when I did these tips. I would not add anything to the elevator, rudder, flaps, or ailerons.