Trim tab alignment

Hi,

When I drilled the wedge in between both skins of the left elevator, I followed the instructions which say: "Draw a fastener line on the upper surface of the trailing edge wedge 7/32” to ¼” aft of the forward edge. Place the trailing edge in the elevator and position it so that the fastener line is centered in the pre-punched holes in the elevator skin upper surface. Drill #40 through the pre-punched holes in the elevator upper surface through the trailing edge spacer and out through the elevator lower surface.".

As a result the wedge is actually sticking out about 0.1 inch on the trailing edge. Now I am at the final step of the empennage where I have to position the trim tab with the trailing edge. The instructions say: "Position the tab in place so that the trailing edge matches the elevator and you have the proper gap between the tab and elevator."

Question: as the wedge is sticking out, am I suppose to align with the tip of the wedge, or should I trim away the part that is sticking out from the wedge so it comes aligned with the skin?



I have to say that I rarely see any pictures where the wedge is actually sticking out like mine. But my result is literally what the manual instructed me to do. And even if I didn't do it like that, the drilling of the countersink holes would result in a very thin skin at that point.

I am a bit confused. Also refer to this post where I actually asked how to drill the wedge: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=128519

Thanks!

My wedge sticks out a bit too. I really don't think it matters either way, and remember that any misalignment would only be noticeable if you have your trim tab exactly aligned with the elevator while on the ground - this is never the case for me - I generally have it up a few notches to be ready for next takeoff (neutral position causes too much pitch up on T/O on my plane), or it is down a good bit because that's where it was during landing.

Chris

Square the trailing edge

My understanding of the aerodynamics is that a squared off edge is preferable to the rolled edges of the older designs. My wedge didn't stick out quite as much and I filed it flush to the skins.

Maybe DH will chime in.

Thank you, trim tab has been installed.