How to bend trim tab leading edge?

[LuisR]

Stuck on how to bend the trim tab leading edge bottom skin to 15 degrees. This is step 2 on page 9-17.

Looking for guidance.

Thank you.

[Palamedes]

I just placed it against my workbench and gave it a bend. It's a long piece but its not too long so you can do that.

Just go slow and make small adjustment bends until you get the 15 degrees

[LuisR]

Jason,

Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the tip. That's exactly what I tried and it worked out. Thanks!!

[Pool Shark]

Originally Posted by Palamedes

I just placed it against my workbench and gave it a bend.

Jason, that's the question: with what did you give it a bend? A hand-seamer, block of wood, fingers, etc. Also, did you wait until after the spar was riveted in place?

I'm surprised that there haven't been more questions on the Forum about this; Vans gives no details in the plans, and being a concave bend over a relatively long sheet of thin skin, it seems like a tricky operation.

Maybe I'm just over-thinking it, but it would be a shame to 'bork-up' a very tricky flight surface on the final step.

[Pool Shark]

Now that I'm at this step, does anybody have a response to my above inquiry?

[jibby212]

After bending the end tabs nicely, I took the trim tab to work and made a real nice bend using a metal folding brake, to bad it was on the top side. Don't do that!

[paul330]

If I remember correctly, I simply clamped it to a piece of wood and ran a block along the edge. It doesn't have to be particularly accurate - you are just trying to make sure it clears the elevator trailing edge.

[Auburntsts]

I made a brake from some 2x8s and door hinges as the steel brake that came with my tool kit wasn't wide enough for the skins. But like Paul said, the angle isn't critical so do whatever method is easiest for you and get'er done.

[Pool Shark]

Thanks guys!

Funny that bending the end tabs on my trim tabs and elevator skins was the easiest and fastest step (I made a simple aluminum mini-break), but that bending the leading edge of the trim tabs was freaking me out

I think I'll try Paul's 'rub a wooden block along the bend to form a crease' method...

[Auburntsts]

Originally Posted by Pool Shark

Thanks guys!

Funny that bending the end tabs on my trim tabs and elevator skins was the easiest and fastest step (I made a simple aluminum mini-break), but that bending the leading edge of the trim tabs was freaking me out

I think I'll try Paul's 'rub a wooden block along the bend to form a crease' method...

I found that many times reading ahead I'd get myself all worked up into a "how am I going to do that or this is going to hard as h*ll" state of mind but invariably when I actually got to that step and did it I'd walk away wondering why I thought it was going to be so difficult because it rarely was.

Truth in lending -- the flip side applied as well. A few times a task I thought was going to be a piece of cake turned out to be a time consuming, expletive filled, pain in the butt.