Big Hands and Small Places

[Rob H]

Taking your question a step further....Do all of these control surfaces need to come off again at paint time? I'm nearing the end of my empennage tail cone kit and not sure if I should go ahead and install all the tail feathers as per the manual at this time or should I wait?

[DonFromTX]

After some thought, I thought this would help, it sure did, slid the bolt right into the holes! Also as someone pointed out, although uncomfortable, there is much more room to see and work from the bottom!
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[RFSchaller]

All my control surfaces came off for painting. Otherwise I think you will end up with unpainted "shadows" where the surfaces meet the fuselage.

[DHeal]

My paint shop painted my RV-12 with the stabilator mounted in place. It came out very well -- no shadows -- so it can be successfully done that way.

[DonFromTX]

Although I hate to second guess the paint shop, I sure hope they do NOT take off my stabilator to paint. I can just see some paint guy in a hurry slapping it back without care that it takes. I think most all take the flaperons off as well, not so hard to see if they put it back correctly.

Originally Posted by DHeal

My paint shop painted my RV-12 with the stabilator mounted in place. It came out very well -- no shadows -- so it can be successfully done that way.

[Tony_T]

I think most professional paint shops will not disassemble or reassemble a homebuilt, they will want you to do it. My painter assigned one of his workers to help but it was up to me to get the parts off and on. That was OK by me.

After conferring with the painter, I decided to leave the stabilator on, and the painter did indicate that the paint may not be perfect in the shadow areas, however after it was done it looked perfect to me.

[dsm8]

I share your frustration and every time I tried to push the bolt through, the super-glued washers fell off, or got pulled off when they stuck to my finger. I tired several home made versions without much success. I purchased a set of washer wrenches from aircraft spruce, a little steep at $35.00 for what they were. However they worked great. I also bought a device that holds a bolt so you can install it with only a thin piece of aluminum instead of fat fleshy appendages blocking your view. I highly recommend both of them for working in confined spaces.

Donnie Mac

[DonFromTX]

I had both of those tools and was about to enlist the aid of the bolt holder if the vicegrips did not work. They worked well so no need to use them. I had some "gel" superglue, and it stuck the washers nicely, they did not come loose. Earlier when using ordinary super glue, the washers would come loose easily.

Originally Posted by dsm8

I share your frustration and every time I tried to push the bolt through, the super-glued washers fell off, or got pulled off when they stuck to my finger. I tired several home made versions without much success. I purchased a set of washer wrenches from aircraft spruce, a little steep at $35.00 for what they were. However they worked great. I also bought a device that holds a bolt so you can install it with only a thin piece of aluminum instead of fat fleshy appendages blocking your view. I highly recommend both of them for working in confined spaces.

Donnie Mac

[Driftdown]

[quote=dsm8;1107077]I share your frustration and every time I tried to push the bolt through, the super-glued washers fell off, or got pulled off when they stuck to my finger. I tired several home made versions without much success. I purchased a set of washer wrenches from aircraft spruce, a little steep at $35.00 for what they were. However they worked great. I also bought a device that holds a bolt so you can install it with only a thin piece of aluminum instead of fat fleshy appendages blocking your view. I highly recommend both of them for working in confined spaces./quote]

Thanks Donnie.
Any possibility you could provide a link to those specific tools?

[joedallas]

Washer Tool

A strip of .024 aluminum, drill a hole the size of the washer, cut off enough to pull the tool out, a small piece of scotch tape on the side, worked easy.

http://joesrv12.com/Photo/21_14_01.jpg



Joe Dallas