Elevator tips...

[jferraro17]

I'm having a fit problem with my elevator tips.

The "new" style counterweights extend out from the rib into the tip. The result (for my kit) is, the tip flange that gets the aluminum strip and rivets isn't deep enough to reach the pre-punched holes and still provide proper edge distance.

Here are my thoughts:

1) Glue a wider aluminum strip to the existing flange, then fill with glass so the proper elevator/glass/strip sandwich is still created.

2) Cut the tip at the apex of the curve (outboard-most part) so that it fits around the weight better, then repair the glass.

3) Shave a little off the weight to make the tip fit...don't want to create balance issues down the road, so this is my last option


Anyone else deal with this?? Sorry I don't have pics with me right now, I might be able to post some later.

Thnx-
Joe

[robertahegy]

I would shave the contour of the weight down just a tad. You can solder some extra lead on the back side if you think you removed too much. That way you aren't creating a lot of extra glass work.

Roberta

[ncarmon]

I had the same problem.

I shaved off the outer portion of the weight with a file. I was afraid it wouldn't balance right. It was still "overbalanced" when I was done, there is plenty of weight that you can take a little off. By the way, if you shave too much, you can use micro on the lead when you mount the tip to fill the gap.

If you are really concerned about it, there are a couple threads with pictures where you can use the tooling hole in the elevator counterweight arms to mount a nutplate 3/16 or 1/4 on the inside(inside the fiberglass tip) of the arm. You can then put large washers on a bolt then mount the bolt on the inboard side of the elevator counterweight arm, through the tooling hole into the nutplate. Picture here: http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...vator+nutplate

As for the edge distance, I found that my holes were very close to the edge of the fiberglass. When I bonded the aluminum, I left overhang because when I measured the thickness of the fiberglass, it was thicker than the end rib flanges. When I fit the tip, I was right. It slid right in, the aluminum backing sliding over the top of the rib flange. The aluminum gave me plenty of edge distance.

hope it helps....