Mounting Horiz. stab - when can I leave it on?

ChiefPilot · #1 07-28-2008, 10:46 AM

This past weekend I got the stab mounted on my -6A, and after looking at it, I can't find any obvious reason why I would need to remove it again. Are there any hidden "gotchas" that might make removal of the stabilizer neccesary prior to completion?

Thanks for any insight!

pierre smith · #2 07-28-2008, 01:06 PM

....are all the wires for the trim and taillights run yet? Tiedown anchor rivetted in? These things are much easier to access without the stab in the way. How 'bout when you move to the airport, or are you already on one?

Regards,

alpinelakespilot2000 · #3 07-28-2008, 01:49 PM

Walking around the (full) tail of the airplane everytime you want to move to the other side of the fuselage is kind of a bummer. Even if you have a lot of workspace. I'm putting mine back on today just to fit the empennage fairing then will be pulling it right back off. Doesn't take long at all and it's been nice having it up on the ceiling and out of the way.

noelf · #4 07-28-2008, 03:44 PM

With the horizontal stab in place, now would be a good time to fit the F694-A "under-stab" (armpit) fairings. These are shown on drawing #46. Once you are satisfied with the fairing-to-stab gap (you get to choose...no gap or just enough for a rubber channel, you can decide how you want to attach these fairings. Van says to drill /tap into the longeron for a #6 screw. I decided to just drill a hole in the longeron and used lock nuts and washers instead of taping into the longeron material. I have seen some older RV's that tapped the holes and the longeron screw threads are pretty well stripped / worn away.

If I had it to do over, I would pull the horizontal stab and fit in some nutplates in these locations on the longeron.

With the horizontal and vertical stab on the aircraft, you can fit the fiberglass F-694-B fairing. Or at least get an idea of how little / much work lies ahead in fitting this item. I spent a lot of time on this one area to get it to my liking. But also a word of caution with this item. During your flight test phase, you may find that you need to adjust the "incidence" angle of the horizontal stab. This would require corresponding changes to possible both fairings.

Have you also fit the elevators and push-pull tubes? Verifying and finalizing the elevator stops can be done now or later.

Once this is done, I would pull the stabs and get them out of the way.

Hope this helps.

L.Adamson · #5 07-28-2008, 06:24 PM

I left mine on for several years. This way, I could sit in the cockpit and move the stick back and forth, with it connected to something...

At the end of the project, I removed it, along with the vertical stab and rudder for painting.

L.Adamson -- RV6A

ChiefPilot · #6 07-28-2008, 09:52 PM

Thanks for the responses!

It is in a hanger, so I don't need to worry about transportation, but I haven't run the wires for the rear position light/strobe. I hadn't thought about the fairing underneath, either, and I definitely like the nutplate idea so I guess I'll just leave it on for a day or two to play with the stick and pull it off after that :-)

Thanks!