[hecilopter]

I'm helping a buddy with his -7A and when we drilled the elevator horns the first time (bottom hole) we managed to not get the hole straight thru. We moved up about a bolt hole width and drilled another, this time straight thru. I realize it will make pitch slightly more sensitive in the stick (it is really only about 5/16" higher up the horn), but should we worry about it?

Should we take one of the elevators and have the bottom hole welded back and redrill the bottom hole? Obviously, the elevator will still move stop to stop, it will be just slightly more sensitive.

(note that in the pic, there is a block of wood sandwiched between the horns.)

Thanks!

 

[RV_7A]

Rusty- I would weld them and try again. You will only have to weld one of them closed. I noticed from the picture that it appears the HS and Elevators are on the fuselage. If you are trying to drill this while its attached might not be a good idea. You should have the entire assembly laying flat on a table up side down with the trailing edges of both elevators carefully clamped in line using a nice straight stiff peice of wood and also clamped up front so they align with the HS as well.

-Jeff

 

[scard]

I concur with Jeff.

 

[sf3543]

Drill a perpendicular hole in your wooden spacer, using a drill press, and when you redrill use it as a drill guide to get them straight. Just line it up with the hole on one horn and drill through the other one. It doesn't take much to keep the bit straight. Actually, you could us a 3/16 bit to make a starting mark on the opposing horn, remove the block and then drill with smaller bits, progressing to the point where you could use a chucking reamer, with the block reinstalled and clamped, to make the final hole. This way, you could get perfect alignment.
You can check with VAN's about the need to redo the horns, but I think I would weld the three holes and redrill in the correct spot.

 

[schwarzp]

Same thing happened to me. After agonizing, I decided to have one of the horns' hole welded shut and ground flat. I then redrilled with a block (being very careful this time). A bit of new paint and it is as good as new.

Peter Schwarzenbach
RV-7