md9680

md9680

Well Known Member
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I bought a very little worked on tail kit from a guy who also bought it from a guy... I inventoried it against the original packing list and everything appears to be there. It also came to me with a two-piece cradle for the horizontal stabilizer already cut out and mounted on some 2x4 base material.

I'm to the point where I've put the skin in the cradle but it seems to me that the template the original owner fabricated might be undersized since none of the ribs will actually fit in the skin when the skin is fully inserted in the cradle. I don't have all the original packaging and I think I read that the cradle template is actually drawn full size on one of the shipping boxes somewhere. I suppose I could call Van's about it but thought someone might be able to send me a copy of the actual template pattern so I can check it against what I already have and make new cradles if necessary. Any volunteers? I'd be happy to pay the copying and postage costs.

Thank you.
 
Hi Mike,
I remember the template was tight fit. I do not have original cutout but my empennage is close by. I can cut a template for you. Email me your address and tomorrow the template will be picked up by our mailman. You do not need to pay anything.
 
RV10 rather than 9 but....

The frame is not intended in any way to accurately hold the skin in place but merely to ease the work. Simply cut out some material until it fits.

Use some sort of padding (I just taped in some soft paper) to give a bit of flex and prevent scratching.
 
Yep - just trim it until the HS fits fairly loosely in it. This is simply meant to hold the HS in a comfortable working position, not serve as a jig. Later on when you get to the wing kit and you're working on the fuel tanks (outboard leading edges are easier), you'll have the same experience all over again. The fuel tank skin is thick enough that it has a lot of spring, and a close-fitting cradle will assist in getting the ribs/skin clecoed, but it's not critical.
 
Thanks to Vlad, Paul330 and Airguy for your offer and advice. I was thinking that if there wasn't some prohibition on deviating from the template, trimming would do the trick. But I think I'll just make new ones. These are kinda crumbly particle board and I have some scrap plywood that will work better.

Again, thank you all for taking the time to respond to a kind of "duh" question.
 
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