[G-force]

For anyone building an -8 empennage in the future, read this and hopefully you won't make the same mistake as me Sorta like not cutting the rudder horn brace as marked (because your edge distance will be too short), I've found out the hard way the plans are not the clearest for this step.

The plans have you cut the right and left hand stiffeners at the same time. Then you are to take 6 of the stiffeners (E-720D, E-720E, E-720F, two of each) and modify them to turn them into E-720J,-720K,and -720L (two of each.)
The E-720 trim detail for the new stiffeners on the Right Elevator drawing, DWG 5, left side. It showes you measure from the second hole from the end. Thats fine, except that all the E-720D, E, and F the last hole is NOT prepunched. You won't know where that hole is untill you cleco it to the skin, and matchdrill it from the outside. That is fine for the ones going on the right side, but the left side, when your marking your cut lines for the left hand stiffeners, Don't measure from the second hole back...thats actualy the third hole! Measure from the last hole on the stiffener...you will notice that all the other ribs you have ever cut have a hole about a quarter inch for each end. These ones without the last hole prepunched have a good inch or so of "blank" space on the end. After you cut the LH stiffeners, and After you cleco them to the left elevator skin, then you will backdrill that last hole.

 

[AX-O]

Mike,
I saw the same feedback on another builders website prior to cutting the stiffeners and after reading that, I still took a long time to figure it out. That said, give me a call and I will tell you where I got hung up and some things to avoid.

 

[G-force]

A quick update: I remade the stiffeners per the plans and they they are not right. Don't use those numbers as the distance from the last hole (that you match drill from the outside through a prepunched hole in the skin) to the end of the stiffener is not correct. Just look at every other stiffener, the are all the same distance from that last hole to the end right at the trailing edge. Per the plans, one set will be right up in the bend of the trailing edge and hit each other when you bend it, and one set will be a little shorter than all the rest. Next time I would just cut them to what the plans say + 1/8" , match drill them in place, then trim up the trailing edge to match all the others.