[AX-O]

I am finishing my tail kit. Not much left however, it feels like the tail will never be finish I ran into this problem (look at pic). Basically the arm on the elevators is about 1 1/16 of an inch longer than the HS skin. The Rod end bearings are installed per the plans. Did this happen to you? I am assuming that you just cut the HS skin (also fiberglass tip) and make it fit. My question is the following: How much distance do I need (for clearance when the elevator swings) between the end of the elevator arm and the end of the HS skin?

Second question:
Look at pic below. The plans say to cut a section on HS 609 to allow the elevator horns to swing down. Drawing 27A is referred for the measurement. After checking that drawing over and over, I can't figure out where the dimension is located. All I see is that the F-811D spacer/FWD elevator stop has a section that is 2 inches long. How much of HS609 should I cut? Right now I have the dimension at 2.5 inches. The 2 inches from the F811D spacer plus 1/4 inch for clearance. Does that work?

By the way, very proud of my tail kit

 

[AntiGravity]

Its on the drawing

I had the same issue; checked with Vans and got told it is on the drawing DWG3; it was too! You cut the HS skin to provide sufficient clearance for the elevator to swing clear (don't forget the layer of paint). I think I went for 1/16" initially, or something like that. I'll tidy it up when I final shape and sand the fibreglass.

I can't remember the exact dimensions I used for the cutout, but it needs to allow for 25 degrees of elevator travel.

Cheers,

 

[13brv3]

Greetings,

In your first question, it's completely normal to have to trim more of the horz stab skin to clear the counterweight. I would make sure it clears by at least 1/16", but probably a little more. For now, I'd cut it just enough to clear the arm, and fine tune the gap when you're fitting the fiberglass tips.

For the second question, you will trim the bottom flange of the spar to clear the elevator horns, and it won't have to be all that precise. You will actually end up making this clearance more than is needed to get your down elevator limit, since there will be an elevator stop installed on the fuselage (which you will painfully file to fit later <g>). My advice would be to leave your marks as a reminder that you need to do this when you fit the horz stab to the fuselage, because there's no rush to trim this portion now.

One builder tip I'll give- start a list of notes somewhere in your manual, or on the shop wall, desk, etc. Every time you defer something like this for later, make a note of it. This will be particularly important in cases where you may want to assemble something with temp bolts, or non-friction nuts. Having a note to remind you to replace those could be important

Good luck,
Rusty

 

[AntiGravity]

One builder tip I'll give- start a list of notes somewhere in your manual, or on the shop wall, desk, etc. Every time you defer something like this for later, make a note of it. This will be particularly important in cases where you may want to assemble something with temp bolts, or non-friction nuts. Having a note to remind you to replace those could be important

Ooh, good call Rusty, I'm taking that. Something else I have done is create a chart that lists every nut/bolt/screw that has to be torqued to a specific level. It records the location, type, date it was torqued up, the value it was torqued to, and who torqued it up (me, generally). That way, in the future if I'm not sure I can check the chart. If it's not on the chart it will then get torqued, and even if it *is* on the chart it may well get checked anyway!!

Cheers,

 

[CraigC]

Hey,

Lower right corner of dwg 3. It is a very hard to see dimension given on the lower part of HS-609. 1 inch each side of the HS-609. Read the note. Hope this helps. Later,

 

[AX-O]

One builder tip I'll give- start a list of notes somewhere in your manual, or on the shop wall, desk, etc. Every time you defer something like this for later, make a note of it. This will be particularly important in cases where you may want to assemble something with temp bolts, or non-friction nuts. Having a note to remind you to replace those could be important

That is a great idea. Thank you!