Horizontal Stabilizer Rigging Issue/Question

[EricB]

I have started to rig the HS to the fuse and have run into a something that is causing some concern.

I placed the HS on the fuse, centered it, and verified that it is perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline of the fuse by measuring to a common point on the forward end of the fuselage . Now I notice that one of the two vertical bars (F-711 I think) on the fuse that get drilled and bolted to the aft spar of the HS has to be bent forward very slightly in order to contact the HS rear spar. The gap is approximately .015 inches (probably less).

Prior to measuring and placing the HS perpendicular to fuse centerline the HS tips were off by about 1/4 inch (1/2 inch total difference by measuring to the firewall). Moving the tips to center the HS to correct this is what caused the minor gap.

Anyone else experience this. Did you use a very thin shim, 10L washers, or just bolt it down?

Thanks in advance

Eric
RV-7 Last of the Fuse work
Idaho

 

[az_gila]

Shim it!

I have started to rig the HS to the fuse and have run into a something that is causing some concern.

I placed the HS on the fuse, centered it, and verified that it is perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline of the fuse by measuring to a common point on the forward end of the fuselage . Now I notice that one of the two vertical bars (F-711 I think) on the fuse that get drilled and bolted to the aft spar of the HS has to be bent forward very slightly in order to contact the HS rear spar. The gap is approximately .015 inches (probably less).

Prior to measuring and placing the HS perpendicular to fuse centerline the HS tips were off by about 1/4 inch (1/2 inch total difference by measuring to the firewall). Moving the tips to center the HS to correct this is what caused the minor gap.

Anyone else experience this. Did you use a very thin shim, 10L washers, or just bolt it down?

Thanks in advance

Eric
RV-7 Last of the Fuse work
Idaho

Some builders will say to just "torque it up" and "build on"...

But it would be really easy to just add a 0.016 spacer here and bolt everything in place with no strain on any parts.

Shims are quite acceptable, and are specified in many certified planes for the exact reason you have found.

A 0.016 shim won't affect any bolt length call outs...

gil A - shim it!

..and yes.. my RV-6A has a shim there... more prevalent with the non-punched kits...

 

[JonJay]

Really common. I was one of those "just build on" guys but easy enough to shim I guess. Mine actually touched on the bottom, but was off slightly at the top. One of the many not so perfectly aligned parts of my 6QB fuselage.

 

[gfb]

Sorry to revive this ancient thread... I seem to be having the same problem with my rv-9a...

Gap is roughly 0.03" on the left (top) bar and a spacer out of 0.032 sheet fits perfectly. Sounds like this is a legitimate fix? Has anyone run it by Van's?

Thanks!

 

[cajunwings]

Shims

My 9 needed a .020" shim on the aft side of the left F-711. Probably could have been torqued up but much better with shim and no load. Common fix in this situation.

Don Broussard

RV 9 Rebuild in Progress

 

[gfb]

Just to close out my question.

Numerous people reached out and confirmed a shim was OK. I also talked to Van's and they agreed, they also suggested that anything under 0.030" could be just torqued down without a shim. Anything larger should be shimmed. They said they have even heard of people out there with shims as large as 0.25"