Category: Horizontal Stabiliser

Elevator / Empennage / Horizontal Stabiliser

Empennage Fairing

The empennage fairing did not fit too well. A large 4mm gap at the leading edge of the HS. It’s a nice snug fit on the VS, but not able to pull the fairing down to be flush with the HS. After discussing with the factory, I elected to add some flock filler along the fairing edges around the HS. (West System resin plus 403 filler). Drilling the 6mm holes in the fuselage for the rivnuts was a breathtaking moment. In the end, it all lined up very nicely. For easier inspection, I have decided to use flanged M4 hex button head bolts to fit.

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Empennage / Horizontal Stabiliser

Horizontal Stabiliser

Extra countersinking in the forward spar is needed in my case, to accommodate the 8 extra dimples I made in the skin (top surface only). Many do not rivet locations. I needed to take great care to rivet. Awaiting for my main spar so paused for the moment. 5 Feb 2022 missing empennage parts arrived so I could finish the skeleton with Andrew’s assistance. Wed 9th Feb 2022 Spent a lot of time with laser level getting the HS absolutely straight (no twist). Level the table to start with. Various advice from other builders. partially cleco one side, level, then cleco the other side. Add more clecoes, check, turn, check, check again. Rivet from the centre outwards along the main spars, check, check, check all the way. Seems to be very hard to do accurately without a laser level. (9 hrs to do the HS alignment and skinning, but I am very happy with the result.

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