What do you know? My fin actually fit....
I drew on the rudder section, and then begin to fret. The stabilizer and elevator looked too long for the wood pieces I had from TEAM, until I figured out that 90 inches is only seven and a half feet.
The rudder was pretty easy to put together, and the only difficulty I had was tapering the ribs. Since they stick out at odd angles, you can't simply taper them all starting at the same point. I positioned them, and laid a straightedge across the whole thing. I just drew a line across the rudder, and now knew exactly where to taper the things. Once the whole thing was assembled, it looked perfect. I only hope it remains so once the cloth is on.
The stabilizer has been the biggest project yet. It fills most of the table, and it is constructed of MANY little parts. But, it went together nicely. It was simpler to put together than the rudder, despite it's size. I'm ready to start on the elevator now. Great, more rib tapering. But as I look at those max-103 pictures, I can't wait to finish this thing.
The hinges are made from steel square tubing, And My only tools have been a hacksaw, a coping saw, a drill, and a cutting wheel on my dremel. God Praise the Dremel! I would be sweating bullets if not for it. If you plan on building a plane like this....GET A DREMEL! It's worth it.
The elevator is a lot like the rudder, albeit longer and the dimensions stay the same, instead of getting small on one end. Very easy to assemble so far. I need to shape the ribs and glue it, and I'll be ready to assemble the tail. I have to varnish the whole thing, to prevent warping by moisture. I hate paint about as much as glue, particularly when sanding dust is stuck to everything. Oh well....
Painting and final assembly of tail section complete. Just watch those hinges if you make them yourself. They are a bugger! The simplest way to do them is to cut the tops of the tubing, and stick a piece of RS-8 inside them. Clamp the pieces to the table and drill the holes, right through the wood. When you round off the edges, turn the smaller piece around and wallah!, perfect hinge.
The empennage has not changed much in a year or two until now. I finished the fuse to the point that it finally became useful. With all the brackets complete I mounted the horizontal stabilizer and elevator to the airframe, and then the vertical fin and rudder. The rudder horn was painted blue to match the other pieces of the plane. A few brackets have been painted black. I am not sure of my final color choice, but I needed to protect the brackets from corrosion.
Once in place, I attached the turnbuckles and tightened up the cables, holding them in place with small clamps while I tested the position of the foot pedals. When the port cable was in the right place, I swaged it . Afterwards, I clamped the rudder so it would stay straight, and clamped the two foot pedals together, so they were in the exact same position. With that done I swaged the other cable, and the result is a sound system where the rudder is centered with the pedals. If the plane has a tendency to turn one way or the other, I can let either turnbuckle out a little to trim the plane out. This is of course, only something that can be done on the ground.
Cables fixed, I squared up the vertical fin with the horizontal stab, and added the struts. Strut brackets were easy to make, but the strut tubing required a bit of adjusting with a hammer to make it fit into the bracket. It was too wide by just a hair, even though I ordered what I was supposed to per the plans. I ground a little off the bottom, and mounted it first, cutting and fitting the pieces a little at a time. I only had enough tubing for one set of struts with no screw-ups, so I had to do it right. The whole event, from Making the first bracket, until tightening the final bolt, took a little over two hours, but with it, the empennage is done. I only have to mount the trim servo in the elevator. I climbed in the plane and checked the rudder and elevator for free travel. They worked great, so I got out and checked the travel. The rudder has PLENTY of travel, both ways, and the elevator meets the plans, with 30 up and 20 down. I have not put the tail wheel rod on yet, so I worry it will limit the rudder travel, but I will have to see. When I swage that in place, I will not be able to remove the control bar. That may have to be done after fabric is attached to the fuselage sides.
pictures on the way.
