Brief Description: Conception, design and build of the “caboose”
Tonight, I conceptualized what I wanted to use to hold up the tail end of the fuselage while the rotisserie holds up the front end. Whatever it is, it must be strong, stable and allow the “stinger” (the ½” metal rod that sticks out of the tail wheel slot) to rotate without slipping out or falling over. I decided to make a vertical box-like structure, that would accept the stinger and then stabilize it at the base by using 2x4’s to widen the base.
I took inventory of the scrap wood I had on hand and ended up re-purposing some of the wood into the picture of what I had in my mind. When I was done, I placed it at the aft end of the fuselage and noticed that the stinger is really only supported by one side of the “box” and that I needed to beef up the structure to tie in the whole box. Another six holes drilled and screws inserted into 2x4 scrap and I was much happier.
As an aside, the stinger is made from a 24” long steel garage door tension rod. I wrapped it a few times with gorilla tape as it was a little narrow for the slot and I didn’t want it to slide out of the tail wheel slot. Now there is also a good amount of tension on it so it should stay put.
