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Date:  10-16-2014
Number of Hours:  0.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Vertical Stabilizer

After clecoing the Vertical Stabilizer skin to the structure, with the rear edges properly aligned with the rear spar, I noticed that the upper leading edge of the skin seemed to be slightly skewed to one side. After removing the skin and checking the spar/rib structure with a self leveling laser, I found it to be very well aligned. I then moved to the skin and noticed that when the rear edges of the skin were forced together, that the leading edge was misaligned by about 5/16” at the top.

Believing that the skin edges and holes were very unlikely to be incorrectly cut, because they were CNC generated, I presumed that the leading edge radius was probably mislocated slightly relative to the trailing edges. To check this, I clecoed and clamped the skin trailing edges together, yielding the results shown in photo #1. Clamping the rear edges together exaggerates the error, but led me to believe I was on the right track.

To correct the problem, a wood dowel rod was taped in position at the leading edge to maintain the correct radius, then a 2X2 block was used to reshape the leading edge to be centered between the trailing edges. This was easily done, with little effort required. The resulting leading edge radius is shown in photo #3, a significant improvement.

I presume this is a problem unique to this particular skin. It could very easily happen if the skin blank was not precisely centered in the press brake used to form the leading edge radius. Dan is aware of the issue, so I’m sure it is under control. He offered to replace the skin, but this correction technique resolved the problem.

The skin was clecoed to the V.S. structure, and the leading edge looked much better.
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Upper V.S. skin leading edge

Upper V.S. skin leading edge

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Reforming the upper leading edge

Reforming the upper leading edge

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Reformed upper leading edge

Reformed upper leading edge

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