Brief Description: Vertical Stabilizer Tip & Rudder Stops
Before trimming the rear edge of the V.S. tip to match the rudder aft edge, I decided to fill the inside of the rear edge of the tip with a thixotropic mixture of epoxy and milled glass fiber, covered with a heavy woven fiberglass. This will prevent the trailing edge from opening up when I trim off about 3/16” of the rear edge. Since I needed to allow this to cure overnight, I took the opportunity to bond one-inch wide strips of 0.020” aluminum to the inside of the V.S. tip. These strips will prevent local crushing of the fiberglass when the rivets are pulled, securing the tip to the V.S. This process and materials are described in Tony Spicers website at https://picasaweb.google.com/tonyboytoo/TailFeathers#5941404498463520562
A rudder deflection template was fabricated as directed in the Builder’s Manual, then used to establish the thickness of the rudder stop. The left stop required a little less than ¼” thickness. So , I fabricated the stop from ¼” thick aluminum, and will file down the contact surface of the control horn to achieve the target 25-degrees. The same process was used on the right side, but the stop thickness was 1/8”.
