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Date:  3-7-2011
Number of Hours:  2.50
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Vertical tail tip

I definitely decided to attach my vertical tail tip via a method that several others have used. Namely, to add a new tip rib, inverted, to the top most vertical tail rib, and then to screw the fiberglass tail tip to that.

If I were building from a kit then I may have had a better chance of fitting the tip the way the plans show: to slip it between the tail skin and the upper tail rib. But there was just NO way that was going to work on mine. I had left all the upper rivets out so I could at least try. But when I did, it was immediately obvious that wasn't going to work. So I finishe riveting the skin down to the upper rib, and went on.

I made a duplicate of the top most tail rib, though I made the flanges a little wider so I'd have more 'fudge factor' when drilling through the fiberglass tip, into the rib. In photo #1 you can see I had to create 3 "clearance holes". I had to rivet the top rib to the frame of the tail while building, so these 3 rivet heads would not allow my new rib to lie flat. So I simply marked approximately where they were, and drilled 3 holes in the rib to clear them.

Also in photo #1 you can see I labeled 2 sets of screw holes. I used double sided carpet tape to initially attach the new tip support rib to the main rib. I then drilled one hole up high and one down low, just small enough to let me put in a small screw. Those are holes #1 at the top, and #1 at the bottom. Now I could man handle the fiberglass tip over the rib to see how it aligned with the skins. I saw I needed to move the rib a bit to the left at both ends, so I removed the fiberglass tip. removed the 2 screws, and moved the rib over slightly. While holding it in place I drilled 2 new holes (both labeled as screw holes #2), inserted the screws, and checked it with the fiberglass tip, again. It fit well, so with the screws and tape still in place I drilled a series of 3/32" pilot holes and cleco'd them.

Next I had to add the trailing edge rib, which was made per the plans. Aligning it was a bit tricky. I needed a ce
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Holes for clearance; holes for test fitting with screws; holes for rivets.

Holes for clearance; holes for test fitting with screws; holes for rivets.

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The tip support rib with pilot holes and clecos.

The tip support rib with pilot holes and clecos.

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The finished tip support rib and the trailing edge rib.

The finished tip support rib and the trailing edge rib.

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