|
|
|
|
Sonex 1292
|
Date: 4-1-2011
|
Number of Hours: 0.00
|
Manual Reference:
|
Brief Description: Straightened out vertical stabalizer tip
|
|
I remember when I installed the fiberglass tip at the top of the vertical stabilizer I wasn’t real concerned with the alignment. My thinking was that when I installed the vertical stab to the fuselage, I was really careful making sure that it lined up perfectly, and at the time, the fiberglass tip was clecoed to the stab. Then, when I riveted on the fiberglass tip (a few months later) I just stuck it on and riveted it, not even looking for alignment, because it lined up when it was clecoed on, it must line up now, right?
Well, I was wrong and my plane has had a definite, continuous turn to the right ever since. I would guess that if I kept the wings level and my feet off the rudder petals my plane would turn about a quarter degree every second. Or to put it another way, it would turn about 15 degrees per minute, all on its own. So this was something I definitely had to fix.
When I smashed the wing tip a few days ago, I also drilled out the vertical stab tip as well. After I fixed the wing tip, I also added fiberglass to the stab tip, to give it extra strength and to fill in all the holes. Some bondo and a little sanding later it looked almost like new. When I got the stab tip back from the painter, I’ll be extremely careful to line it up perfectly. Hopefully this cures my turn to the right, and helps to speed up my Sonex and reduce the temperatures I’ve been seeing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2001-2020 Matronics. All Rights Reserved.
|
