Brief Description: Mounting the vertical stabilizer - 04
This morning I called Vans Aircraft to discuss my replacement of the F-781. I felt pretty strongly they would be in agreement with my decision, but there was nothing wrong with asking. I described the issue of the short VS spar and the edge distance issues that resulted. Vans said their preferred method is what I did, replace the F-781 with a longer one. An alternative is to add a row of rivets to the top of the orginal F-781. I like my solution and am glad Vans agrees. Off to the shop.
First, I drilled the F-712D aft elevator stop. This is another blind drilling operation where the bolts must be centered on the longerons beneath the aft deck. Drawing centerlines based on the existing rivets I drilled both holes and bolted it in place. No issues. Next I riveted the F-781 to the VS spar. One riveted needed to be drilled out. I installed and tighten all bolts to check the alignment and everything was according to the plans.
