Brief Description: Installing the Skin on the Tail Wrong!
Today I started out good! I located and marked the the center of the bend on the inside of the skin. Next I secure the horizontal stabilizer skeleton to the bench making sure that the end ribs were square to the spar. I then carefully laid the skin over the skeleton, lining up the aft edge of the skin even with the spar web and checking that the center of the bend lines up with the leading edge of the rib. Next I laid out the rib stations and spar on the skin and removed the skin and pre-drilled. Following that I reinstalled the skin, taped it inplace and backdrilled and clecoed. Unfortunately, I assumed the skin was oversized and the ends would be trimed later--Wrong! I should have centered the skin on the assemble leaving 20mm on each end to attach the fiberglass tips. I had 10mm on on end and 30mm on the other. I discovered my error when reading 6-T-2B and although the manual doesn't specify the 20mm, that is the only way to allow enough clearance to attach the tips. Well, now at least I have extra sheet metal for when I make my next mistake or decide to fabricate a center console for the instrument panel....
