Brief Description: Horizontal Stabilizer Alignment Part 2
Next step is to align the stabs to the fuselage centerline. I diddled around with this for too long trying to figure out a way to ensure everything was square and aligned. I was going to weld up a jig made out of square tubing to align the rear spar. I had an old 4ft level that I had out in the barn and was going to use that to align the pieces while welding on since I didn’t care if it got damaged. I found the level and to my surprise I had forgotten it had a magnetic strip the full length of one side! All I did was slap on the two chunks of square tubing and I was all set.
Next was to figure out how to make sure the stab was square to the fuselage. I farted around with this far too long and tried different methods, only to settle on snapping a chalk line on the floor and lining the fuselage up with that line. Once that was done, I used a square and 4ft rule to mark a line the was perpendicular to the centerline. I hung two plumb-bobs from each stab and aligned the stabs from there. Tomorrow I’ll do the brave thing and actually drill the bolt holes.
