Elevator Assembly

April 2, 2010 – Haven’t gotten around to updating this site lately, so there’s a lot to cover here.

I assembled the structure for the right elevator, then shot on the skin.

When I installed the counterbalance skin on the rudder, I chose to place the skin on the outside of the rudder skin, and faired the trailing edge. On the elevators, I’ve decided to do it per the drawings, with the counterbalance skin inside the elevator skin. I personally think it’s cleaner the other way, but I’m not willing to remove all the rivets to do it over again.

I did, however, neglect to bevel the edges of the counterbalance skin before installation, so now I have a slight gap in the structure. So I’m making tapered shims to fit in that gap.

The shim is very thin; from about .010″ to .025″. Because I only have access to one side, I don’t want to lose it, so I’ll slide it in place, drill it, and install the rivet, all in one operation.

The left elevator will be handled correctly.

Time : 4:40 (Includes elevator trim work below)