Wendell Folks RV-8 Project - Page 19.

May 8, 2006:  Monday evening found me at Wendell's shop for a short work session.  The fiberglass end caps were put on the elevators and the horizontal stabilizer to get ready for their next steps.  A thick balsa plank must be cut to fit the caps that go on the horizontal stabilizer.  After that, the balsa planks will be fiber-glassed into position and the excess glass will be trimmed away after the epoxy cures.  The cap on the vertical stabilizer will get the same treatment.

The main portion of the work tonight was finishing the rudder stops and fitting them to the side of the fuselage.  It appears that my digital camera focused on the saw horse, not the rudder stops.

Here is the rudder pushed up against the rudder stop showing the clearance from the elevator.

May 11, 2006:  The Thursday evening session was about more work on the tail feathers.  This is the fiberglass rudder top cap in final preparations for blind riveting to the rudder.

My RV-9 bottom rudder cap had scribe lines on the surface to indicate where to cut out the clearance for the rudder torque arm.  I could not find any marks on this RV-7/8 rudder cap.  We had to do some old-fashioned measurements to get it in the "ball park" with tin snips.  The Dremel sanding drum will bring the opening out to the lines before a check-fit to the rudder itself.

This is the first time the empennage fairing has been placed on the properly-installed vertical and horizontal stabilizers.  This part did have the scribe lines for removal of excess fiberglass at the boundaries.  It looks like it should fit fine after the trimming and sanding are completed.

May 13, 2006: I worked with Wendell for a few hours Saturday afternoon after I returned from the EAA 709 Spring Fly-In.  The bottom rudder cap fit was good, so the screw hole locations were selected and drilled with a #40 drill bit, then enlarged later to accept 6-32 screws.  The locations at the ends were placed to allow proper installation of plate nuts.  The screw holes near the aft edge of the rudder were offset 1/4" from each other to insure the plate nuts and screws would not have a conflict.

The holes to attach the rudder top cap are being drilled to #30 to accept rivets or screws when the cap is ready for final installation.  If Wendell chooses the same type VOR/ILS antenna that I have, it will be installed up there, requiring the cap to be secured with screws and plate nuts.

Balsa planks 1/4" thick have been made for the fiberglass caps that go on the horizontal and vertical stablizers.  Wendell had made the one for the VS cap with the balsa wood grain going the wrong direction.  It took just a few minutes to cut and fit a new one with the grain running correctly as shown in the HS cap shown below.

At the end of the work session, I gave a basic class on fiberglass cutting and the use of the epoxy resin and hardener that will be used to secure the balsa planks in the VS and HS caps.  That work comes in the next session.