Use the same procedure to locate the center of the
firewall. This line will be used to insure the
stabilizer is square to fuselage
Slide the stabilizer through the slot in the rear of the
fuselage. Use care not to split the wood. Looking in
through the rudder slot adjust the stabilizer till the
line on its center is positioned in the center of the
slot.
Insert a pin in the top of the firewall directly over
the centerline drawn.
Tie a piece of string around the pin and pull it to the
rear corner of the stabilizer. Using the string to
measure, go back and forth between the corners
until both sides are equal and the line on the
stabilizer is still centered in the rudder slot. Using a
felt tip pen trace the outline of the fuselage on both
the top and bottom of the stabilizer. Remove the
stabilizer from the fuselage.
Lay the stabilizer on a flat surface. Using a sharp
razor knife and a straight edge slit the covering
about 1/4 inch inside the fuselage outline on both
the top and bottom surfaces.
Try to cut only through the covering, not into the
wood surface, as that would weaken the stabilizer.
Remove the covering from the center. If necessary,
use a covering iron to secure the edge of the
remaining covering to the stabilizer.
Slide the stabilizer into the fuselage slot exposing
about 3/8 inch of bare wood. Apply epoxy to the
top and bottom of the wood. Slide the stabilizer
through the fuselage to expose the wood on the
4
