.
This is easy to do using a hobby knife and a #11 blade. A Dremel Tool and a
carbide cut-off wheel may also be useful in this step. Once the elevator halves
are grooved, trial fit them together with the wire joiner. Adjust the grooves and
holes as required to achieve a good fit. Mix a small amount of 5-minute epoxy
and apply glue into each hole and channel in both elevator halves. Clean the
joiner with acetone and Install it in place into each elevator half, wiping off any
excess epoxy. Lay this assembly onto your wax paper protected plans, with the
leading edges firmly against a straight edge and pin or weight in place. Allow the
glue to cure before removing the elevators from your work surface.
27.
The vertical fin and rudder are built in much the same manner as the stab and elevators. From your laser cut parts, locate
the VF-1, VF-2, and VF-3 parts for the fin and the R-1, R-2, R-3, and R-4 rudder parts. Also locate the 1/4"x1/2"x12" balsa
tailpost, used for the trailing edge of the fin. Cover the plan with wax paper. Cut the 1/4"x1/2" tailpost to the length shown
on the plans (save the left over piece for use as a spacer during fuselage construction) and pin it in place, directly over its
location on the plan - note that the tailpost extends down through the rear of the fuselage, to the top surface of the ply
hardpoint doubler. Glue VF-1 in place to the forward edge of the tailpost.
28.
Protect the rear edge of the tail post with wax paper and use weights or pins to hold R-1 in place against it. Glue R-2 in
place to the rear edge of R-1. Glue R-3 in place to the top of the R-1/R-2 assembly and glue R-4 in place to the bottom.
29.
From your parts bag, locate the two 1 lengths of 5/16" dia. center drilled wood
dowels. These will be used to make the hardpoints in the stab (2 each) and the
fin (1 each), the rest will be used in the fuselage. Insert one of these dowels into
the laser cut hole in the fin so that it bottoms out on the other side. Mark the
dowel with a pencil, remove it from the fin and use a razor saw to cut off the
piece just marked. Glue the dowel piece into the hole in the fin. Repeat this
procedure with the two holes on each side of the stab. Save the excess drilled
dowel material as it will be used during fuselage construction.
30.
The tail group is now basically assembled. We suggest that now is a good time to sand these assemblies. In order to sand
the fin/rudder and stabilizer/elevators assemblies uniformly, use masking tape on one side only to temporarily attach the
rudder to the fin and the elevators to the stab and then sand the opposite, untaped sides. Once the sides are smooth, add
tape to the now sanded sides, turn the parts over, remove the tape and sand those sides smooth. To begin, use a large
sanding block with 80-grit sandpaper. This very quickly smooths these flat surfaces, so don t over do it. Once the surfaces
are smooth on both sides and their edges, switch to 220 grit paper to achieve a very smooth surface.
31.
Like the ailerons, the leading edges of the rudder and elevators are now be sanded to shape. As shown on the plans,
these leading edges are beveled to create a 45 deg. angle, top and bottom from the center line. This angle allows for the
extreme surface travel used on this design. Follow the directions in the Aileron section, Step 21, to achieve these required
hinging angles.
32.
The leading, trailing and tip edges of the fin/rudder and stab/elevators can now be sanded to shape as shown on the
plans. Note that we did not overly shape or airfoil these edges but rather simply rounded them. To ensure uniformity, sand
these parts with the rudder taped to the fin and the elevators taped to the stab.
33.
From the parts bag in your kit, locate the pre-bent tailwheel wire. As shown on
the plans, the tailwheel wire is embedded in the forward bottom edge of the
rudder. Using the plans as a guide, drill a 1/16" dia. hole in the bottom of the
rudder to accept the tailwheel wire arm - about 1/2" deep. Again, we would
suggest using a simple twist drill to do this. Once the hole has been made, use
your hobby knife and a #11 blade to cut a 1/16" wide channel in front of this hole,
allowing the tailwheel wire to nest in place. Trial fit the wire and adjust the
channel and hole as required to achieve a good fit. Clean the wire part with
acetone. Mix a small amount of 5-minute epoxy and glue the tailwheel wire in
place into the bottom of the rudder. Wipe off any excess glue and allow to cure.