6/30/2006
With the front part of the vertical stab resting on blocks and the rear part bolted to F-812, I stood on a ladder and sighted down the holes in the rudder hinges. I added shims to the blocks until all three hinge holes we concentric. I earlier tried a wire like the manual suggests but it didn't seem accurate enough.
With the forward "lean" of the stab set, it was clear that the forward spar was too long and had to be cut. The drawing 27 confirms this. I marked the place, removed the stab and cut the spar with a Dremel cutoff wheel. I then remounted the stab.
I clamped on the F-681 attach plate and it was clear that a spacer was needed. I made one from 1/8" aluminum sheet before I noticed there was one already in the kit (aargh). I clamped the spacer and attach plate to the front spar and drilled the rivet holes. I clecoed this together and reattached the vertical stab to the fuselage.
I clamped the attach plate to the horizontal spar's front spar and set the vertical stab's offset. I tried the bar clamped to the rear spar technique the manual suggests. I double checked this by marking a spot with tape on the bottom leading edge and sighting down the notches in the fuselage bulkheads.
I drilled the attach plate to the horizontal stab's front spar.