From start to finish this took nearly a month calendar time to complete. I had put off the fiberglass and never attached the tail feathers before so there was a lot of detail to work through. I managed to complete all of it by only installing the stabilator and rudder twice. I removed it to drill and rivet the nut plates on the tailcone. It could have been done with those parts installed but it comes off and on pretty easy and using the super glue for the washers is the trick. There's no reason to over think it. I will have to be mindful when attaching the stabilator at final assembly to make sure I don't scratch the paint. I also had to carve off an eighth inch on the right stab skin for clearance so having it away from the other parts was a good reason to remove it.
The finish came out perfect. I don't see any reason why it won't go back together and line up perfect again. I was surprised at how well everything came out given that I had to carve, shape and sand so many times. That's really what took so long. I wasn't going to be happy with good enough and the time was worth it. I still need to drill the flapperon tubes but that will have to wait. It's a two man job and I want the plane on its gear so I can use the wheels from the set up it's on now for my wing rack. Once the wings go back outside they will stay there until the painter comes and picks them up. When they are finished with paint they'll go to the hanger.
A note to any builders reading this. Drill out all powder coated bolt holes. The instructions tell you to do this in a couple places but they will all need it.
On to the interior.
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| Last look before it comes apart and off to paint. |
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| Everything works - gaps are to speck - finally complete. |
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| The Stabilator has perfect balance. If I set a couple keys on the tail it will drop. |
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| This fairing was so much work. Taking off - filing - putting it on again. Maybe 30 times including the times before the screw holes were drilled. |
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