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Elevator Fiberglass Tip - Now What...?

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Matt Dralle
Site Admin

Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 26321
Location: Livermore CA USA

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject: Elevator Fiberglass Tip - Now What...?

Dear Listers,



First, thank you to everyone that has responded to my inquiry 

regarding filling the gaping holes behind the fiberglass tips on the 

Fin and Horz Stabs.  You guys had some great ideas and I'm going to 

try some and see how it goes.



In the meantime, I fit the fiberglass tip on the Right Elevator today 

and after notching out the tip to fit around the lead weight and 

beveling the outside edge of the tip, I got it to fit on very 

nicely.  I plan to use the same platenut installation as I did on the 

rudder.  Frankly, I can't believe that Van's recommends using pop 

rivets here since if the screw that holds the lead weight in place 

ever becomes loose, you'd have to ruin your paint job to get in and 

tighten it.  Bah!



Okay, so I got the tip on and then focused my attention to the front 

part that goes over the lead weight.  Um, what a terrible 

design...  Surly you don't just leave it like that?  Even if I sand 

the fiberglass tip down to match the lead weight, there is still the 

issue of the "openness" of the tip.  There is no way I can sand the 

tip and lead weight down to match the counterbalance skin.  The 

fiberglass tip will be too thin right at the end.



I really don't want to fiberglass all around the lead weight.  It 

also seems like just about anything I do with respect to the 

fiberglass tip and "blending" it into the lead weight is going to 

lead to cracking down the road.



I'm am just totally aghast at the "design" here.  There just doesn't 

seem like an elegant way to finish this off.  The proper design would 

have been, in my opinion, to make the lead weight smaller or a 

slightly different shape such that the fiberglass tip could simply be 

formed all the way around the lead weight.  Kind of like on the Rudder.



Arg...  I just don't know what to do here.  I really don't want to 

glass in the whole tip, particularly since I want it to be 

removable.  Do I really just sand the tip down flush with the lead 

weight and call it "done"?



You know, it seems ironic that the sheet metal stuff in the 

late-model kits is just so awesome.  You can build a beautiful, 

perfectly straight empennage now in a way that just wasn't possible 

in the past.  So now I have this awesome looking metal structure that 

I have to dork a crappy, poorly formed fiberglass tip to it.  Its all 

just so disheartening...



Please tell me there's a special trick or maybe a really nice 

after-market all metal hydroformed tip I can get to use instead...?



Matt Dralle

RV-8 #82880

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Matt Dralle
Matronics Email List Administrator

aurbo(at)ak.net
Guest

Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 7:41 pm Post subject: Elevator Fiberglass Tip - Now What...?

Matt,



Read this web site:  http://www.rvproject.com/



All the answers your looking for can be found on Mr. Checkoways web site.



Mike Ice

Just did a first flight in my RV9 today. Flies great, flies straight, looks 

great.



---

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