Skinned the Elevator
I’m continuing with closing out empennage tasks; like the rudder skin issue I described last week, I also had a problem with one of the elevator skins from the original kit I bought. The skin was missing a row of pre-drilled holes for a stiffening channel, and I couldn’t see an easy way to match-drill in the right place, so TAF sent me a replacement skin a few months ago. After prepping and priming the skin Tuesday night, I clecoed it together Wed night. So far, so good, but I have to pay attention to the alignment of the left and right ends to make sure they align perfectly – I’ve seen other builders use a laser level and/or a digital inclinometer to achieve this, and I’ll do the same.
These empennage parts go together so much faster than the fuel tank! With that being said, I’m anxious to get back to the wing. I’m ready to complete the close out of my left tank, after which it must be attached to the wing so that the sealant sets in place correctly. We’ve had a long stretch of cold weather in NH lately so it’s too cold to work in the garage right now. The data sheet for the Flamemaster CS3204 sealant doesn’t list an acceptable temperature range for curing, it just says that it cures at room temperature and will take longer at colder temperatures.
