Yearly Archives: 2013


Trim Tab 1 (3.5 hours)

First an update on the left elevator: the parts will arrive Tuesday via FEDEX ground.  I should be caught back up in a weekend.

On to the trim tab.  The first project was to remove the blue plastic in order to begin work on the trim tab.  Next I used Mike Bullock’s brake to bend the trailing edge.  I used my hand seamers and a few rulers to complete the trailing edge bend.  After the fiasco of screwing up the tab on the elevator, I set about bending the tabs on the trim tab today.  After discussion with Jack during the setup for the Gathering tomorrow, I think I had the right approach in mind.  I bought some oak planks to use as my bending blocks.  Double sided carpet tape and two clamps held everything in place.  This is extremely easy to mess up and a severe pain in the butt.  In the end I was successful.  Both sides are bent the appropriate amount and in the correct location.  There are a few areas where its not the prettiest but its perfectly airworthy and I’m happy enough with the result.  This is one area that you should definitely take your time with and practice.20130712-203759.jpg

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I got a flat yoke from Avery tools.  This yoke doesn’t accept a die in the upper receiver but acts as the flat die itself.  This should allow me to finish up those few pesky rivets on the rudder and elevator that I could not access.20130712-203818.jpg


I ordered the parts from my previous post to replace the left elevator due to the crack.  I could likely repair the crack, but I see no reason to have a new aircraft with repaired cracks on control surfaces.  I had made plenty of mistakes on the trim tab access panel anyways, so this would be a great opportunity to repair those as well.  In all honesty, having just done the work, it won’t take me long.  I should be able to catch back up rather quickly.

On a separate note I ordered a close quarters yoke from Avery tools.  The yoke does not have a hole for a dimple and should allow me to rivet the few remaining rivets in both the elevators and the rudder without using pop rivets.