RT Elevator - hooked trailing edge

Jimzap · Post by **Jimzap** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:54 am

Well, I've put this off for several months but it is time to do something about it. I finished the right elevator several months ago and the outboard side trailing edge has a hook in it. The inboard edge looks perfect, so I guess that means the elevator is warped, I think. Picture below.

Any ideas of what I should do? I took a picture down to Vans and the person I talked to said it would be OK and to continue, but it will bug me to no end if I don't fix it or build another elevator with new parts.

James

smittysrv · Post by **smittysrv** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:05 am

The trailing edges on the rv-9 ailerons, flaps and elevators are really tough make perfectly straight. I'm not proud of how my flaps turned and the ailerons are just OK. I wouldn't even try to drill out the rivets and redo it. To me, you should just keep on going, or you can trash it start over again. I've seen other control surfaces that have looked a lot worse than yours and the aircraft fly fine.

bruceh · Post by **bruceh** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:20 pm

You don't have to decide today. You can always come back later in the build and decide to redo this elevator.

When I built mine, I used a perfectly flat wood surface (an old door) and drilled the trailing edges through the aluminum and into the wood. I used proseal as a glue and clecoed everything in place on the door until it set up. This will prevent the hook from forming when you rivet it together.

When you build the flaps and ailerons, you will need to build a similar surface and weigh everything down tight and flat before drilling those trailing edges.

Jimzap · Post by **Jimzap** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:06 am

I think I will come back to this later, but I really need to continue on.

Thanks.