14 Dec 2019 Empennage Fairing
Not gonna lie - the empennage fairing turned out much better than I expected. Probably don't need 1000 screws like the plans say, but I didn't know that when I was doing that part...
Empennage
07 Oct 2017 Service Bulletin SB 14-01-31
These are some pictures from my implementation of the Van's Aircraft SB 14-01-31 on the horizontal stabilizer. More details about the SB can be found at Van's website. There is also a nice youtube video...
28 Jul 2007 Lower rudder tip – part 4
This is a continuation of this article: http://www.rv8.ch/article.php?story=20050902213147833 Here are some detailed shots of the rudder bottom attach strips. ...
03 Sep 2005 Lower Rudder Tip 2
Rather than showing all the pain, I'm just going to show you the baby. Here is an assortment of pictures of the bottom rudder tip, so that you can see what I did. The reason...
03 Sep 2005 Lower Rudder Tip 3
This article is continued from here: http://www.rv8.ch/article.php?story=20050902211803283 Here are more pictures of the lower rudder tip. This article continues here: http://www.rv8.ch/article.php/200707281738417...
01 Sep 2005 Elevator ding
Ouch. I'm not happy. My left elevator just fell off a workbench and landed on a can of kerosene, dinging the leading edge. I'm going to see if I can find a metal expert here in...
18 Aug 2005 Elevator balance
I asked Van's about balancing the elevators, and they recommended just putting the counterweights on, and not worrying about balancing it. A bit to heavy is apparently not a problem. Ideally, the elevators would be perfectly balanced. If the...
18 Feb 2005 Elevator Trim Tab bracket
The standard Van's elevator trim tab bracket does not allow the trim system to go full out without rubbing on the elevator skin. So, instead of cutting more on the elevator skin, I changed the...
19 Dec 2004 Tiny elevator horn cracks
Dominik told me he had cracks on his elevator horns, and suggested I check mine. Sure enough, I had cracks too. I took the elevators to an aviation welding shop, and he said he could...
30 Oct 2004 Tail light installed on rudder fairing
I bought the Whelen A500 combination tail light and strobe from Van's, and I just got around to installing it on the rudder fairing today. I've read horror stories about how hard it is to...
25 Sep 2004 Elevator and HS tips
Started working on the elevator and horizontal stabilizer tips. They are plastic, and I had originally planned to do all my plastic at once, at the end, but since the fiberglass work needs some warmth,...
20 Sep 2004 Empennage Fairing test fit
Quick test fit on the empennage fairing. Fits pretty well, just needed a bit of trimming around the elevator control arms, and the back. There will be some more trimming to come, but no hurry...
20 Sep 2004 Lower Rudder tip 1
The trickiest tip on the empennage is the rudder bottom. The reason it is so difficult is that the horns that stick out for the rudder cables interfere with the fiberglass tip. I made a...
13 Sep 2004 Tools needed to build a RV tail kit
Mike posted this on the Matronics RV-List. A good note. I worked with Mike to build my tail at the Alexander Technical Center - he is a good guy. --> RV-List message posted by: "Michael D...
07 Jun 2004 Vertical Stabilizer Front Spar attach
Attaching the front spar of the VS to the front spar of the HS is kind shown below. The first steps are to see where the attach bracket needs to go, and then see what...
07 Jun 2004 Horizontal Stabilizer mounting
This article is continued from here: http://www.rv8.ch/article.php?story=2004031620072395 A trick I learned on the net is that once the last bulkhead is installed on the top skin near the tail, then you have to crawl into the...
05 May 2004 Flipping the fuselage onto its back
I got Anne and Thierry to come up and help me flip the fuselage onto its back so I could drill the gear leg holes. Of course I had to buy them lunch for the 3...
22 Mar 2004 Drilling Elevator Horns
From: "Danny King" ...
17 Mar 2004 Horizontal Stabilizer Mounting Problem
Here's the problem - I didn't follow Van's excellent advice and carefully look where I will be drilling from *both* sides. The result is that one angle bar was not as long as it was...
31 Oct 2003 Alexander Technical Center
I just finished a week of training and building my RV8 empennage kit at the Alexander Technical Center in Griffin, Georgia. I flew here from Switzerland to attend, and I can say it was worth...
24 Oct 2003 Left Elevator and trim tab – 9 hrs
Preparing the left elevator was very similar to the rudder and the right elevator. Cutting stiffners, clecoing parts together, drilling out holes using either #30 or #40 drill bits, deburring, scuffinging, and dimpling all the...
23 Oct 2003 Rudder Preparation – 9 hrs
Preparing the rudder added a new dimension to the process, the "stiffner". The rest is pretty much as before, clecos, drilling, deburring, dimpling, and scuffing. A closeup of some high quality dimpling on one of the...
23 Oct 2003 Right Elevator – 6 hrs
Preparing the right elevator was very similar to the rudder. Cutting stiffners, clecoing parts together, drilling out holes using either #30 or #40 drill bits, deburring, scuffinging, and dimpling all the parts and the skin. I...
22 Oct 2003 Vertical Stabilizer Prep. – 6 hrs
The vertical stabiizer is very similar to the horizontal stabilizer, only much simpler. Essentially it is a lot of clecoing, drilling, deburring, dimpling, and scuffing. After all that is done, then the parts can get primed. You...
21 Oct 2003 Empennage Parts Inventory – 1 hr
First step was to open the boxes, and inventory all the parts. The kit comes in only two small boxes, and believe it or not, all the stuff needed to make a kit was in...
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