Author Archives: pclifton

Rudder bottom bulkhead

This fit would give me a nice generous closeout area, but after looking at it I was concerned about how well I could get inside that forward area to get things epoxied together. So I decided to trim the piece … Continue reading

Posted in Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 1.5

Even more rudder bottom fitting

With the bottom now clecoed in place, it was time to revisit the cutout around the control horn. I used a piece of 1/8” bar stock to lay a new clearance line around the horn, then got to sanding again:

Posted in Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 1.5

More rudder bottom fitting

Posted in Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 2.5

More tail light fitting

After a lot of work with the bandsaw, rotary file, and finally sanding drum, plus a few more test-fit iterations, I had myself a nice homemade bracket: I gave the mating side a good 40-grit rough-up to promote adhesion, then … Continue reading

Posted in Electrical, Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 2

Elevator tip rejection, tail light fitting

Notably, those two mount screws are just loosely inserted, not attached to anything (more on that later). That nice shot belies the sorta ugly hole hiding behind it. But that’s why…it’s hidden:

Posted in Electrical, Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 2

Elevator tip filling

Posted in Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 1

Elevator tip shaping

Next up was cleaning things up. The ragged edge where I cut the wet cloth got sanded to a nice straight line, and then I went to work sanding along the joint to remove the excess cloth and make a … Continue reading

Posted in Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 1.5

Glassing over the elevator counterweights…again

Posted in Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 1.5

Redoing the elevator counterweight glass

Well, it looks like the theme of doing fiberglass stuff repeatedly is sticking around. Last week, the day after adding the glass, I took a deep breath and tried popping the tips off. I was happy when both came off … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Hours Logged: 4

Glassing over the elevator counterweights

Then, it’s just a matter of adding plies of glass cloth. Before doing anything, I wanted to evaluate whether I could use single pieces of glass for each layer, or if I’d have to get creative with shapes to conform … Continue reading

Posted in Empennage, Fiberglass | Hours Logged: 2.5