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| Photo by D. Reifsnider |
In part one of this series I covered getting set up with tools and such for building the STM along with the initial steps of building the wing. If you haven't read part one of this series, you can check it out
here.
In this segment I'll cover building the tail section which includes the stabilizer, elevator, rudder and fin. I started with the stabilizer which is built just like the wing panels where you lay the plans down on a flat building surface and cover them with wax paper. The trailing edge, bottom spar, and leading edge are then pinned to the building board and ribs are installed. A word of caution, the set of plans I received were extremely warped. If I had built the stab by laying the ribs exactly as shown, the stab would have been an inch wider on the left side of the rudder than the right. I had to adjust rib spacing to get the stab symmetrically left and right. Same as with the wing, if I had laid the trailing or leading edges down on the plans without checking for straightness with a straight edge, I would have ended up with a warped flying surface.
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| Top Planking Glued and Pinned to Center Ribs |
Special attention is required when installing the two center ribs so that they are 90 degrees to the leading and trail edge as well as 90 degrees vertically so that the fin will be straight up and down.
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| Elevator Pinned Against Stab. and Halves Glued Together |
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| Rudder Sections Glued Together and Pinned to Flat Surface. |
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| Stab Ready for Tips to be Added |
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| Fin Glued Up With Notches Cut for LE, Center Spar and TE. |
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Close Up of Notches
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| Tail Ready to be Covered |
- Part One, Wing
- Part Two, Tail Feathers <--YOU ARE HERE
- Part Three, Fuselage
- Part Four, Wing Struts
- Part Five, Wing Attachment
- Part Six, Power and Fuel
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