Tailplane Ribs

The 3 tailplane ribs are supplied slightly oversized and so require trimming back and shaping so that you get a neat joint with the rear of the Leading edge or the front of the Trailing edge. This is slightly trickier when the centre rib, which angles at around 45′ comes in to make a neat joint in the gusset sandwich.

Taking small amounts off with a file and constantly checking and re-checking helps.

This part is quite satisfying as each part you add makes this look more and more like an aeroplane and again, withe the Sherwood, stronger as each componant is fixed into place.

All this is a temporary fix at the moment as the plan notes you have to remember to remove all this for covering. First I have to remove it for two reasons,

1) I managed to drill one of the underside gusset holes directly into a cleco and broke the drill bit (part of which is now inside the tailplane leading edge … a simple dismantle and hold it upright will remove the part !

2) I need to treat the internal tubing against rust – so will be thinning down my waxoyl to run this through.