MorseAircraftDevelopment

Vertical and horizontal stab install:

The horizontal tube fits really tight in the fuse and a little loose in the stabs. I was worried about this at first but then I test fit it all together and bolted it down. It tightened right up with no wiggle in any direction. I removed the stabs and got them ready to install for the final fit. There is plenty of servo wire to work with here. I left the fuselage side in its holder because the pipe is right behind it and i didn't want to risk the chance of the wire touching the pipe. The extra wire on the servo I just zip tied up and left it in the stab. The connection was heat shrunk. the stabs are held on by one 3.5mm by 20mm bolt and washer and secures through a tab on the stab to a blind nut that is reinforced on the inside of the fuselage. The shape in the tail saddle area is obtained by the shaping of 9 layers of 5mm balsa sheet on each side, this is what the stab sits on. I then bolted it all together and once again, zero slop. Now, what I don't like. There is a pretty good gap all the way around the horizontal stab, especially where the bolt goes into the fuselage. I do not think you can just cover this area as there is not much to attach to and I think it would just blow off. This is more of a "looks" issue than structural. I don't think this is going to be a high speed jet so it probably will not effect performance.

The vertical is attached to the jet by epoxy. There are no fasteners here. I test fit the rudder to the fuselage, it fit nice and tight. Next I sanded the surfaces and tack clothed them. Before applying the glue I heat shrunk the rudder servo connection and tested the servo. Next was to hook up the light wire, now here the servo wire was way to short, I simply added a 4" extension. Here again I left the slack in the surface to keep them from falling in the fuselage and hitting the pipe. Pilot had this in mind and built in holders to keep the wires from falling. One thing you will want to do is protect the pipe from getting glue on it when you install the vertical. I used wax paper and just worked it to the tail cone. I was now ready to glue it into the fuselage. I used Hysol E-20HP. This is a far superior glue versus a normal epoxy. Once the glue is applied you simply put the vertical in place and push down. I then squared it up with the horizontal and left it to dry. My only issue with this whole setup is once you glue the vertical in, you can not get to your connections.