I would like to offer a thought about building the stab and elevator as one piece and then cutting off the elevator.

I was concerned about how I was going to make two perfectly straight and vertical cuts, as described in the instructions. This is what I did:

- Sheeted the elevator area up to the cut mark on the TE of the rib.
- Sheeted the stab area starting from the forward cut mark on the rib.

This has left the correct width unsheeted area, which will be easy to cut and sand before applying the stab TE and the elevator LE.

I'd like to add a few "lessons learned" about building the stab. (Images coming.)

1. To conform to the 3/32 sheeting, I believe there is supposed to be at least 3/32-inch available from the top and bottom of each rib LE to the top/bottom of the LE strip. This doesn't happen with rib 2 from the kit. It will need to have its contour sanded to shape *before* gluing on the LE strip. (I didn't notice this until after I had glued the strip.)

2. Make a template for the sheeting. I free-handed the top sheeting and it was a pain.

3. If you use Jeff's revised method that has the grain of the sheeting at the LE parallel to the LE, fit and glue that first. On the top sheeting, I started with the straight sheet across the TE area. This meant a lot of fiddling to fit the front sheeting between the LE and the sheet already at the back.

4. The curve of the ribs at the LE is quite pronounced and makes it awkward to fit and glue the sheeting. I *think* that *lightly* spraying the top with Windex will permit an easier bend. I also *think* that it might be easier to fit and glue the leading edge of the sheet to the leading edge strip and the very front portions of the ribs, let the adhesive dry/cure, and *then* bend and glue the remainder of the sheet into position. I'm going to see how this works on the bottom sheeting.

5. I like Bill's method of replacing the temporary aligning steel rod with a carbon fiber rod glued into place. That should add lots of rigidity with minimal weight.

Actually, if I were to build the stab again, I would be very tempted to fit and glue the LE sheeting *before* attaching the LE strip. Not sure it would work, but I think it would be worth trying.

Cheers,
Richard