Good thread. Miloh has a good point as to what type of plane you are working with. Flat sheet horiz. stabs make vertical fin alignment pretty eash with a square. a tapered horiz. stab is a different matter. I have found that the more I do this, the better I get at it. there are a lot of different methods used to do this. this would be a great thread to get everybodys ideas. Some planes are not so sensitive to alignment as others, say a trainer type vs. a pattern ship or aerobatic plane. Regardless, you should make every effort to get the stuff as aligned as possible. I also use the fabric tape or something that doesn't stretch for alignment. Just the other night, I was using a 4' long 1/4" dowel to measure tip to tail, etc. to get in alignment, using pencil marks for reference. Just check everything. After you're satisfied that everything is right, check it again! Take a break, clear your mind, go back and make sure it's right, and THEN if you're still satisfied, put the glue to it. I think where a lot of things go wrong is when the parts are removed for gluing, then get put back slightly off. You might make a dry run of this just to make sure you can get it back exactly like you had it. Hope this helps. Anybody else got any tips?
Randy