From the too much information department.....

Achim Engels has kindly provided some construction photos from his [link=http://theaerodrome.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230216&postcount=798]Fok. E.III replica[/link] which I found quite interesting and informative. Also, the [link=http://www.collectors-edition.de/QAU/3-930571-70-6_english.htm]Fokker E.III - In Detail [/link] CD clearly shows the tail structure of the Fokker E.III replica at the San Diego Aerospace Museum. Based on the description of the Fok.EIII in the FTS CD - "The fuselage terminates in a simple horizontal tube. This was a feature that Fokker carried over from the French Morane..." my assumption is that the Morane-Saulnier, as well as the Pfalz monoplane, would have had a similar functional arrangement of the tail group.

For those who may not realize it, the Pfalz E type was a licensed clone of the MOrane Saulnier G or H type monoplane. (And the FOkker E type is definately NOT a copy of the M-S monoplane, but the tail structure I think is similar enough that a close inspection does suit my purpose). The design of the Fok.E-type, was supposedly highly influenced by the design of the M-S (but again, was not a copy). The more I think about it, I bet that FOkker took a look at the geometry of the M-S rudder, and realized that if he "reversed" the upper rudder hinge attachment clamp and put the rudder line behind the elevator axis, that it would simplify the rudder construction by eliminating the need to have the awkward cutout to clear the tube of the horizontal stab. Wild speculation of course.

I have of course incorporated this rudder cutout on my Pfalz model. After I soldered together the tail piece and rudder support, I realized I had to make a cut in the center-post of the rudder (refer to attached photo), which I could have avoided if I had designed the upper support as a clamp, such as the full-size. As shown in my earlier post, I installed both top and bottom rudder support at once, by putting the single-piece rudder tube through the horizontal fuse tube and soldered it. This approach due to F.U.D. about how well everything would line up in the end. Also soldered up the rear legs of the pylon strut while everything was still fixtured. Afterward, used rotary tool to cut out the un-wanted parts of the rudder support tube. I think it made the construction relatively simple this way.
In the end, it seems to work OK... is sort of like a door hinge ... the rudder rotates on a smaller diameter tube which is inserted through the bottom to "pin" the rudder into place. I assume that on the full-size, there would not be a cut out in the rudder center post, but can't tell for sure from photos.

I may still need to rework the attachment of the the elevator joiner tube to space it slightly more forward. The attachment of the elevator joiner tube is offset too much rearward, so that the cutout in the rudder barely clears the elevator joiner tube when the rudder is turned. I will only want a very limited control throw of the rudder, but regardless I think some improvement could be made here. ALso, the bottom part of the rudder, forward of the post, bangs into the front pylon strut on each side(refer to attached photo) when the rudder is rotated....again it doesn't matter much because I wouldn't want that much control throw anyway - it just bugs me, and serves to show how complex this whole arrangement really is!

Please excuse the long post... have been obsessing over this thing for quite some time!