With the horizontal stabilizer sanded level it's time to get it ready to mount on the plane. I've said this before but I'll say it again, take your time in these next steps and get them right. Having a properly build and a straight tail section will make or break how your plane flies. It can mean the difference between a plane that is a true joy to fly and a complete dog that you can't wait to get rid of.

The first thing to do is attach the horizontal stabilizer, but before we can do that we need to make sure that it sits square with the fuselage and that it's level. We'll be doing a bit of prep work in the next few posts getting the stabilizer ready to mount. The first thing we need to do it find the center of the horizontal and stabilizer and mark the centerline (pictures #1 and #2). Next we need to mark the centerline of the fuselage, doing the front of the stab mount first (picture#3). After you have the front of stab mount done we need to do the rear of the stab mount (picture #4). One thing to keep in mind as we proceed through the next few steps. The mark that we made at the rear of the stab mount is only for reference. Why? Because as we adjust the horizontal stabilizer we'll be moving the stabilizer in order to get it squared on the fuselage. The front mark is set in stone and the horizontal stabilizer will be aligned with this mark (picture #5). When you have the center of the stabilizer aligned with the fuselage centerline clamp the front part of the stabilizer in place (picture #6). If you look at picture #6 you will notice that I've added a couple of more reference marks on either side of the centerline, while it's not absolutely necessary to do this it will help you to ensure that the position of the stabilizer is correct as we adjust the stabilizer.

I'm going to finish up this post and continue in the next post because of the way the pictures limits hit.

Pictures
1. Mark the centerline of the horizontal stabilizer
2. Mark the centerline of the horizontal stabilizer
3. Mark the centerline of the fuselage at the front of the stab mount
4. Mark the centerline of the fuselage at the rear of the stab mount
5. Place the horizontal stabilizer on the stab mount and align the two center marks
6. Use clamps to hold the stabilizer in place.

Until next time

Ken