Empanage/Tail II



Whats wrong with the picture on the left?


Here are a few pictures of my elevator as of Sept. 1997. As you can see I decreased the elevator area by cutting 6 inches off the tip, this puts the area somewhere between the KR2 and the KR2S. I plan add 12 inch extensions to the horizontal stab tips and fill the missing elevator area with a non-moveable piece. I did not taper my horizontal stab spars down to 5/8 of an inch so this allows me to add the 12 inch extensions without having to make them paper thin! The extra 2+ feet of area on the horizontal should increase the pitch stability and its ability to handle aft CG conditions. Enough of Mark Langford's preaching and reading Roncz's data has convinced me that even the S model has inadequate horizontal tail area. I know the old timers say it fine,.. but its not! There is no reason we cant make this bird fly like a Glassair or RV if we just follow basic aerodynamic principles.


Here are a few pictures of the horizontal stab being filled and sanded along with a few pictures of the fairing that mounts in the root area of the tail surfaces. The fairing was made using the same technique that Mark Langford describes on his web site. I used three layers of 8 oz cloth and I think it just right!


Here are a few shots of the fairing with micro applied and then sanded smooth.

Here are a few pictures of the hinge bolt access slots in the bottom of my elevator. Sorry the pictures are fuzzy but that's the way it is. I carved out enough clearance to allow the insertion of the hinge bolt on one side and gave myself enough room on the other side to install a nut and cotter pin. After I was happy with the size of the cutout I painted the inside of it with epoxy and used my finger to apply a smooth layer of flox. Then I used an acid brush to push a 6 oz piece of bid cloth into the cutout and then let it cure. I trimmed around the edges of the cutout with a razor knife and called it good! In the pictures below, imagine you are laying on your back under my horizonal tail and looking up at the elevator, the first picture is of the cutout with the elevator in the full up position and the middle picture is with the elevator in the neutral position and of course the last picture is of the elevator in the full down position. Notice the hinge bolt is just temporally installed in the hinge.


Well I am just about done with the tail section. Here are a few more pictures, I plan to cut out an area around the elevator spar where it passes through the fuselage and make to aluminum access panels that will mount to the fuselage with PK screws and tinnerman nuts.




Here is a view most of you better get used too!!!! :o)



Here is a shot of the balance weight for the elevator, I still need to trim it up a bit

Picture of new vertical fin with strake. Under the strake is the com antenna, the extra area provided by the strake should help with the 130 hp up front. Everything aft of the door is filled, sanded and ready for SmoothPrime.

Here is the location of the aft facing white nav light.


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