Now that the empennage is built, I have to add the tips to the rudder, stabilizers and elevators. They are supplied in the kit as rough fiberglass parts that have to be fitted, cut to size and attached.
Below is a picture of the tip drilled into place on the horizontal stabilizer. At the moment it’s simply drilled and held with 3/32 clecos and is open on the back side.
In the following steps I’ll be setting it up to be attached with #6 stainless screws and closing up the open back side for drag reduction and to keep anyting from nesting in there when the plane is hangered. Since the open end doesn’t hold the tip to the shape of the opening we’ll have to create a support to allow it to keep it’s shape when removed. Below you can see a small former that I’ve made with fiberglass and place in the open end to cure after the tip has been cut to fit.
After this cures I’ll remove the tip and add fiberglass to cover the entire opening then sand the tip to have a nice streamlined shape. Below is the tip removed and I’m laying fiberglass cloth with resin into the open end to close it.
The resin I use is a West epoxy resin, it is available with mixing pumps that meter the resin and catalyst in proper ratio for mixing.
After the fiberglass sets it requires a lot of filing and sanding to create a nice smooth finish. Below is one tip in progress after one application of filler and a bit of sanding. Lots of fill and sand operations to go yet until this is finished.
