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[January 27, 2006]


First off, I re-riveted the trim reinforcement plate nutplates and attached it to the skin.


Ahh...bending the elevator trailing edge. One of the most worried about items in the empennage, next to the rudder trailing edge and bending the trim tab. Well, I started out the scientific way. After finishing the bending tool, I put a rib in the took and found out what angle I needed. I marked where the holes were. I lined up the skin's holes with where the holes that I marked on the board were to get an idea of where the TE of the skin needed to be. I set it carefully and started bending. I was putting in a ton of effort and not getting results. My main concern was making sure not to squish the trailing edge - A recommended bend diameter is I think 1/8". Finally, I went to VAF and most people recommended putting the trailing edge right against the hinges and go from there. WHAMMO! That did it. I wasted a ton of time (1-2 hours) doing it the other way. From what I understand, you do not have to worry about bending the trailing edge too tight because of the radius of the TE that the skins some with. I needed to do some small adjustments until the skin didn't taper off until the radius of the end started. The left skin took about 10 mins to get right.

Reinforcement plate riveted on.


figuring out the angle where the skins needed to be. in other words, a waste of time


Marking the skin-rib holes on the bender...waste of time.


This is where I put the skin the first time for the bend. I put so much force into it I couldn't believe it.


This is where the trailing edge needs to be.


The finished product. It isn't even funny how straight this is.


The left skin done.


This is how the ends need to look. no tapering off at the trailing end until the radius starts.

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Last Modified: August 13, 2023