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Trim Tab -

Hi Guys,

I have now effed up three trim tabs and I am a bit frustrated. I am wondering if anyone out there would be interested in helping a brother out? If anyone is interested I would send the skin to you if you would be willing to bend the tabs for me? I could pay you for your trouble or I could pay it forward to the next builder down the line.

I have tried three different methods and the version I like best is where I made small riblets instead of bending the tabs. This one turned out the best but I could not solid rivet the trim tab horn (had to use pop rivets) and would really prefer it just be done right.

I have tried the clamping methods shown by vans but my bending blocks keep moving and I feel like sometimes it is just better to see if someone can help rather than beat my head against the wall.

I was moving along pretty well with my build until I hit this wall and now I am kind of stuck and a while the skins are not expensive it is demoralizing to keep messing them up!

If you are interested you can message me off list at steve.freeman @ syntaxds.com. (spaces in email address to help prevent scrapers from snatching email addy.)

Any help is appreciated. If nothing else, does anyone have a good set of pictures for how they did this?

Thanks in advance,

Steve

PS - this is not my first time to the airplane building rodeo (currently flying N902AL I built from kit) but this is the first time I am almost ready to throw in the towel on a part. Ugh...frustrated.
 
Found my own solution...

Hey Guys,

I understand if no one wanted to help but I can't believe 177 views and not a single reply.

That is surprising.

Steve
 
I would help you if I had the ability to do so, as I?m sure many others would too. I didn?t see where you were located after reading your post. Possible I just missed it, but if it isn?t there you should add it.
 
Hey Guys,

I understand if no one wanted to help but I can't believe 177 views and not a single reply.

That is surprising.

Steve

Probably because he misspelled Neil's name! :eek: That will get you detention at rock school!

But yeah, wedge blocks, double sided tape, clamps, etc. And then make three anyway. It's a right of passage.

The kits are a loss leader. The real $ is in replacement parts!
 
OH man....

Probably because he misspelled Neil's name! :eek: That will get you detention at rock school!

But yeah, wedge blocks, double sided tape, clamps, etc. And then make three anyway. It's a right of passage.

The kits are a loss leader. The real $ is in replacement parts!

Oh man....

I know Neil Peart is the correct spelling. That was a type-oh and I am going to go correct the signature now! My on line gaming name is By-tor. I hope that gets me out of Rock Detention. First time I saw RUSH was on their 2112 tour way back in the 70's. Been a fan ever since. Although I did not really care for the syntho-rock phase they went through.

Thanks for all of the replies guys...I found the solution and I am working to move forward.

This part is definitely a rite of passage.

Steve
 
Steve,
Being frustrated at this point is not unusual. The good thing I see here is that you are particular, and that?s a positive thing. That little part is not easy to get perfect, but it?s not that critical either. On my first airplane I ended up cutting off the messed up bent flanges and making the mini rib that I riveted in place with CS-4?s, and that?s OK to do. If you want to hide your inexperience at this point, there?s bonds/epoxy/filler to cover the pop rivets (I thinks that?s what I did) and it looks better than most done the right way. Good on you for enduring and doing it right. I predict you will do pretty good at upcoming obstacles you will encounter - there are many - and you will end up with a well built safe airplane.
 
If you were able to make ribs for the trim tab, just bond them in with JB Weld if you can't successfully rivet them. I have done this several times with no problems. Just make sure you rough up the mating surfaces.
Also, when drilling and riveting the trim tab skin to spar, do it in a jig that holds the elevator and trim tab in position so it comes out straight.
It's surprising how easily that tab can get twisted during assembly.
 
Angles for trim tab block ?

I am just up to building the trim tab in my rv9. I realise I need to build form blocks, but what angles do the need to be ?

I am really sure there is simple answer but am scratching my head at the moment trying to figure it out.

Thanks
 
I suspect the elevator trim tab is probably the #1 open stock purchase from Van's. I made a total of 4 attempts on my elevator trim tab. And, I finally just accepted #4, even though it wasn't perfect.

Using the form block inside the trim tab, wedged into the V jig didn't work for me. The whole thing kept moving no matter how much I tried to wedge and clamp. One thing I concluded is that the size and shape of the form block isn't as critical as securing the form block to the work piece and both to a solid surface so that it doesn't move. And, the bend line must be as accurate as possible.

I used my heavy steel backriveting plate to form the tab bend lines. I secured the trim tab under the steel plate with a couple of C-clamps on the edge of my work bench. And, I took my time in aligning the steel plate precisely to the bend line I marked on the trim tab with a fine point sharpie.

Then, I started the bend by hand, just pushing with my fingers until it was bent enough to work a 1 inch block (just a piece of wood from the scrap pile) under the edge. I then used the wood block and a mallet to finish the bend.
 
trim tab woes

i didn't like van's method; my blocks also kept slipping a little and messed up my trim tab bend. also i didn't like the rivet gun method to pound it. I bought a ten dollar sheet metal vise grip at harbor freight (also on amazon by irwin) that bent it right where i wanted it and both sides came out matching perfectly. wished i had started with a simple bending tool.

eg IRWIN VISE-GRIP Original Locking Pliers/Sheet Metal Tool, 8-Inch

oh well; live and learn.
 
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