RV10 Empennage Attach Sequence

I am coming to the end of section 10 (tail cone assembly) and wanted to advice about next steps.

1. Is is best to do Empennage Attach and Empennage Fairings (sections 11 & 12) now, or wait until fuse is built and attached so I'm only doing this once? Not real clear on how hard it is to remove once attached, so wanting to avoid unnecessary work.

2. Should I leave the top skins of the tail cone unriveted for easier access for wiring, cables, etc... until later on in the build process? If yes, when is best time to attach top skins of tail cone?

Get the Full set of Plans..

Randy,

You should order the full set of plans for the RV-10 from Vans (comes on a memory stick). That way, you can make decisions like this easily, by reading ahead and seeing what comes next.

I followed the plans, except I didn't install the FG tips like Vans calls for. I held off on doing that until final assembly, when there will likely be some fine tuning. However, I did follow the plans and attach all tail feathers, aligning and drilling horns, etc. at that stage. You'll leave the front-most skin clecoed, but not riveted, until you do the tailcone attach later in the build. Hope this helps.

What Mike said. Just follow the plans in Section 10 for the tailcone top skin. You can do Section 11, but if you only want to put the emp and control surfaces on once, then you best wait until you move the airport. Section 12 can be done anytime with the exception of the F-1094B emp fairing which IIRC doesn't come with the tail kit.

And..

And I think you will find that there are VERY few things during a build that you only have to do one time...

I did not attach the empennage but had wings waiting to work on. If you're waiting on the next kit, then go ahead. You can always take them off for storage. If you have the next kit, maybe move on to it since storing the tail cone by itself is a bit easier and then, yes, you only have to put them on one (three, four, or five as others mentioned!) time!