Tail Fiberglass Tips

Is this normal for the tips right out of the mold?
While trying to get the tips onto the tail this morning I ran into this on the elevator tips.

The flange step on the tip is not straight.

What I'm trying to capture in the picture is that the flange step runs left to right along the straight edge of the level then right at the beginning of the bubble it turns away/up with what I think is going to give me all kinds of trouble with the fit and finnish.

I want to complete the tips with a nice symmetrical defined line between the glass and the aluminum skin.

Did I get a bad set of tips, or are all of you having to carve into the glass to get a nice straight edge?
I really don't want to call Van's and hear (again) how I'm not building a spaceship. I just want it to look nice when I'm done.
Thanks for your help.
Tom
By the way, the VS and rudder tips went on sooooo nice and easy. I thought I might finnish this thing today until this issue.

My suggestion is to not mount the elevator tips without also doing the horizontal stab tips at the same time. That will help in aligning the outboard Ed
He of both...pushing or pulling as required.

As to the unevenness you are faced with...some folks sand / grind the edges to make them conform evenly with the mateing aluminum edge. Others fill in the edge gap to completely eliminate any hint of a fiberglass / aluminum joint.

..observer

Thanks to both Tweiss and Noelf for the query and answer as I will be at that stage soon and note your concerns and solutions with gratitude

Peter

You do whatever you have to do to make them fit to your complete satisfaction.

Good work, rock on

Your tips are typical. I had the same concerns. I filled mine and put on a thin strip of glass cloth.

Keeping your quality high but knowing when it will be ok is part of it. You will soon get your airplane building mojo on. Wait till you beat your fuselage longerons into submission.

Those tips look AWESOME compared to the ones I got. Had to build up the leading edge of the rudder tip a solid 3/4". No discernible jiggle either.

Is there really a movie poster for Backdraft on the wall???

Sanding a nice rebate

Here's a really ugly drawing of an easy way to do this to get a nice fit. I'm away from my home computer and drawing software...

First lay a full sheet of sandpaper ~80-100 grit on a smooth surface and holding the tip, sand the open side of the tip to get it flat.

Make a right angle sanding block kinda like below and about a foot long (the length of sandpaper sheet). The bit with the sandpaper should equal the depth that you want the fiberglass tip to fit into the control surface.

Laying the long side along the open surface of the tip, you can now sand an equal rebate into the fiberglass tip.

I used this for all the fiberglass fits, works like a charm...

Thanks much!

Thanks for all the quick input everyone.

Ron, if it is handy for you I would sure like to see more detail regarding your sanding block trick when you get to your home computer. I think I see what your explaining with your "ugly drawing" and have that on my potential list of clean up tricks.

Noel, thanks for the tip on the alignment between the stab and control tips.

Jeff, that is indeed a Backdraft poster on my wall. Walk by it every day but haven't seen it in years (just don't pay much attention to it I guess). My wife (then girlfriend) got that for me some 20+ yrs. ago. Firefighter by trade, pilot by recreation, I have only paid $$ for two movies my entire life (Backdraft and Top Gun). Must have been more passionate about the fire service when I was younger.

Anyway, I need to get this tail kit complete. My deal with myself is I can't bring my wing kit home from the hangar and open it up until I complete the tail.
Moving on.....
Thanks again
Tom

Here's a little better drawing about how to sand fiberglass empennage tips for a good fit. Just make up a right angle sanding block from plywood, press board or whatever you have handy. Make the upright strip the height you want the tip to go into the control surface, usually ~ 1/2" or less depending on the surface. Glue a strip of sandpaper to the side of the upright and you can sand a nice clean even corner...



I couldn't find the block I used for my tips, might have used it for something else, but these will give you the idea, in this case the side with the sandpaper would be shorter... Don't go too deep or you could sand through in the corner... I used the same idea for my wingtips, but without going right across the opening...

Ron,
Thank you for taking the time to share this trick. That's going to be very helpful. Never imagined we would have to manipulate a brand new piece of a kit like this.
The learning curve continues.
Tom

Hah! you're just getting started...(^;}~

Got out to the garage for an hour yesterday and began to put all the advise here to work. First piece of advise was to look around and find what I got laying around.
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Well I got this chunk of old 3/4 by 3/4 angle aluminum which measures up to the perfect distance for sanding in a new step on the fiberglass tips.
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Then I cut and glued a strip of 60 grit sand paper to it and screwed it to my bench top.
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Worked so well I went out and bought a roll of 120 grit with adhesive backing.
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Once set up, it should only take about 15 minutes per tip.
My wife began to give me the stink eye so I cleaned up and called it a day.
Thanks again for the tricks.
Tom