Vertical Tail Fairing Bow

[rocketman2tm]

So I am in the middle of installing my vertical airfoil kit for my SS and noticed that the fairing is bowing out slightly between the ribs. The fairing seems to naturally bow out slightly when not clamped down. When i have it clamped down to the ribs it just has a slight bow in between each rib.

Has anyone else had this on their fairing? Did it end up being an issue or did the fabric pull this down?

[Esser]

I just hysol and clamped it. It looked fine after.

[jiott]

You may need to pull the fairing down some more so its taper causes it to fit tighter to the ribs without the need for much clamping.

Jim

[BobRS]

I used Hysol... more than I would have preferred as a fillet at each rib/fiberglass fairing location with clamps like you have shown. You may end up with a bit of a washboard from top to bottom. If you haven't purchased some containers of Super-Fil from Spruce, buy some (you'll need it later on during the build) and you can use it as a lightweight fill. I'm glad I did this since I just finished my final coats of Poly-Spray and the vertical stabilizer looks great along the fiberglass.

BobRS
SS7, 914 Turbo
N104Y

[Dave Holl]

I gently used a heat gun on the firbreglass while it was clamped With metal g clamps into position. This did help but you have to ensue you don't get the rest of the structure too hot.

[HighWing]

Another idea. Mine is a Model IV and I did a home brew of essentially what you are showing in the pics. I bought some light weight quarter inch foam from ACS and cut sections that would fit between the bowed edges - don't need to completely fill the gaps between the ribs, maybe half but centered. I then clamped straight 1X2s to the outside surfaces to establish straight, and glued the foam between the edges with micro slurry to fill any gaps - straight as a string.

Scratch the ACS thought. The sizes offered are gross overkill. Some not expensive, but shipping a 24X48" sheet would hurt. I think I would check the local crafts store for foam. Not structural so any light weight material would work.

And a thought about micro. I couldn't live without that stuff. For those unfamiliar, Microballoons are tiny hollow glass spheres that are used to thicken resins. I use it for correcting surface blemishes as you would use Bondo. The difference is threefold: It is extremely light weight, It sands very very easily and it can be mixed to different viscosities for specific purposes. Typical applications would be cleaning up the joints between cowling sections, fairing between the extruded leading edge and the wing spar and fairing rib ends to the spar. It is all over my airplane. Usually it takes several coats when cleaning up a large surface, and the final couple of applications I apply with a single edge razor blade. I have used it mixed with 5 minute epoxy for a quick fill or mixed into regular epoxies. Later today, I am planning on mixing some to seat a couple of loose tiles in the bathroom before conventional grouting.

[AirFox]

I clamped boards to the sides like lowell suggested then used hysol to attach the faring.

See this link for a pic.
http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/album.php?albumid=308&pictureid=3712

Scott

[Jfquebec]

It's making the same problem with mine....so i put more down but i already cut the top side..:mad:...so i re glue the part with resine ..now it fit perfectly....

[rocketman2tm]

Thanks for the reply guys. I think I know what I'm going to do. I have some strips of fiberglass from this piece that I trimmed off. I think I'll cut those into stiffeners and glue those on the trouble areas while I have boards clamped to it. That should guarantee the piece being straight. I'll post pictures when this is done and report on my findings.