Goldberg "Gas Bird" Construction Project Session #2

By Tommy Gray
AMA 17063

Well, in the last session, I got the stabilizer framed up in rough fashion.  This time I will do the bulk of the tail section.

First, I had to make the elevators.  This involved adding a couple of pieces of 1/4" balsa to act as the hinge points for the movable surfaces.  You will see what I mean as we go on.  I showed you in the last session, the marks where I laid out the position of the elevators into the rear of the stab (as you can see below).

Next, using my balsa stripper, I stripped out some pieces of 1/4" the exact same height of the ribs, at the location where I wanted the hinge points for the elevators to be.

As you can see in the picture above, I have also cut out a piece of the ribs, using my Zona saw, the width of the two pieces, plus a small space (in this case 1/32").

The tops of the pieces had to be tapered to match the slope of the ribs themselves as you can see in the end shot below.

Next, I put the two pieces in place in the slotted ribs in preparation for gluing.

To maintain the small gap, I inserted some scraps of 1/32" balsa for spacers.

A little closer look....

.Using some scrap 1/16" balsa, I made the two end ribs to finish out the elevator by inserting the piece into position and using the top of the adjacent rib, I marked the shape.

At this point I was ready to glue everything in place.  Using some medium CA, I tacked everything in place.  Notice that I still have not cut out the elevator yet.  I will not do this until I have all the filling and sanding done, so that everything will be the proper size and fit snugly.

Here is the elevator, roughed in and tacked in place.

Well, more to come in the next session........ Tommy

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