It was a quick job to bolt on the fin, since the sternpost holes had already been match drilled in an earlier step.

Nicely Rigged!

Out of interest (since there would be nothing to do to rectify!) I thought I’d check with my laser level to see if the fin was perpendicular to the tailplane. Again, due to the accuracy of Vans’ kit, it was : )

Rudder

The rudder is rigged by first fitting the top & bottom rod end bearings. I adjusted them using a wooden block to judge the correct initial guess as advised by the manual. Whereas the elevator had all rod end distances initially equal, they are different on the rudder due to its inherent taper. The manual distances proved spot on, and the rudder seemed well placed and moved with no rubbing of the rolled leading edge. Having settled on the position of the top & bottom rod ends, the rudder was removed, & I screwed in the centre rod end, and peered down through the holes to fine tune the alignment. Back on the fin the bolts fitted easily proving a good alignment. The final job was to put on the elevators and adjust the rudder stops as required. They just needed a slight file on both sides to achieve the minimum distance from the elevators at full deflection. Happily it was this way round … otherwise you have to make shims and rivet them to the rudder horn to reduce the max deflection.

Time to dismantle

After taking a few moments to admire the tail feathers, it was time to take it all apart. I think it will be safer to store the tail/fin etc until they are needed. Also the empennage will be much lighter when it is joined to the front fuselage. So I missed out the steps in the manual concerning the wiring to the tail light. This is probably best done during the rudder’s final fit.

Next job is to start on the wings!!