Category: Empennage

Fuselage, empennage, rudder, elevator progress

Rudder secured in trail for yaw servo bridle and rudder pedal adjustments.

Seat back temporarily installed to facilitate rudder pedal adjustments.

Seat cushions temporarily installed to facilitate rudder pedal adjustments.

Your truly – first time in the plane on its gear. The tallest RV I’ve ever been in.

Your truly – first time in the plane on its gear. The tallest RV I’ve ever been in.

Elevators secured in trail to facilitate aft elevator pushrod installation.

Elevators secured in trail to facilitate aft elevator pushrod installation.

Aft elevator pushrod secured to the elevator horns.

Aft elevator pushrod secured to the elevator horns.

Yaw servo hoop adjusted and rudder cable bridles secured.

Aft elevator pushrod in place.

Forward end of the ELT secure in its mount bracket.

Aft elevator pushrod heading for the elevator horns.

Aft elevator pushrod secured to the elevator bellcrank.

Aft tailcone closeout overview. I sincerely hope to never have to be back in there.

Fuselage, empennage, elevator, vertical stabilizer, rudder component installation

Vertical stabilizer mounted.

Aft wiring harness run through the vertical stabilizer rear spar, heat shrink applied (though not yet shrunk), and ground terminal installed.

Vertical stabilizer final-mounted with forward spar nut torqued and safetied.

ELT installation complete. Both twisted pair wires have been connected to the audio alert, the antenna coax has been connected to the ELT, and the DIN connector has been fabricated & connected to the ELT.

The only remaining ELT connection to be made is the forward end of the gray twisted pair to the remote on the panel. Once the panel has been installed, that’s probably the easiest connection to make!

Elevators installed!

Rudder installed. For the first time, the aft end has that distinctly RV look. The deflection was perfect – no adjustment to the rudder stops or side skins required, thankfully.

Throughout this project, I’ve been marveling at how much larger various pieces of the -14A are vs. their -8 versions. The tail just looks huge. Maybe ⅓ again larger, but I could be misremembering. In any case, it’s big.

Rudder installed. For the first time, the aft end has that distinctly RV look. The deflection was perfect – no adjustment to the rudder stops or side skins required, thankfully.

Right rudder cable installed.

Left rudder cable installed.

Empennage, vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer, elevator progress

ELT remote ready to install in the panel.

ELT audio alert secured to the vertical stabilizer nose rib.

Right elevator adjustment in progress.

Elevators horns have been drilled and I’d begun taking everything apart when I remembered to shoot a photo. So…pay no attention to the split surfaces.

Horizontal stabilizer is now mounted and torqued to the fuselage. Progress!

Horizontal stabilizer is now mounted and torqued to the fuselage. Progress!

Horizontal stabilizer is now mounted and torqued to the fuselage. Progress!

Empennage, vertical stabilizer, fuselage components

ELT audio alert install location under the vertical stabilizer nose rib. Template fabricated, holes drilled & deburred, and zip ties inserted. Lots of fun with my long fingers, but it’s done now.

ELT cockpit remote awaiting its battery and eventual installation on the panel. Stein left a nice spot on the right side for it including screw holes.

ELT audio alert box awaiting its battery and installation under the vertical stabilizer.

ELT mounting tray installed on the fuselage aft deck. All of those wires coming up through the snap bushing will be connected, in one way or another, to the ELT.