Today was frustrating. My next step is to drill the elevator horns to allow them to be bolted together and attached to the elevator push-rod. The critical part of this step is making sure both elevators are aligned with one another. The plans suggest taping the elevator counterweight arms to the HS, and then going about drilling the holes. Sometimes the counterweight arms are not completely square with the trailing edge, and doing it this way can result in the elevators being out of alignment on the trailing edge. The common practice among builders is to clamp the trailing edges together and use that as the guide instead. I had picked up two 8 foot lengths of aluminum channel to serve that purpose, and with the arms taped to the HS, I laid one across the trailing edges. Unfortunately, there was a significant difference between the trailing edges, almost an inch!
After some investigation, I believe there are two problems. 1. While the trim tab’s trailing edge is very straight, I think the trim tab is twisted. 2. One of the elevators has a slight twist causing the counterweight arm to be out of alignment.
My next step is to remove the trim tab and check it for twist. With it removed, I will also check the elevators to see if I can identify the ant twist. My hope is that with the trim tab removed, the problem will be mostly resolved.
