A final adjustment job on the horizontal stabilo.

Van's delivers the skin of the horizontal stabilo slightly oversized. Some sources say that this comes from the redesign of the counterweight on the elevator arms. They used to be shorter.

When you with the elevators to the horizontal stabilo, you will find the following problem.I have drawn a straigh line that continues the outboard edge and measured the distance between the elevator arm and the stabilo. I then marked the place where the elevator ends on the stabilo (short red horizontal line in the picture and added the same distance to that to form the front part of the cut out.

Mark the area to cut out and draw a place for the centerline of the drill that will form the inside radius.

Now drill a 1/8" (#30 hole) and use a disc cutter to remove the excess material.

Then use a small key-file to finish it of and prepare the edge the die grinder and some sandpaper. Also round down the outside corner.

This job was done by Jacques. Well done !

Another small tip: for final fitting, you will need to remove and set the elevators and rudder to the stabilo's multiple time. Putting in the AN3 bolt can be painfull and time consuming. Avery tools sells some temporary attach pins that are really handy. I used Fred's this time but I'll surely add them to my next tool order. 

You can find them at avery tools following this link.