Tail Fairing Attachment (1)

1 hour

I did not like how the plans called for attaching the stabilator fairing with nothing but sheet metal screws, especially around the curved part at the front.  I definitely needed a way to pull the front part tight, and threading into the annealed fairing with a sheet metal screw I'm sure would yield close to no clamping force without stripping out.

I ordered some single lug nutplates and installed them on the fairing.  This allowed me to screw the front end of the fairing tightly in place, which helped it to match the curve at the back of the turtle deck.  It's not perfect, but I think it's good enough at least for now.

 Next I drilled the rest of the holes through the fairing and stabilator.  The plans called for #4 sheet metal screws for these holes, which I installed.  Unfortunately, they all stripped right out!  So that didn't work.  I'm going to try larger sheet metal screws, and if that doesn't work I'll just install nutplates like I did at the front.