Elevators
1. One goal is to keep the sewn seam centered. After putting the cover on and aligning the seam, clamps were applied at each rib. Note the seam center line is actually one side of the quarter inch sewn seam. The fabric had a darker line making the center point making it easy to line up.
2. The fuselage end of the envelope is stitched about two inches too far. Pull it back on itself to determine how long a cut will be needed, then a single cut along the seam line only.
3. The glued edges are straight, so rather than using a compass a straight line was marked and cut before the fabric was glued in place.
4. Be sure and keep the final visible pinked seam on the bottom. Cub Crafters marked the fabric covers “right” and “Left” so that the envelope seam would also be on the bottom.
5. I shrunk the fabric in increments: 250, than 300, than 350 degrees, going back and forth from side to side in an effort to keep the seam on the leading edge centered.
Rudder
1. Don’t forget to place the strobe light wire. It is held in place with tree wraps of friction tape in three locations per the lighting manual.
2. Glue was applied around the strobe light opening and permitted to dry before the fabric was applied. After the fabric was applied and shrunk, the glue was activated with MEK to help secure it in place. The opening was then cut, pie style, and the pieces glued in place. There is a lot of tension around the opening and I wanted to add a bit more glue to make sure the fabric stayed put.
With the tail surfaces covered it is time to learn how to rib stitch.