I drilled the forward part of the hinge to the elevator. The clearance between the elevator and trim tab (below my thumb) is intentionally too tight right now. I’ll file this back to the recommended minimum clearance of 3/32″.
Since I’m deviating from the plans and cut off the ears on the elevator and trim tab that are normally folded over to close off the end, I started trying to fabricate the ribs that will be used instead. Here’s the rib that will fit into the end of the elevator.
And here it is installed. Luckily, the first one I made fit really well. I tried making one for the end of the trim tab, but that will need to be remade. Fortunately by doing it this way, if you screw up, you’re only wasting a few cents on aluminum instead of a large part that requires an order from Van’s to replace.
