Hi All,
I’m building my RV-14 taildragger. I completed the fiberglass lower rudder fairing according to plans and fitted it to the rudder along with the strobe light two years ago. This was done well before the fuselage was on the landing gear. Now, with the fuselage on the gear and engine/prop installed I’ve remounted all the tail surfaces which were off the fuselage due to room constraints in my garage. All went well until it was time to install the lower rudder fairing. I was frustrated to find that with the rudder mounted and the fuselage in the 3-point attitude there is no possible way to get the lower rudder fairing in place. The tailwheel spring totally prevents the forward part of the fairing from being moved into position. I’ve tried moving the rudder back and forth and every conceivable angle. There’s no geometry that I can find that will let the fairing move into its correct position on the rudder. There’s just too much interference from the tailwheel spring. And we’re not talking removing a slight amount of material on the fairing to make it fit. It would take very major surgery. As I said the fairing was built per plans including the creation of the flat part on the bottom to clear the tailwheel. I can see that with the fairing in place I'll have approximately 3/8" clearance from the flat spot I created on the bottom of the fairing to the tailwheel spring.
Has anyone else had this problem? Is this normal? Was it designed this way? I'd have thought for servicing the strobe light the fairing could be removed/installed with the rudder in place and in the 3-point attitude.
As I see it there are 3 options:
One way is to attach the fairing to the rudder before mounting the rudder on the plane. This would be a big hassle due to the wiring for the light.
Another way is to support the rear fuselage, remove the tailwheel spring, mount the fairing, then reinstall the tailwheel. This seems like the easiest option. Unloading the tailwheel alone will not create the clearance needed.
The last way is to do a major fiberglass butcher job on the fairing to get it to fit. This option is way beyond anything that was depicted in the plans and is the least desirable.
My question is: Is this normal? Was it designed this way? Has anyone seen this issue on other RV-14s? I assumed for servicing the strobe light the rudder fairing could be removed/installed with the rudder in-place and the plane on its gear in a 3-point attitude. This is not the case, at least on mine.
My last question: What is the minimum clearance from the bottom of the flat spot on the lower rudder fairing to the tailwheel spring in the 3-point attitude? I don’t see anything in the plans. My concern is landing loads flexing the tailwheel up enough to make contact with the fairing and damaging it.
Thanks for your time and any feedback on the issue.
Cheers,
Scott Davis
RV-14 #140702
80% done, 60% to go
I’m building my RV-14 taildragger. I completed the fiberglass lower rudder fairing according to plans and fitted it to the rudder along with the strobe light two years ago. This was done well before the fuselage was on the landing gear. Now, with the fuselage on the gear and engine/prop installed I’ve remounted all the tail surfaces which were off the fuselage due to room constraints in my garage. All went well until it was time to install the lower rudder fairing. I was frustrated to find that with the rudder mounted and the fuselage in the 3-point attitude there is no possible way to get the lower rudder fairing in place. The tailwheel spring totally prevents the forward part of the fairing from being moved into position. I’ve tried moving the rudder back and forth and every conceivable angle. There’s no geometry that I can find that will let the fairing move into its correct position on the rudder. There’s just too much interference from the tailwheel spring. And we’re not talking removing a slight amount of material on the fairing to make it fit. It would take very major surgery. As I said the fairing was built per plans including the creation of the flat part on the bottom to clear the tailwheel. I can see that with the fairing in place I'll have approximately 3/8" clearance from the flat spot I created on the bottom of the fairing to the tailwheel spring.
Has anyone else had this problem? Is this normal? Was it designed this way? I'd have thought for servicing the strobe light the fairing could be removed/installed with the rudder in place and in the 3-point attitude.
As I see it there are 3 options:
One way is to attach the fairing to the rudder before mounting the rudder on the plane. This would be a big hassle due to the wiring for the light.
Another way is to support the rear fuselage, remove the tailwheel spring, mount the fairing, then reinstall the tailwheel. This seems like the easiest option. Unloading the tailwheel alone will not create the clearance needed.
The last way is to do a major fiberglass butcher job on the fairing to get it to fit. This option is way beyond anything that was depicted in the plans and is the least desirable.
My question is: Is this normal? Was it designed this way? Has anyone seen this issue on other RV-14s? I assumed for servicing the strobe light the rudder fairing could be removed/installed with the rudder in-place and the plane on its gear in a 3-point attitude. This is not the case, at least on mine.
My last question: What is the minimum clearance from the bottom of the flat spot on the lower rudder fairing to the tailwheel spring in the 3-point attitude? I don’t see anything in the plans. My concern is landing loads flexing the tailwheel up enough to make contact with the fairing and damaging it.
Thanks for your time and any feedback on the issue.
Cheers,
Scott Davis
RV-14 #140702
80% done, 60% to go
