adamsrv10

I spent a few hours today finishing the bend to the new elevator trim tab skins and fabricating small ribs (riblets) to close out the ends of the trim tabs.

I think they came out really well. The first one I did came out fine, but was a bit of a test on exactly where to bend on my marked line to get the proper part width/flange length. I then was able to bang out the 4 riblets that I needed to make. Two outboard and two inboard riblets. The outboard riblets somewhat interfere with trim tab horns, so I made the flanges a bit longer to share holes and ensure proper edge distance.

I took the following pictures to document the process.

All-in-all, I’m very happy with how they came out. These were really the first true part that I’ve had to fabricate from scratch on my own. It really wasn’t as hard as I had anticipated, and it’s satisfying to see it come together. I can tell already that I’ll be very happy with how this turns out compared to my barely acceptable bending of the tabs.