Today I’m continuing with building up the elevator trim tab. I’m starting by filing down the edges to get 3/32 inch clearance between the tab and the elevator.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210311_195859-940x940.jpg)
Once I got the edges filed down, I started to work on the trim tab end ribs. The S-51 plans don’t provide much detail here so I’m going to wing it and use the tip of an old RV rib from the scrap pile. I figure this is a good way to repurpose the screwed up rib.
I began by just eyeballing up the rough size I’d need. The angle of the donor rib is pretty darn close.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210311_201628-940x940.jpg)
As I’m fitting the trim tab end ribs, I’m also noticing another issue that I need to fix. The trim tab spar is a bit narrow in thickness for the skin of the tab to contour and match the trailing edge skins.
My solution is to make a tapered spacer. Of course this is strictly by trial and error, so there have been a few of these spacer pieces made to get the thickness and dimensions correct. This is one of the times that building the S-51 when it takes a lot of time to get things just right.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210312_081848-940x940.jpg)
As shown in the picture below, you can see how the trim tab spar is not quite made to the right dimensions, in that it’s a bit thin.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210312_082030-940x940.jpg)
Here’s another angle, as viewed from the side.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210312_082138-940x940.jpg)
In the picture below, you can see the tapered shim and where it’s located.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210312_082407-940x940.jpg)
Here you can see that I needed quite a bit of extra thickness to bring up the trim tab skin to match that of the elevator skin.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210313_081615-940x940.jpg)
The tab is slowly coming together.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210317_084323-940x940.jpg)
Then to finish off for today I ended with adding the skin filler strips on the top and bottom of the elevator.
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210402_152514-940x940.jpg)
![](https://stewart51-hangar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210402_160430-940x940.jpg)
Please comment. I love to hear from my readers. Thanks again for coming along for this ride, you make my work worthwhile.
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