Vertical Stab Fairing

Finished up everything on the rudder. I was pleased with how the lower fairing fillet came out. I ended up with a nice, tight, flush junction. I used finishing putty on the upper and lower rudder fairings to hide some imperfections and pinholes. All the filling and sanding I've done is not called for in the plans. Although it adds a great deal of time and effort to the process it'll be worth it cosmetically in the end for a very small weight penalty. Once completed my bride helped me hang the rudder temporarily so I could begin the trimming and fitment of the final vertical stab fairing. I deviated from the plans and did this initial fitting with the vertical stab and rudder on the plane to check overall alignment. Although this made it a little tougher I'm glad I did it this way. The molding of all the fairings are less than perfect. They've all required some finesse and tweaking to be straight and true. If I'd trimmed and clecoed the vert stab fairing per plans it would have ended up very misaligned with the rudder horn. Next step is to get it drilled and clecoed. Once fixed and secured I'll remove the rudder and vert stab and finish it up on the workbench confident everything lines up with appropriate clearances. I also fabricated the fiberglass patch that will be bonded to the aft side of the fairing to close it up. The patch will cure overnight and be ready when I need it.