Chapter 12

Mounting the Canard

At first this chapter looks pretty easy, only two pages of work. But as with all things in building it can take just a few words to describe hours of work.

I started out placing the canard on F-22 and checking my dimensions. Oh my, this thing is really crooked! I was out almost an inch from one side to the other. I rechecked the fuselage measurements to verify that one side wasn't longer than the other. No problem there, so I checked the centerline firewall to the Rt and LT F-22 and centerline of F-22 to the RT and LT firewall. There it was! My firewall and F-22 are parallel, but not perpendicular. Hmmm...I was sure that I jigged this correctly, but I must have goofed. Ok, I thought about what I could do (and consulted Nat), cut off the firewall and F-22 and straigten both, add shims to both, or just do F-22 and shim the firewall. Well I decided to shim both, the total shim thickness was 3/16". I have seen others that have done 1/8 or 1/16, but none this big. After laying up the shim and allowing to cure the canard was perfectly perpendicular. But this left a problem with a gap at the alignment pins.

Canard Preliminary attachement	Different View Same thing