Ivan's RV-7

Finishing the top fairingsTimer icon2h

September 24, 2023

Over the last few days, I worked on finishing the vertical stabilizer fairing and the top rudder fairing.

Most of the work was repairing the vertical stabilizer fairing. I sanded the edges of the hole for the "scarf" finish, then covered the holes with a few more layers of fiberglass cloth. I put some epoxy flox under the cloth to form the remaining area of the beacon "seating" spot.

This is what it looks like from the inside. It's ugly, but the beacon sits firmly in that area and is held well by the plate and two screws.

The beacon seating area.

Then I covered the vertical stabilizer fairing and the top rudder fairing with micro (epoxy mixed with glass bubbles). It's an interesting material, very similar to a setting drywall compound.

Both fairings are covered with micro.

After it dried, I sanded it to a rough shape. It sands very similar to a drywall compound, too. The vertical stabilizer fairing is a bit wider than the rudder fairing since it houses the beacon at the top. I sanded the end of it a bit to make it sort of transition into the rudder fairing, but I am not going to make it perfect.

The first iteration of sanding.

After sanding, I found a few low spots which I filled with more micro. Then I sanded it again. This is what it looks like in the end.

More sanding!