Giff:  I wrestled with this one and after thinking on it a bit and talking to Mark Mahnke and some wizards of aero I set the horz to the wing not the fuselage and in doing so the fast build horz saddle needed only a little shimming.  I suggest you rig the wings first and get them symmetrical at about +1.0 degrees or whatever the book sez.  Then mount the horz with a degree to a degree and a half less incidence and let the fuselage be whatever it is.  I mounted my horz level with respect to the wings (eg if the wings were +1.0 degree my horz is 0.0) because my IV is not pressurized and is therefore a bit lighter and of course faster and therefore might need less neg AOA on the tail, depending on CG of course.  Oh, and it all seems to work fine with little up elevator at cruise (not much trim drag).

paul, N94PT

 

I am in the process of installing the Horizontal Stabilizer. I have used a water level to level the Fuselage, using the leveling marks molded into the structure.

When I place the HS in the preinstalled fixture for the HS, I find that I have almost a -1.4 degrees nose down. When I adjust the HS to reflect the -0.6 degrees, the leading edge of the HS is about 3/16 above the fixture. My kit, 386, is a fast build kit, so the fixture was installed at the factory. Is it possible that the fixture was installed slightly off the manual specification???

 

I have reviewed the builder’s manual and it calls for -0.6 degrees, nose down incidence. I have noted in some in-flight pictures that in many cases the elevator is slightly down, which in my mind means either the aircraft is at an aft CG or the HS has too much nose down incidence. Has anyone noted either of these problems???

 

Would it be prudent to decrease the nose down incidence, and if so, how much???

 

Giff Marr

LIV-P/Mistral 65%