Hangar 9 J-3 Piper Cub Instruction Manual page 17

Section 5: Installing the Horizontal
and Vertical Stabilizer
Step 9. Carefully check the vertical stabilizer to make sure it's
aligned 90 degrees to the horizontal stabilizer. A 90-degree
triangle is helpful in this step.
Hint: When installing the vertical stabilizer, use the rudder
to check for proper stabilizer height. It may be neces-
sary to cut off a small amount from the bottom of the
vertical stabilizer to get the rudder to drop down to the
proper position so the rudder and fuselage align.
Step 10. Double check the horizontal and vertical stabilizer
alignment. It may be necessary to slightly trim balsa wood on
the fuselage or tail parts with a sharp hobby knife to achieve
exact alignment.
Step 11. When you're satisfied with the alignment, carefully
mark the position of the vertical stabilizer to fuselage with a pen-
cil at the junction where the vertical stabilizer meets the fuselage.
The pencil should make a light indentation in the covering.
Step 12. Remove the horizontal and vertical stabilizers from the
fuselage. Using a sharp hobby knife and a straight edge, careful-
ly cut the covering at approximately 1/16" inside the lines you
drew, on both sides of the horizontal and vertical stabilizer
Note: Some covering may already be removed. If necessary,
remove any excess.
CAUTION
It is very important that you do Not press hard enough
to cut into the wood structure, as doing so could weak-
en the horizontal stabilizer.
CONTINUED
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