S tapes

lwford

lwford

New member
My Cruisemaster has S tapes between the rudder and fin and also between the elevator and stabilizer. To remove these surfaces I would have to cut the S tapes. has anybody flown a Cruiseair, Cruisemaster or Viking with out these tapes? I saw a Pitts with a special H between the rudder and elevator that allowed these to be removed without any fabric work, It would be great to put on the Cruisemaster but I have seen no information on this set up. Anybody got any ideas on this? I would love to hear about it. LYNN N9818B the crate :roll:
 
One nice thing about a Cruisemaster is there are no manuals parts or service! There is also no mention of any tapes in the Type Certificate. So what we have here is a certified airplane that you can do almost anything you want to. As our FAA guys say What the Hell is a Cruisemaster? I love it just love it. LYNN :D
 
The tapes are gap seals. they are one of the reasons the plane is so fast. Other owners pay big bucks to have there control surfaces sealed. :lol: :lol:
 
guys...

those gap seals may be more than just speed mods. they could mean the difference between fluttering and not fluttering the control surface. :shock: check out this site for graphic illustrations:

http://www.airandspacemagazine.com/ASM/Web/Site/QT/Menu.html

aero-elasticity is a quirky demon and small things can mean a lot. though i admit if this were really super critical there would be an A.D. or bellancas would be regularly littering the landscape. but why tempt the fates? if they came from the factory that way, i'd put them on unless there was a VERY compelling reason not to.

at the very least, one might call the factory and get their take on the situation.

hope this provides some food for thought...

blue skies,
vic & N522A
 
Boys, my point is, does anybody know of a substitution for the tapes? Like the Pitts I mentioned there should be something out there to substitute the tapes as gap seals. Much easier to pull the rudder without having to slice the tapes. Good call on calling AAC I will try that. LYNN :shock:
 
To answer my own question, this is what I found.
http://members.aol.com/danrihn/gapseal.htm
Great if it was 7/8 but NOOOOOO lynn :(
 
What do you intend to do with the afore mentioned slit tape left on the control surfaces? Trim it close and leave it? If so, you'll still need to run a bead of, say, poly brush over the edge to keep moisture from eventually working its way under. If that happens, it comes off anyway leaving unpainted control surface leading edges exposed. :shock:
If your old girl is painted with Aerothane, you have my sympathy. You'll need to sand down to the poly spray coat and then wipe the rest off with MEK. Anything else MEK ought to do the trick. :D

I know you don't want to respray any paint. It sucks basically :evil: , but, speaking from experience, you'll be glad you did it right from a fabric seal standpoint. 8)

My 2 cents,
 
Harvey Leydecker down in McCalla, AL installed aluminum sheet flap gap seals on his 14-13. Anyone have a 337 for this mod? That's certainly one I'd like to do :!:

Also loved the way he did his wheel farings on the wing. They extended out onto the flaps. At the flap/ trailing edge gap, the flap wheel faring retracted into the wheel faring attached to the wing. Way cool 8)
 
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