The VS to Fuse solution

A couple of posts upstream, I wrote about a mistake I obviously made when mating the vertical stabilizer to the fuselage. On Thursday, I heard from Joe Blank at Van's Aircraft with an assessment of the situation.

Bob,

Don't be too hard on yourself. It's probably not as bad as you think. Many times we make mistakes in building. Just don't crack a canopy! And don't ask me how I know this!

Option #1 - Replace the F-712 bulkhead with a new one and remount the V/S and F-712E tiedown bar. This would probably take a half of a day to drill out, prep, and reinstall. Use the existing hole pattern in the V/S and F-712E to match to the new F-712 bulkhead.

Option #2 - Bolt it together as is and add another set of bolts just above the bottom (misdrilled) row. These would be just below the lower Rudder Hinge bracket. I believe that there is a couple of rivet holes there (see DWG 27A) that you could substitute bolts.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need additional help.

Thanks
Joe Blank
Builder Support
Vans Aircraft Inc.
joeb@vansaircraft.com
503-678-6545 x322

I think Joe has just recently started at Van's. Let me be the first to go on the record and say, I like him. A lot. He obviously has empathy for the builder.

So, then, which solution would you do? I'm inclined to go with #1. You?