Twist in Horizontal Stab

[Blueflyer]

I bought my horizontal stab kit from aircraft spruce. The approximately 7.5 foot long 1"x1" trailing edge piece has a small amount of twist in it. I can remove the twist by gluing the horiz stab together and holding it clamped until it dries....but is that poor practice or an acceptable method to remove twist?

[taildrags]

I don't know if it's poor practice or not, but I've done it before. I've also soaked a bent or twisted piece in water, removed it, and then jigged it up on the table using weights and other means to apply corrective measures while it's wet. I then let it dry and reapply correction as needed till it's straight. Slows down the build but I always have other things I can work on.

-oscar

[Chuck in Indiana]

^^^^^ I can't imagine what would be wrong with doing that..
and
after all, the stab is wire braced. You can take out minor (and fairly major) imperfections at final rigging.

[Blueflyer]

good info, much appreciated!

[jeffreyK]

I'm a long time (>40 yrs) hobby woodworker and if you are going to keep the wood I would favor steaming and holding it in a vice to dry before the glue up. Depending on how much twist is there, if you glue up by forcing them together, tension will always be present after the epoxy sets. That tension might make the stabilizer curve like a warped cabinet door. You spend a lot of money to buy this wood from AS+S. I had an issue with them over my spars and it took time but they made it right.

[Blueflyer]

I ended up buying a couple of new pieces of 1"x1". I hope at least one of them arrives without any twist. Thanks again for the input.