Thorp Air Command - T18.net

I always thought the fuel filler was on the starboard side cuz that's where the oil dip stick is as well - filler up and check the oil.

OK so the reason for the fuel filler being on the left remains a mystery but I have managed to do some work on the tail this week and of course that means new questions.
Also attached is a picture of how I beefed up the fitting for the tail landing gear attachment. I have tried to keep weight low and not make it too much bigger but hopefully it will do the job. As has been reported by others extending the fitting out to the lover longeron and attaching it with a couple of screws should make it much tougher.

I also wanted to check how, if at all, the WL42 longerons are joggled to fit the stabilator hinge brackets? I can't find a drawing showing enough detail to make it clear to me what I do in this area. However unless I do something the skin won't sit flush just forward of the fitting.
Also
I am not sure I have interpreted the drawing changes on the 576 drawing correctly.
John Thorp made an alteration to the 576 bulkhead as well as the 582 doubler that carries the trim jackscrew bearing however the 576 drawing was never updated with all the detail. So my question is should the heads of the 4 screws that hold the trim jack screw bearing come through the 576 frame? You can see in my photo that I haven't got them doing that, but as I went to assemble them it sort of made sense.
Any suggestions?

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Stug

Stug,

Screws added to the plate at the longerons is a very good idea. I would also consider rolling the fwd edge of the plate just a smidgen to add stiffness and strength. The roll doesn't have to be very much I would had prefered bringing the aft face of the plate at an angle to meet the lower longerons rather than cutting it straight down as shown in your photo. This would had placed more strength to the area of the rear bulkhead. I didn't do mine that way, but would if I had to do it over. As far as the weight is concerned, the miniscule added weight you put in the back may be a blessings if you intent to use a large engine with constast speed prop.

The screws common to the trim bearing ass'y do come throuth the A-582 doubler and A-576 frame; And they are dimpled 100

Thanks Don
Yes planning to use screws through the lower plate into the longeron.
Thought about the flange at the front but decided against it I am planning for a light engine so am wanting to keep the tail as light as possible.
Having said that I have drawn the flat layout of the original fitting what I did and a variation with the front flange in case I change my mind.
Thanks for clarification about the 576 frame and pointing out the 701 drawing I can see now, how the screws pass through both

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Stug

Recently we managed to make some progress by fitting the 669 deck. We were confused for a while as the fitting at the forward end under the canopy track is not provided and not shown on some drawings. After getting advice we ended up making up a part from scratch. Also it seems that extending the fitting 580-16-A that fits under the rear of canopy track so that it extends forward to the next frame is also a recommend modification. Am yet to remake that part.

While not much has happened on the aircraft itself we now have all the skin panels except the hip skins converted into CAD suitable for CNC cutting.
Our first Thorp might be taking years to put together but the second will be a breeze.

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Stug