The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I am preparing to install the horizontal tail and am replacing the rubber edge seals. The existing fuselage to tail seals appear to have been glued in place with a contact adhesive, is this normal or someone’s choice?
Instinctively I was not going to glue them but would appreciate any advice.

Thanks
Kevin

My opinion is that edge strip channel is optional if there is a gap between the vertical and horizontal surfaces for the whole length, the channel can be omitted. It there is contact between the vertical and horizontal surfaces at any point, the edge channel should be used to prevent any contact wear between the surfaces.

Omitting the channel can help eliminate buildup of dirt and debris that makes its way into the interior of the vertical. It can either blow out or be washed out easier.

Possibly the question is more directed to the L/E of the H.S. and fuselage where typically a 3/8 gap or larger exists on each side. Something has to hold the seals in place and contact cement seems to work ok to adhere the seal to the H.S skin edges. Otherwise Richard possibly answered the fuselage to vertical fin gaps which I believe to be a much smaller gap as Richard suggests.

To answer Kevin’s question, yes, contact cement is normally used to install that u-channel; I’m fairly certain it won’t stay in place on its own.. You might want to initially put the channel in place without glue, then run a line of masking tape along the edge so unwanted glue doesn’t show when the final installation is complete. It appears that’s what Mountain Airframe did on my airplane when the paint shop was finished. IMHO, I think the rubber channel adds a nice finishing touch.

Thank you all for your replies.
Miles, that was a great tip with the masking tape.

Kevin

Agree with Miles. When I installed the U-channel on the 172 we now own I cut and fit the channel, then removed it bit by bit and used an acid brush to paint the inside of the channel and quickly pushed it back into position. No glue shows using that method. I used 3-M 1300-L glue, which is also removeable with MEK in case of mistake.