I spent quite a lot of time perfecting the elevator "up" stops today, mostly by filing away the stop material bit by bit, and checking & re-checking the elevator angle as I went. I set the maximum up angle at 27.5 degrees, right in the center of Van's 25-30 specification. The slots I made will be cleaned up later, after the horizontal stab has been removed.

The elevator down-angle will have to be set a bit differently from the plans, since the elevator horns don't even touch the stop at their maximum specified angle. I think I'll end up fastening "stop shims" onto the horns themselves.

With the elevators in trail, I marked the left horn for drilling the pushrod attach hole. (It's the aft-most horn, so it will be the "master" for the hole position.)

Oh, and I mounted the rudder, too. I had to make a slight adjustment of the bottom rod end, but once it was mounted, the rudder moved as smooth as glass. So far, I couldn't be happier with the alignment of the tail section components.