Rudder and stabiliser are both built around a foam core. As this plane is supposed to be “super light”, I used 1mm balsa rather than the usual 0.8mm obechi wood. I also used 49gr glass fiber (45 degrees) rather than carbon inserts, as well as a thin (7mm) glass fiber strip at the trailing edge of the rudder and stabiliser. The stabiliser will not have a separate spar, but the carbon tube that also marks the hinge for the elevator will give enough stiffness to the stabiliser. In the middle of the stabiliser is a piece of plywood (with a hole for the screw to fix the stabiliser to the rudder), fixed with two bits of kevlar (top and bottom) to keep it in place.

Last week I built the upper side of the stabiliser and one side of the rudder for the Ventus 2c. Today I finished the lower side, which is now curing in the vacuum bag. I’m using my new small KNF vacuum pump, which seems to be holding up quite well. To avoid having to walk over to the workshop regularly to check all is ok, I installed a cheap webcam in my workshop to guard the vacuum pressure, and put a timer on the plug so that the vacuum automatically switches off at midnight – all so that I can have an easy and worry-free evening :-). Unbagging is tomorrow and then I’ll get to work on the stabiliser of the Diana 4.