Just had some painting done on the top of the H stabilizer and elevator and the paint guy had to remove the elevator gap seal. I was not there to watch him remove it, and am now wondering what the proper procedure is for gluing the new one on. I'll get an A&P to either do it or help me with it, but would like to understand the process for my own edification.
I remember that the rubber strip was glued to the top of the H stabilizer and went through the gap, going under the elevator, but never checked to see if it was glued to the elevator surface of just slipped up under it.
Anybody know??

The Mylar gap seal on my 1992 MXT-7-180 is glued (epoxied ?) to both (the top of the horizontal stabilizer and the bottom of the elevator). Would you ask him how he got them off? Mine need replacing, and I don't know how to get them off. Thanks. - Mike

I put mine on and they're kinda a pita. The surfaces need to be primed with the correct component to make the adhesive set up properly. The plastic (mylar or whatever) has a sticky side to it and the sticky sides go against the surfaces and then bond to one another. You do all this with the elevator in the netural position ie straight edge across the top of the stab to the elevator. I'm sure Maule could provide another set of instructions upon request. The tricky part is getting the two clingy, sticky, akward lengths of tape to adhere to one another when and where you want it. No second chances.

The sticky bit has a removable strip to protect the glue surface. Only remove one strip and lay it along the top of the stabilizer being guided by a strip of masking tape that you have previously applied.
Then ease the gapseal down through the gap, lie under the elevater, head forward, elevater down, remove backing strip and attach gapseal glued edge to elevater. Done.
PS clean the surface to accept the glued strips of course.
Done, done.

I just did mine last week. Here's another tip for you to make it a lot easier. Glue the two tapes together to mak a 3 inch tape as it says in the instructions. Sand the Top of the stab about an inch from the gap with 320 or 400 sand paper just to clean the surface. Then spray a mixture of a few drops of soap in water from a spray bottle on the surface Place the tape on the top of the stab and slide it through the gap after spraying the bottomof the elevator. The soapy water helps in positioning the tape without letting it stick to anything it touches. Squeegee the air bubbles out of the tape. When it all dries it will be stuck as it should. The soapy water suggestion came from Maule, so go ahead and try it. without the soapy water you'll have a hell of a time keeping the tape from sticking to the wrong place and you'll get bubbles you can't get out.

Thanks for the info/tips! All my time in the A/C so far has been with the gap seals on, and am going to fly it this weekend without them and see about getting some help on re-installing gap seal next week.
Thanks again

Where can I get Gap seal tape? I checked Aircraft Spruce but didn't find it in their catalog. I want to try it on my Champ.
Keith

iceman wrote:I just did mine last week. Here's another tip for you to make it a lot easier. Glue the two tapes together to mak a 3 inch tape as it says in the instructions. Sand the Top of the stab about an inch from the gap with 320 or 400 sand paper just to clean the surface. Then spray a mixture of a few drops of soap in water from a spray bottle on the surface Place the tape on the top of the stab and slide it through the gap after spraying the bottomof the elevator. The soapy water helps in positioning the tape without letting it stick to anything it touches. Squeegee the air bubbles out of the tape. When it all dries it will be stuck as it should. The soapy water suggestion came from Maule, so go ahead and try it. without the soapy water you'll have a hell of a time keeping the tape from sticking to the wrong place and you'll get bubbles you can't get out.

Where were you when I needed you. I didn't know about the soapy water routine. I thought the stuff you sprayed helped in the adhesion process. Makes me want to go tear them off and try it again... NOT !!!

i FORGOT TO MENTION THE SOLUTION IN THE BOTTLE. IT ONLY IS A PREP SOLUTION THAT HELPS THE TAPE STICK BETTER. PUT IT ON AND LET IT DRY FOR ABOUT 10 MINS. BEFORE YOU SPRAY THE SOAPY WATER. ALL THIS INFO CAME FROM A TEL CALL TO MAULE. THE DIRECTIONS ARE A LITTLE VAGUE AND THEY DON'T SAY A WORD ABOUT THE SOAPY WATER. MINE CAME OUT PERFECT. ALSO DON'T FORGET TO LOCK THE ELEVATOR EVEN WITH THE STABILIZER WHILE YOU'RE DOING THE TAPE. ANYWAY THE KIT IS ONLY 56 BUCKS. A LOT OF BANG FOR THE BUCK. oH hUNTER, GAP SEAL TAPE IS CERTIFICATED FOR MAULES. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN LEGALLY PUT IT ON ANOTHER AIRCRAFT WITHOUT A FIELD APPROVAL OR NOT, BUT YOU CAN GET IT FROM MAULE IF YOU WANT TO DO IT ON YOUR OWN. I DON'T SEE WHY IT WOULDN'T WORK ON ANY AIRCRAFT BUT YOU KNOW THE FEDS, DIFFERENT AC, DIFFERENT RULES.

Thanks Iceman. That was going to be my next question...if Maule had it.
I know this is not the right answer but I live in the boonies of Northern Minnesota and have the plane at my own strip. I am 25-30 miles from the nearest town. I only use this plane for local flying so I don't think I will ever get "in trouble" with the feds. Heck, I think half the ol timers up here haven't even annualed their planes for years.
Keith

The small hinged flaps on a ragwing Cessna 170 or 140 can benefit from bootleg gap seals too. Don't ask me how I know.....

Don't ask, don't tell

Yeah, I just use a little duct tape, top and botton, face to face. It lasts pretty good, the price is right and there is no high tech application required.

WWhunter wrote:Thanks Iceman. That was going to be my next question...if Maule had it.
I know this is not the right answer but I live in the boonies of Northern Minnesota and have the plane at my own strip. I am 25-30 miles from the nearest town. I only use this plane for local flying so I don't think I will ever get "in trouble" with the feds. Heck, I think half the ol timers up here haven't even annualed their planes for years.
KeitI+h

I know about that old timer shit. I bought this maule from a guy in good thunder Minn. who flew out of his own barn. My first annual was a nightmare of problems, but all is taken care of now and everything is legal. He's a great guy and he and his wife treated my like family but there was a bunch of things not in the logs and several other problems not found on the pre buy. OH well , live and learn, i still love this plane.

scoot,
I do believe that the later maules were certified with the gap seal installed. If you fly without it in place stay clear of the feds.

Thanks Mr. Ed----
I may try to get it put on today.
At normal to lightly loaded, and at normal approach and landing speed, would anyone expect a significant change in the way the AC flies(elevator authority in the flare etc.)?? Or would the diffs be mainly at slower(optimum, right on the money, etc) and heavier loads????

I can't speak directly to difference in performance yet cause I haven't flown enough with them on. Both times I flew since putting the tapes on the wind was blowing about 15 MPH straight down the runway so the tail was up just as the throttle hit the stop. Talk to Yellow Maule. He's had more experience with them than me, and he says there is a verry noticable difference. I do notice a little more elevator authority at slow speeds when flaring but that's about it for now till I can fly them more. Oh yeah and the guy I bought the maule from used duct tape cause I had a hell of a time cleaning the tape residue off the bottom of the elevator and stab.

you will notice your tail develops a faster sink rate than your wings when landing full stall without gap seals. no big deal, but a good slow full stall will be tailwheel first. and make sure you are ready to use ALL of your back elevator. the gap seals can spoil you into regularly using only 90% or so.
i like to relate having gap seals installed to having 'power steering' on your tail feathers.

Yesterday, as I was washing the Maule, I noticed that the elevator gap seal had failed in several places. It appears to have torn, or just worn out. Both short strips outboard of the last hinge point are completely torn. Several 1" to 2" sections are torn between the two hinge points. This stuff was factory installed when the airplane was new in '96. I've read all the above posts on how to put new stuff on but I've seen nothing on how to get the old stuff off. Is there some sort of adhesive solvent included in the kit from Maule? If not, what do you use that wont take the paint off with the glue.

Denis

The spray bottle detergent mixture should be a couple of drops of detergent to a pint of water. One applies vinyl decals to boats, race cars, automobile rear windows, motorhomes etc. the same way. I'm not sure you can get that sticky off without affecting the paint. You might try a heat gun, on low, played gently across the tape and try to pull it off in one or several large pieces. I'm not experienced with this on airplanes but I have used similar process on other stuff.

So now I'm curious. What benefit to you get from sealing the elevator gap? I have flap gap seals on my Cessna P172D, and the biggest benefit I noticed immediately after installation was a 6 knot higher cruise speed, better control at extreme slow speeds, and it didn't seem to adversely affect anything.

Cary