Off comes the vertical fin and rudder
One of the things we will do to this aircraft is replace the old antenna cable (not allowed on new production anymore) with the new approved RG400 cable. All the antennas with the exception of the Nav antenna on the tail will also be replaced with new antennas.
For me it is a real shame when people spend 20K or more on new radios and leave the original antenna and wiring in place. Kind of like getting that new Hi Def TV and putting rabbit ears on it........
Anyway, the Nav antenna up on the top of the vertical stabalizer runs the cable down the front of the fin where it is very hard to get at. Feeling up inside an inspection hole we could feel that the cable was damaged. It felt like it may have been chaffing on something so we decided that we needed to pull it all apart so we could inspect it and put in a new length of cable.
As it turned out the wire was actually chewed and we found a nest (nobody home) in the front of the vertical stabalizer where it connects to the tail cone.
Here is the airplane with the tail pulled off -
http://mansfieldlanding.com/forum/photos/1972_cessna_172l_restoration_n19662/picture171.aspx
While we were replacing the cable and clearing out the nest we cleaned all the mounting surfaces and cleaned up the electrical wiring for the beacon.
http://mansfieldlanding.com/forum/photos/1972_cessna_172l_restoration_n19662/picture172.aspx
The tail was then installed, secured and rigged, good as new.
http://mansfieldlanding.com/forum/photos/1972_cessna_172l_restoration_n19662/picture173.aspx