Joel Shankle Tail Construction

Joel Shankle made all of his own wood parts simply because he wanted to. The Falco, he knew, would be the only plane he would ever build, and he just wanted to make the wood parts.

The first ribs--for the fin and rudder.

The tail spars

The rudder

The vertical stabilizer, or 'fin' as it's often called

Fin and rudder. The rudder is skinned with plywood
and will be covered with fabric eventually.

The com antenna goes in the fin.

The elevator leading edge skin varnished and ready to go on.

The elevator is now skinned.

The horizontal stabilizer. The aluminum tube is the housing for the trim tab push-pull cable.

Fin and rudder.

Joel just wanted his elevator and rudder to feel what it's like to fly.

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