I am building a Lockheed Lodestar. I am posting this both in the “aircraft” forum and the civil aircraft forum since the Lodestar was sold to the military as well as to civilians.
The same question might apply to the Hudson and the Super Electra, since these planes share a pretty much common design in terms of airframe.
I noticed there are no cutouts in either the elevator or the rudders. I found that the elevators are split and end before they get to the twin rudders. So that explains why no cutouts in the elevator.
The rudders are something else, though. The horizontal stabilizer extends back all the way to the rear surface- and inboard of the rudder. The rudder appears to be hinged both above and below the stabilizer and appears to be one piece on each side. Pictures show a possible cutout in the rudder about the shape of the airfoil of the stabilizer. Since the tips are rounded, I could see that such a cutout would allow the rudders to turn outboard. But this cutout, if it exists at all, is very close and would not allow the rudder to turn inboard. I cannot believe they made the linkages such that each rudder only turns to the outside! How do the rudders work?
Looking at the few pictures I can find, it looks like the split vertical rudder has free travel in either direction over the tailplane thanks to the fixed section of the tailplane which extends from the rounded outer section & “through” the rudder ending in a diagonal that corresponds with the maximum inwards deflection of the rudder - have I got a handle on this & does that make any sense?
In this picture, you can see the outer, fixed tailplane - but if you look inwards toward the left of the picture you will see what looks like a nick in the rear edge of the tailplane, this is where the outer, fixed non moving part ends & the inner moving section begins;
Oh, that is a great picture! Much better than any I found. That picture shows the cutout is actually longer than the width of the horizontal stab. That would allow it to turn. The pictures I had looked like the slot was only as long as the stab, so it could rotate outward, since the outboard end to the stab was rounded, but not inboard. The longer slot your pic shows, explains it.
