For what it's worth....

 

I used the incidence template on the wings and set the incidence of the horizontal stab to the wings, ignoring the fuselage, just what Tom said.  I went through the "should I?" thing about changing the incidence, and the bottom line from Mark Mahnke was it doesn't change the flying characteristics if you go a couple tenths more or less.  So I did mine to the spec.

 

I leveled my horizontal stab by visually checking against the wings, from the front and rear (critical eyeball method).  I also used a laser level.  Getting it perpendicular to the centerline of the fuselage is an easy task with plumb bobs and a couple lines on the floor.

 

I'm not sure how much flex a IV fuselage has, but the ES has plenty without the top on.  On my plane, you could easily realign the horizontal stab to the wings with a few new cleco holes before bonding the top on.  Resting a 25' tape measure on my horiz stab deflected it almost 1/2".

 

Mine was straight to the wings and drifted with time, not sure why.  I was very careful to get the vertical exactly perpendicular to the horizontal, that would be impossible to fix after bonding.  So when I bonded on the top, I just placed new clecos that would keep the tail straight.

 

So you could mount the horizontal without the wings, if you think you could make a small correction when you bond the top on.  I'd rather have the wings on for the bonding myself.  Definitely have the wings on for the top fuselage bonding, for a last minute check.

 

Mike Easley