Hi Stan,
Sometimes I put a piece of hinge sealing tape over it, like when it is a "muffled" plane.
Haven't experienced any troubles with the flap/elevator ratios, nor have I heard anyone else having any. Since it's all in trimming, I guess that just isn't noticed during the process if it does affect a change.
Keith Trostle and I have exchanged a lot of posts on the subject of adjustable elev. ratios, so maybe he will read and reply.
Bill <><
I do not visit this part of the forum very often, so just picked up on this matter. I think the question is about access hatches or slots in the area of the elevator control horn to be able to adjust the flap/elevator ratio.
I have a bit of experience with different approaches to do this. Every flapped stunt ship I have built in the last 30 plus years have had sliders on the elevators (in on case on the flaps) to be able to make adjustments to the flap/elevator travel ratio. I have often rigged up hatches on the side of the fuselage beside the elevator horn and held these hatches in place with flat head 2-56 screws/blind nuts. Oil seepage has not been a problem into the structure around those hatch areas. Actually, a simpler and cleaner approach is to build a hatch and just hold it in place with a piece of wide clear tape. (That means that you have to clean the area to assure that tape stays stuck. Light, simple and clean.) Even if you do use small bolts to hold the hatch in place, it would still be advisable to completely seal it by a piece of clear tape.
The other way is to do what has also been suggested here particularly if all you are doing is to get into whatever your slide mechanism on the horn is to just have a slot on the side of the fuselage next to the horn/slider. Cover the slot with clear tape to seal it from oil getting into that area. There is basically no stress or stress risers caused by putting a slot or hatch in that area. There are essentially no critical loads being carried by the fuselage structure in that area as long as you have a substantial mount to hold the horizontal stabilizer in place.
In other forums at other times, there has been an Australian who has posted his approach to adjustable flap/elevator ratios with an elegant mechanism below the wing that is part of the bellcrank assembly. The mechanism allows adjustment to the flap to bellcrank response and adjustment to the elevator to bellcrank response. Access is through a hatch on the bottom of the airplane. I will try to find the name associated with that and maybe find the relevant forums/posts.