Brief Description: Fit VS tip & updrilled skin to VS structure
Fit VS tip & updrilled skin to VS structure: Also deburred VS structure and skin now ready for riveting.
Took a lot of time fitting the VS tip. Plans did not provide any help regarding how much to trim the tip. Ended up removing about 3/4" from the tip open end. this allowed a pretty good fit and transition along the leading edge of the VS to the tip. There is a gap in the leading edge of the tip that will need to be filled and sanded before painting. I could have got a better fit on the leading edge by shoving the tip more forward but if I did that then the trailing edge would be shorter than the rudder and lengthening the trailing edge of the tip would be more difficult than adding some filler to the leading edge of the tip. I think this is what most builders also determine.
So, the VS skin & tip are ready to be riveted to the frame. I've noticed some builders have placed washers under the rivet heads on the trailing edge of the tip. I assume this is to spread the stress of the rivet over a greater area of the fiberglass tip and either avoid or make cracking less of a risk. I have quite a few large headed rivets typically used to attach sealing material to engine baffles. They would be ideal for this area except they are stainless steel and would be difficult to paint so I'm not sure what I will use for these rivets. I think I will order some wide head baffle rivets from ACS that are white, assuming they can be painted better than SS.
