Over the last two days I smoothed the edges of the rudder and dimpled the skin. I cut a piece of plywood to allow my back rivet plate to sit flush. Back riveting is different because the head of the flush rivet sits flat against the plate and you rivet the shop head of the fastener instead. It works great for flat skins and stiffeners and I finished all the riveting in a little over an hour. I got to quick at it and made a very small ding in the skin, so I better slow down and make every rivet count next time. Now that the stiffeners have been riveted, it's time to use the bending brake I got from Laird to bend the trailing edge of the rudder to the correct angle. I've bent it about halfway in this picture, and I'm going to call it a night. I will bend it to the final shape with a fresh set of eyes to make sure that I get it perfect.
