Removed protective plastic from skins around stiffener holes. Back-riveted stiffeners to rudder skin. Fun! Only forgot to position backing plate for one rivet, but no harm done. These rivets look great! Removed carpet from small worktable, and fastened rudder skin brake to table. Bent trailing edge of rudder skin. Taped 1/8” diameter wooden dowel inside skin to establish proper radius. Duct-taped skin to table to hold it in place. Removed brake from table. Set up and aligned V-block jigs on small worktable. Had to shim both the V-blocks and the table itself. Installed rudder skin into V-block jig; fitted rudder skeleton inside. Clecoed skin leading edge to skeleton, adjusted ribs and clamped. Checked alignment and clearance with VS. Drilled and clecoed skin to skeleton. As I suspected earlier, the lower rudder rib is misaligned approximately 1/16” to the left, but the offset is barely noticeable when the skin is clecoed on. Fit R-410 rudder horn brace in place. Drilled and clecoed.
Placing rivets in each hole and taping them down.
A forest of rivets, ready for the stiffeners.
Back-riveting the stiffeners. So easy even a 37-year old could do it.
