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Date:  10-24-2014
Number of Hours:  4.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Assemble rudder

Assembly of the rudder had a few challenges.

The first is gluing of the trailing edge with proseal. Messy stuff. I placed the rudder on a large straight piece of steel angle iron and clamped a straight piece of oak over it. After a few days, I cleaned it up and began the riveting process. I alternated sides with the rivets and partially squeezed with a hand squeezer to set all of the rivets. I went back over the rivets with a flat set in the gun and a back rivet plate. I noticed by careful use of the gun I could induce and/or eliminate slight bends and so carefully alternated sides checking constantly for straightness. It came out near perfect. My only concern is the skin panels did not close completly, leaving a slight gap.

Second was roling the leading edge. I used a broom handle, one section at a time. You have to pull up at the same time you twist or the overhang will crease along the spar. That worked out well after a little fussing.

Third was the folding of the top leading edge. Using the Van's recomended proceedure for marking where to bend, one side came out slightly longer giving a slight bias to that side in the symetry of the final shape. Not entirely happy, but likely trivial in the larger scheme of things.

Rudder done
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Rudder top

Rudder top

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Rudder rolled leading edge

Rudder rolled leading edge

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finished rudder

finished rudder

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