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Michael and Gayle's RV-7A
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Date: 2-18-2006
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Number of Hours: 4.00
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Manual Reference: 6-5, 6-6
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Brief Description: Prime rudder stiffeners and begin attachment
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The day started out by cleaning and priming the rudder stiffeners along with the portions of the rudder skins where they attach. It was very cold here today (in the low 20's), so the going was very slow trying to keep things warm enough for effective priming. After the primer cured, I began attaching the rudder stiffeners to the right rudder. The backing plate is quite small compared to the rudder skin. As the work proceeded inwards to the wider part of the rudder, it became more difficult to be certain the backing plate was squarely behind the rivet being set. At one point, the rivet being worked was not over the backing plate and the action of the gun "stretched" the skin slightly. I tried to work the skin back into place, but was not happy with the results. The picture below (kinda, but not quite) shows the true end result. I am not building a show plane, but I do want a higher standard than this. I will be ordering a new right skin. In the meantime, a better mouse-trap (or backing plate base) is in order... (Note: I'm not fond of airing my mistakes on this site, but if it helps prevent another builder from the same mistake, I'm okay with that. Lesson learned: "When back-riveting, be certain that the metal backing plate is squarely behind the rivet gun at all times!"
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Stretched aluminum
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