Brief Description: Rolled and riveted rudder leading edge
The rudder is done! Well almost, I still have to do the fiberglass tips. I was not planning to roll the edge of the rudder today but I thought my physical therapy is to the point that I should be back to work next week so I thought I would give it a try. Well all went well and I rolled and riveted the leading edge of the rudder. Of course I could not resist the temptation to temporarily hang it on the tail to see how it looks (see photo). You have to love this builder highs, having a full tail surface done is one of them. I guess I will try the elevators later this week. Tomorrow my pitot should arrive so I will be working on that task after some lawn work. Around here you have to work on the lawn when the sun is shining or you end up having to mow in the rain.
NOTES FOR BUILDERS: I am not expert but these are my observations. The roll of the leading edge was not too bad but there are areas I can see would cause trouble. The big thing I learned after doing the roll is don’t let the bar lift off of the table while rolling, but also the radius of the roll is different as you get to the wider part of the rudder. Essentially if you don’t account for this you end up with the two halves not wanting to lie tightly together. Also creasing at the spar edge is possible even when fitting the clecos. As I was pulling the two halves together the pressure caused a slight crease at the very bottom of the rudder skin. You can’t really see it but you can feel it, it feels like a hump right at the spar instead of the smooth roll I wanted. I knew this could happen if you don’t keep the bar on the table when rolling, well this happened as I was pulling the edges together, I needed to push down a bit and that is when it happened. I don’t think there will be an issue with it, but it is an area I will have to watch, I am not sure if I will get any cracking there over time. I plan to get my Technical Counselor over to take a look.
The rudder is hanging, still need to adjust the bearing some.
