To organize all the small pieces and parts which come with the kit, I bought six plastic trays with moveable partitions. I got the portable type instead of wall mounted units for the ability to move closer to the work area if needed.
This tray contains all the AN426 and AN470 rivets which came with the kit. Another has the pop rivets, another the screws/bolts, bonding strap/static wick materials, and so forth.
Much of the metal preparation work on the horizontal stabilizer was done before I primed and assembled the rudder and VS. This weekend saw the start of jigging and match drilling on the rear spar of the HS.
As usual, all the parts are laid out and checked before any alterations are started.
An initial task is riveting a flange bearing between two powder coated pieces to construct the inboard hinge brackets.
Looks just right.
Match drilling the hinge brackets and the rear spar doubler is the first order of business.
Over the week Eric and I rolled the rudder counterweight skins and leading edges, then finished off with primer and pop rivets.
Bending the skins around the counterweight is imprecise at best.
Achieving a tight fit of the bent skins against the lead weight, but smooth with the fiberglass rudder cap, will be a challenge. Here I am fitting the weight in preparation for the first match drills.
The inner skin will be overlapped with the outer skin, so a light application of SEM self-etch primer from a spray can is appropriate. The two #19 holes for the through bolts have been dimpled to match the countersunk holes the lead weight.
The plans call for rolling the top section first, then middle, then bottom. A 1″ diameter wooden dowel was used to produce a good profile on the top section.
A 1-1/4″ wooden dowel was used on the bottom section for the larger diameter turn. The forward edge could have been slightly rounder, but okay overall.
The same priming technique for the overlapped section was implemented here.
This shot of the middle section shows the final edge bend fastened with AD-41-ABS pop rivets. The primed part is just behind the forward face.
Voila. A few dings here and there, but no major blemishes. Overall the effort turned into a satisfying and acceptable result.
Just for grins I positioned the rudder next to the vertical stabilizer to admire the progress (like thousands of other builders). Seems a long time coming, but at least real plane parts are starting to appear. An interesting side effect of this vanity staging was my recognition the VS spar flange almost totally obscures the forward edge of the rudder. This means my cosmetic concerns about the leading edge will only be visible to a select group of individuals prior to final assembly.
With vinyl now removed, this photo shows the trailing edge being nice and straight. Eric is in the picture for reference how big the rudder really is (sorry to cut off his head).
On to the next assembly…
The main focus for this weekend was riveting the trailing edges of the rudder.
The plans suggest partially riveting every 10th hole, then flip over to do the other side. The whole purpose is to keep the edge as straight as possible. Here the first back rivet is about to be set.
One side has been partially set, rivets for the other side are now inserted.
All done. If you notice the whole edge is fairly straight, thought the skin between rivets seems a bit wavy. I am not sure this was caused by my technique from over-driving the back rivets, or because the AEX extrusion had big gaps between the rivet holes. Either way to outcome was good (only one smiley location on the entire trailing edge).
The rudder cap is called for in Section 12, but I still have to fix 5-8 rivets on the counterweight spars. In the meantime I trimmed down the fiberglass cap to fit inside the rib flanges.
Here the cap is dry fitted to the rib flange and aligned with the trailing edge. Next step is drill out with a #40 bit.
The rudder cap here is drilled and clecoed into position. That’s it for the time being on the cap. Later in the build I will final drill to #30 size, countersink the fiberglass piece, and dimple the rudder skin in preparation for LP3-3 blind rivet.