Finish the Rudder, Begin the Elevator!

I am determined to keep this blog up to date! I've been a little busy with other things recently with vacations and such but I've still been slacking. It's been a month since my last construction post and that's not acceptable. My sincere apologies. Once I get behind, I develop the defeatist attitude and keep thinking, "Ugh, I have a lot to catch up on", then I procrastinate even further. Let's get caught up, shall we?

Rudder Skins - Continued:

Wednesday, August 1 - Tonight I installed the counterbalance into the R-913 CB rib. I didn't have to adjust the weight at all. I see where a lot of builders have had to shave the area around the rivets to make the weight fit in the rib between the rivets. I wonder if Van's is doing a better job of making sure there is less work to do in these kits as time goes on? So, I inserted the #10 screws and torqued the nuts to 20-25 in. lbs.

Counterbalance Installed with Little Fuss

I then cleco'd the rudder skins to the spar. NOTE: Make sure the rudder CB skin lays down FIRST, then the rudder skins lay down on top of that. Yes, it seems a little backwards. This is because the rudder skin leading edge will be on top of the CB skin and into the wind when completed. Well, not necessarily into the wind as it sits back from the leading edge in the taper of the rudder a bit and doesn't really catch the wind all that much. Besides, if you do it the other way, it just looks goofy. So, follow the plans very closely and you'll be fine.

First, rivet the 6 holes connecting the CB skin to the rudder skin. Then, rivet the 3 holes in the skin that attach to the spar. If you accidentally close this area with the rudder tip rib first, you'll either be drilling out the rivets or pulling rivets there and it won't look nice when finished. After you finish the 9 holes on each side, you'll then attach the tip rib then use 2 pull rivets here for the first time. There are only 2.

CB Skin in Place Under the Rudder Skin
Start With These 6 Rivets

Tip Rib in Place Covering the CB Weight
Using 2 Pull Rivets

Next, I riveted the skin to the spar. After I got done with that and ready to start the tip and root rivets, I looked at my rivet line and the shop heads looked very troublesome to me. They weren't sitting cleanly. I realized I was putting AN4263-4 rivets in and they were supposed to be AN4263-3.5 rivets!!! DANGIT! I set 96 rivets with 3-4s. Ok, I stopped here out of frustration. I'll drill them out, ALL OF THEM, tomorrow!

Notice the Rivets With a Bit of a Slant?
All of Them Are a Bit Too Long!

 Day Total: 2.0 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 86.9 hrs

Tursday, August 2 - Tonight, I drilled out and reset the 96 rivets connecting the rudder skins to the R-902 rudder spar. With that completed, I moved on to riveting the skins to the rest of the skeleton. I was struggling inside the rudder brace with 2 foreward-most rivets. I'll have to find the perfect bucking bar to reach that area or end up using pull rivets. I'd rather keep a clean profile. However, I know sometimes that's not possible. I'll give it a little more thought. I got one side done, attaching the rudder bottom strips. So, I still have more to complete riveting the skins before I get to working on the trailing edge.

Just a FEW of the Many That Were Drilled Out
and Replaced!

Ok, Back in Business. All Rivets Replaced

I'm going on a cruise to Alaska next week and I hope to have the trailing edge in the curing stage by then. I'll be gone 7 days which will allow plenty of time for it to cure without being disturbed. I'm stopping here as my eyelids feel like lead and I don't want to make any mistakes.

Day Total: 2.0 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 88.9 hrs

Friday, August 3 - I managed to get all the rivets in the horn brace squeezed and ended up pulling the last rivets on the bottom trailing edge and the last two on the tip trailing edge. It looks ugly now but a coat of paint when all is said and done will help pretty things up. Basically, I have everything prepared so I'll be ready to ProSeal the trailing edge tomorrow.

All Rivets in Rudder Brace Squeezed
Even the One That Looks Empty There

Rear-most Rivet on the Rudder Bottom

Rear-most Rivets on the Rudder Tip

Day Total: 3.1 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 92.0 hrs

Saturday, August 4 - On the workbench, I prepared the rudder on it's side. Then I laid out some adhesive plastic on the other bench and laid the AEX wedge on it. I used the small plunger-type ProSeal and prepared per the instructions on the package. Before this, I took care of roughing and cleaning all surfaces where ProSeal was to be applied. I made the mistake earlier of priming the entire insided surface of the rudder skins. I should have masked off the area where the ProSeal would be applied. Oh well, I'll catch that on the NEXT airplane! Yeah, Right!!! So, I cleaned up the primer from the trailing edge location with acetone and scuffed the area with a ScotchBrite pad then cleaned everything twice with denatured alcohol. Follow the plans regarding tank cleaning preparation steps in Section 7, per the plans! Not just clean, CLEAN!

So, everything is clean, the ProSeal is mixed and put in the caulking gun. YES! You need a caulking gun to squeeze the epoxy from the tube. Make sure you have one BEFORE you mix or you'll be grabbing a screwdriver last minute and pushing it up in the tube, which is cumbersome, but can be done. A caulking gun will make things much easier. So, with the AEX wedge laying on my plastic (basically this is carpet cover used for painting), I squeezed some epoxy all the way down one side of the wedge then took a popcicle stick (a.k.a. craft stick, found in your local Walmart or any craft store) and used it as a squeegee and laid the bead to a thin layer. I then picked up the wedge and laid that side down in the rudder. I had previously inserted 1" blocks to separate the skins with a 2x4 block in the center. This is only temporary while you are inserting the AEX wedge. I made sure to spread the epoxy on the side  of the wedge to be laid down in the rudder. After placing it, I then squeezed a bead on the now, up side and repeated the popcicle method. After the wedge was covered with epoxy, I applied some red RTV on the rivets of the trailing end of one side of the rudder stiffeners. I've seen this on other builders' sites and figured it couldn't hurt. It's to minimize vibrations of one surface against another. Then, I pulled all skin spreading blocks out and squeezed the skins together, wiping off all excess ProSeal. I put 2 pieces of angle aluminum on and put a cleco in every other hole on one side then cleco'd the rest of the holes on the other side. I tried to clean any other oozing. I set the rudder on its leading edge with the trailing edge pointed to the ceiling on a couple blocks where the rod bearings will be inserted. Then I put a couple clamps on either side of the rudder to prevent the rudder from falling one way or another. We live in earthquake country and all it takes is a little tremor for it to make its way off the workbench. Now, I'm off to Alaska on a cruise for a week. This ought to be plenty of time to allow the ProSeal to cure.

AEX Wedge in Place With ProSeal
Cleco'd with Aluminum Angles

Okay, Now Wait for a Week!

Day Total: 1.1 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 93.0 hrs

Monday, August 13 - Today, I removed the clecos and angles to reveal what 7 days of curing did with Misty's rudder. WOW, very straight! It looks really nice. I took and X-Acto knife with a #11 blade and carefully cleaned all the holes of ProSeal to get them nice and clean. Then I took Q-Tips and denatured alcohol and cleaned the rivet seat of the hole to make sure everything was very clean so a rivet would sit nicely into each one with no issues. I didn't add this time to the build as I felt it wasn't necessarily building and was more cleaning up residual "spill over". I put rivets in a cup with denatured alcolhol to clean them and get any manufacturing goo or gunk off them, per the Section 7 instructions. I'm sure this isn't necessary here as the Section 7 information on cleaning is targeting the cleaning preparation that'd done on the fuel tanks and THAT's where you want the rivets to be extra clean as they'll be coverd with ProSeal. I then put all rivets in the trailing edge and taped them off for the preparation of riveting, which will be tomorrow. 

Day Total: 0.0 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 93.0 hrs

Tuesday, August 14 - Tonight I set 46 rivets in the trailing edge of Misty's rudder. I started by half-setting every 10th rivet then going back and half setting every fifth then back and continuing every fifth until they were all fully set. After that, I drilled out one rivet that was sitting a little proud. I reset that one, then flipped the rudder over and used a mushroom set to finish setting them all. Everything looks good with very minor deviation in a couple spots. It looks like they're less than the maximum .10" allowance. Next, rolling the leading edge!

Manufactured Side, Rivets Set

Shop Head Side, Everything Set Very Nicely

I don't remember which day I did this but I didn't log my notes so I'll try to fill in the blanks here. It was a difficult challenge, but I managed to get the edge rolled. I went to Lowes to get a 3/4" pipe for rolling, per the plans. I started by using duct tape and starting first with the side that has a 90° bend, which will end up on the inside of the two skins after they're brought together. I followed the plans pretty well, keeping pressure down on the pipe, against the skin, while rolling. I did all three sections as one roll. I've read where people will do a section at a time to have better control. This also lessens the amount of force needed to make the roll. After having done this, it's my obvservation that the plans aren't accurate enough to accomplish this task cleanly and reading other's blogs helps. However, I tried to be a true Van's plans follower and was left a little disappointed. In the plans, there are two places that call out information as to exactly what to do. Now, this may vary because the preview plans used are for all builders. That said, I think the plans are generic in nature and not all rolled edges are alike. So, in the preview plans and information area, they have you use a larger 1" pipe and in the build plans, they have you use a 3/4" pipe. I know from reading other blogs that all builders have to mess and tweek the roll a little to get the two sides to meet up correctly. Expect this. You have to start clecoing the sides together, use duct tape, and everything in the world to get these two sides together. If you're doing this yourself with no help, it will be a challenge. It takes quite a bit of hand strength to bring the edges together. I'm sure with practice on many rolled edges, this will get better and easier with time. Take a deep breath and go slow. Once you have everything cleco'd together, you need to match-drill. No problem. Now, you need to debur and clean. Yeah, right. Now, you can either pull all your clecos and do your best to get behind the impossibly reachable area then try to get everything cleco'd back together again. Or, you can do what everyone else does and clean as much as you can with things cleco'd in place. I used a little deburr tool that fits in the #40 holes and lightly cleaned everything I could and used fingers to feel all the holes  reachable on the inside for any burrs. Because this is not a stress area and the sides are only being brought together to keep them from flapping in the wind, it seems that this is not really that big a deal. Next, I used pull rivets on all the holes. I had a little concern that when I had the line of holes cleco'd, the line wasn't trully straight from tip to bottom. My line had a slight curve to it. I haven't seen anyone else mention this but I haven't read everyone's blog either. No worries. The rudder looks straight and it might be just because of the length of skins from trailing edge to leading edge. I didn't measure beforehand, but why would I? After all the rivets were pulled, the rudder looked great!

The Start of Rolling the Rudder's Leading Edge

After that, I made a cool little tool that I picked up from another builder's site. It's for installing the rod bearing. It's pretty simple. You only need a couple feed of 3/4" PVC water pipe, 2 end caps, 1 T-piece and a slip joint. Here are some pictures to help you. Make sure you line up the slot at the end of your tool with the handle, making it easier to know where your bearing angle is.

Here Are All Your Parts, Use Standard PVC
Joint Cleaner & Cement

The Parts Dry-Fit Together. The Slip-Joint
Shown at the End Will Be Cut in Half.
Only Half Will Be Used to be Flush at the End

All Glued Together with Rod Bearing Entering

Rod Bearing Completely in Showing Fit

Rod Bearing Tool On & In Place. Nice Huh?

Close-Up View of Tool in Place

 THE RUDDER IS DONE, except of course for the fiberglass tip. Moving on.

Day Total: 0.8 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 93.8 hrs

Starting the Elevator

Wednesday, August 22 - Tonight I prepped the elevator stiffeners by pulling off all the blue vinyl and marking all the parts with their part numbers. I marked the cut marks on one stiffener to make sure I had the markings right.

Pulling the Blue Vinyl Is Fun!

All the Elevator Stiffeners, Marked & Ready
to be Cut

Closer View of Part ID & Cut Marks

Day Total: 0.6 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 94.4 hrs

Friday, August 24 - I finished marking the rest of the stiffeners with their cut marks then proceeded to cut with my metal cutters, then I edged-cleaned all of them on the ScotchBrite wheel. No pictures tonight.

Day Total: 2.3 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 96.7 hrs

Sunday, August 26 - Tonight, I officially started on the right elevator by clecoing all the stiffeners to the right elevator skin then match-drilling. I removed all stiffeners then deburred them as well as the right skin. Then, I dimpled the skin and all stiffeners for the right side. Next will be setting rivets for the stiffeners and bending the elevator skin. I have the parts but need to make the suggested bending brake per the plans.

Right Elevator Stiffeners All Prepared &
Ready for Priming 

Right Elevator Skin Dimpled Ready for Priming

Day Total: 2.3 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 99.0 hrs

Monday, August 27 - I scuffed, cleaned and primed the right elevator skin and stiffeners.

Stiffeners Primed& Drying 

Right Elevator Skin Primed & Drying

Day Total: 1.3 hrs HOBBS Meter - 100.3 hrs

Tuesday, August 28 - Today, I riveted all the previously prepared stiffeners for the right elevator and skin, E-701R. I stopped here to get ready to make the bending brake needed to bend the elevators and the elevator trim tab per the Van's plans. I've seen where people will put a 1/8" wooden dowel rod in the skin bend to keep the skin from bending too much at that point. I'm considering using a dowel as well as separating the boards of my bending brake by 1/8" to enable a good bend without putting too much pressure on the curve where the rod would go and more pressure past that point to the leading edge. I've also seen where builders had a problem with not being able to bend far enough with the dowl rod in place. With the space between the boards of my brake, I should be able to get the bend of the elevators to a point that won't require much, if any, fiddling. I'm also concerned a little with another builder issue that I've seen where the 1/8" dowel was too small when they bent their parts. I may get a couple of sizes and play with it a bit to see how it goes.

Right Elevator & Stiffeners All Riveted
Awaiting the Big Bend! LOL

Day Total: 1.0 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 101.3 hrs

Wednesday, August 29 - So, today I made the bending brake per the plans for bending the elevators and the trim tab. I cut a 2"x6"x8' board into to pieces, making one piece 46" which left the other piece 50". This will make one a little longer, giving me a handle to grab while it's on the bench. I bought 2 packages of 3"x1" brass hinges (4 total). It doesn't matter what kind of hinge it is, brass, steel, etc. I happened to find some on sale for a couple bucks a set. I put wedges between the boards at a gap of 1/8" then installed the hinges. I figure having the 1/8" gap keeps you from mashing the trailing edge of the skins. Plus, you can't really bend the skins that far anyway because of the stiffeners inside preventing the skins going to far. However, it seems to me if the space between the boards is not there to begin with and you don't use a dowel in there, you run the risk of maybe bending or creasing the radius of the trailing edge too far. I did not use a dowel as I didn't want to make a trip to the store for just a piece of dowling, plus, it's not called out in the plans. I put my elevator in the brake and with steady pressure, I pressed down in the middle then on the ends and then up and down a few times and VIOLA! I think it looks pretty good. I put a straightedge on the skin and it looks pretty good to me. I'll look closer and make sure a little more tweaking isn't necessary. I can always pull the skin out a bit to where the stiffeners are outside of the brake area and apply a little more pressure, if needed.

The Bending Brake Completed

This Shows the 1/8" Gap I Added In

The Bending Brake Ready For its First Victim

This Worked Out Pretty Well. Nice & Easy

After the right elevator bending, I proceeded to get the left skin and stiffeners cleco'd as well as match-drilled. The E-615PP trim access reinforcement plate was in this little process as well. I've deburred all the left elevator stiffeners and the E-615PP plate and the inside of the left side elevator skin. I still need to "break" the edges of the skin and the E-615PP plate. I stopped here as I need to remove the blue vinyl from the riveted holes on the outter area of the skin and I just wasn't up to the task of plugging in the soldering iron to get it heated. I'll attack this on Friday, my day off of a long, 4-day, Labor Day weekend!  Take Care and Thanks For Reading!!!

Day Total: 1.6 hrs   HOBBS Meter - 102.9 hrs