Wrapped up the rudder today (except the fiberglass tips and bearings to connect to Vertical Stab). All that was left today was to roll leading edge skins. This was done by taking a 5′ steel 3/4″ pipe and duct taping it along the edge and rolling it. A lot of force is applied down and…

I have reached the point where I totally screwed up rudder #1. I’m determined to do this right. Riveted trailing edge today. Took my time a lot more. Went very slow and checked straightness constantly. The result, a very straight trailing edge and no cracked rivets. Van’s gives a tolerance of 0.1″ deviation from straight.…

No pictures today on account of my hands being covered in sealant. Sealed trailing edge today. Now we play the waiting game.

Riveted the rudder skins on today…with the exception of the trailing edge.

I had a nice busy day in the shop today. I riveted on the counterbalance skin and rib, installed the counterbalance, countersunk the trailing edge, clecoed the skins on, and riveted on the top rib. The counterbalance all prepped and ready. Got all the rivets with a squeezer thanks to my new thin nosed 4″…

I prepped and primed the top rudder ribs. While they dried, I dimpled the rest of the holes on the skins.

Received my replacement counterbalance rib today. Fluted, drilled, and deburred it. Then, I match drilled the new counterbalance weight to it. This time I managed to dimple the holes without cracks. Fit it to the counterbalance skin and it fits perfectly. Then I decided to rivet the rudder skeleton together, with exception of the counterbalance…

Prepped and primed skeleton for rudder number 2.

Finished all the deburring and dimpling on the rudder understructure. Everything was going so swell and then I got to the step where I match drill the counterbalance weight to the counterbalance rib and dimple the rib and countersink the weight. This went so smoothly last time. I must’ve let my guard down. The drilling…