Posted by Almost completed the rudder today. Riveted the rudder skins against the spar. The squeezer yoke was not long enough to do the rear spar/skin rivets, so it was just the riveting gun and bucking bar. Also took care of all other remaining skin rivets including the tight ones on the bottom rib near the trailing edge, and the ones on the top ribs towards the countersink section (leaving 3 open holes per plans).
Then it was time to roll the leading edges. It actually went much easier than I expected and I’m happy with the result, but then again, I don’t have much to compare it with. I used some PVC I had, about a 1″ outside diameter, and some gorilla tape. And just curled away. Decided to not put the slight crease in the overlapping skin.
Then it was just some final sized drilling of the leading edge holes, and riveting with the pull rivets called out for in the plans.
It really feels like an airplane part now! It was getting late… as tempting as it was to finish and install the counter balance weight, I decided to leave that for another day. Fought the impatience impulse to rush and finish the part tonight, as that just opens the door for stupid mistakes.
Builder's Log 