Rolled Right Elevator Leading Edge

Today Dad and I were able to finish rolling the leading edge of the right elevator. This was a bit more difficult than rolling the rudder leading edge since the elevator isn't quite as thick, so there isn't much room for your hands. We're still getting the rolling method perfected, and I think we'll change to a 1" pipe instead of our current 3/4". We got a very slight crease towards the tip of the elevator, but this is hardly noticeable and we're happy with the results!

Bent Trim Tab

So today was a bit frustrating. Our task today was to bend the tabs on the elevator skin for the trim tab... we weren't succesful in doing this. We previously bent the trailing edge of the elevator skin to the final shape and this didn't leave us much room to properly bend the tabs in. We did our best to clamp everything down and give it a go, first starting with a block of wood as the mandrel and trying to use the rivet gun with a flush set to finish it off. Everything was going ok, but the gun destroyed the tabs! Ahhhh!!

We tried a few methods to fix this. We initially cut off approximately 1/2 inch where the tab is towards the tip of the elevator. We were going to make a small riblet to fill in this gap between where the trim tab would be and the elevator. After about five hours or so we decided to just do it the right way and we're biting the bullet and ordering a new left elevator skin on Monday, quoted at $63.53. Sad day, but now we'll be prepared for the next time around.

Rolling Rudder Leading Edge

Since we were able to finish the trailing edge of the rudder yesterday, the only step left to do was roll the leading edge! This proved to be a little tricky, but the end result turned out very nice.

We bought a 3/4" steel pipe about 5' long from Home Depot and wrapped it in one layer of duct tape. This protected the primed skins from possible scratches from the pipe. Once we had it wrapped, we set the rudder on its left side and securely taped the pipe to the skin. Following the directions in the manual we used a pipe wrench to grip the pipe and cranked away. While Dad was turning the pipe, I made sure I held the skin firmly against the work table and pulled towards the pipe to get a nice tight bend. The first side of the rudder was easy since there was no opposing rolled skin in the way to work! Once the left skin was bent, we untaped the pipe and flipped the rudder over and started the same process. Since this side doesn't have a flange for the pipe to parallel up to, we had to make sure the pipe was parallel with the edge of the skin before we taped it up. Like I said earlier, the right side was a little more difficult because the previously bent left skin is curled in your work area and doesn't leave much room left for your hands. But after a few minutes we were able to get the second skin bent properly.

Once the skins are bent you still have to finish the form with your hand and cleco them together. This required a bit of grunt especially towards the lower part of the rudder since the spar is so much wider. We drilled the holes and deburred them and set the blind rivets and voila! We had a finished rudder!

Success!

The dreaded task of riveting the trailing edge, is done!

Today dad and I got straight to work on the RV once I got home from work. It's been about two and a half days since we applied the pro seal to the trailing edge, so we pulled out all of the clecos. The sealant adhered to them a bit so it took a bit of a tug to get them out, we're thinking we can just soak them in some MEK and work it off with a toothbrush. Once the clecos were out we pulled the angle stock off and cleaned it off, then we check for straightness. There is a slight bow in it, but it's truly almost unnoticeable. We used a #40 drill bit to clean out the holes and got to thinking how we were going to set the rivets.

We used the Mike Bullock Method of setting the rivets on the trailing edge and used the unibit to open each hole in the angle stock to about 1/2". This allowed room for the flush set in our squeezer to fit and then we used the squeezer to set every other rivet half way. This worked perfectly and the results were great. We also alternated the way the rivets went in. In other words, the rivet goes through the skin the opposite way the previous rivet went through. This is purely aesthetic and is only a personal preference. Once every rivet was set about half way we got our $2 block of steel bucking bar and finished setting each rivet by back riveting them. This method worked very nicely and in some areas it's difficult to tell which is actually the manufactured head and which is the shop head. We're very happy with the results!

Pro Sealing Trailing Edge

Tonight we had the pleasure of pro sealing the trailing edge of the rudder.. Like everyone says, it really is nasty stuff to work with. We prepared ourselves for this process and had all of our tools laid out. Making sure the clecos are nearby is important and having a second pair of hands definitely helps! We made sure not to rivet the skin to the top and bottom ribs completely as to allow us to have room to work, in other words so the skin would be able to "butterfly" open so we could fit the trailing edge wedge in.

We mixed up the pro seal and it was a lot thicker than I expected. We used a popsicle stick to mix it as well as apply it. Initially we planned on using little half inch adhesive brushes, but we found out this would never work since the stuff is so thick. We applied the sealant to one side of the wedge and then flipped it over and into the skins. We than applied it to the other side and we made sure to put a generous amount on the trailing edge rivets of each stiffener in case the shop heads rubbed.

Once the pro seal was all applied we sandwiched the skins to it and clecoed the assembly to the aluminum angle stock. This kept the trailing edge very straight and we made sure to cleco every hole. We also pushed down between each cleco to squeeze out any excess sealant.

Shopping List

Today before work we plan on making a stop by Lowe's. We need to pick up a 53" or so steel pipe 1/2" in diameter which will be used to roll the leading edges of the rudder and the elevator. We also need to get some MEK, a strong duct tape, and some wide masking tape. We should be applying the tank sealant to the trailing edge of the rudder soon too and we'll be letting it cure for three days. We're not too sure yet though if we need to remove the primer from the AEX wedge and the interior of the skin where the sealant will adhere to. Time to do some research!

Riveting Rudder

Tonight we continued to rivet the rudder. Last time we were able to attach the counter balance rib and counterbalance rib skin to the main rudder spar. So tonight we installed the counter balance weight and end rib then we riveted both skins to the assembly. After a few rivets that had to be drilled out due to lack of following directions we ended with a rudder! Well almost, we still need to finish the trailing edge, which we're studying a lot, we also need to roll the leading edge of the rudder. I figure we should be well mentally prepped before we start the trailing edge. Tomorrow night we hope to have the pro-seal curing, and once that is in the process of drying we can get ready to rivet the trailing edge together.

Riveting Rudder

Today we began the process of constructing the rudder. We were only able to rivet the counter balance rib and skin on and we were able to shape the weight so it was able to settle nicely into its position. It was a long day at work for both of us and we decided we were both a bit too tired to do much work on the RV tonight. Quality work doesn't come without quality rest.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my flight instructor and we plan on shooting some instrument approaches into March ARB. There's a chance of it being IMC tomorrow so hopefully we'll get some actual in! It'll show me if I deserve my currency for my instrument rating.

Riveting Right Elevator

Today we were able to rivet the right elevator together. We were able to do this exclusively with the squeezer which is great. All rivets turned out perfectly and the (almost) finished product is beautiful! All that's left for this elevator is the jamnuts and hinge points as well as rolling the leading edge. We did as according to the plans and used solid AN rivets throughout the whole thing. This requires setting four rivets holding the skin and counter balance skin together before they get put onto the substructure.

Elevator Work, Productive!

We got a lot done today, you just gotta love Thursdays. No work so it's all RV time! Today we started on over to the storage garage and got to work on the elevator skins. They were already primed and ready to go so Dad and I started back dimpling them and getting them ready for back riveting the stiffeners on. We're getting pretty fast at this, we just fill up the holes with some "back dimpling rivets" we have set aside and tape them all in. Then we flip the skin over and use our back dimpling set to set the dimple. Much faster, and less crude than a C-Frame tool.

Once we had the stiffeners back riveted to the skins we packed up our tools and the skins and brought them all back home. We continued working and dimpled the E-615 servo plate and plate nuts. We riveted the platenuts to the plate and dimpled the skin for the E-615 servo plate. We squeezed the rivets that hold the servo plate to the skin and they turned out beautiful, there was one rivet that required us to 'bend' the skin in order to be able to reach it with the squeezer, but the skin went back in shape once we took off the bending pressure. I must say, I prefer using the Tatco hand squeezer over bucking and back riveting, it's rewarding to see what your own grip strength can do for an airplane. Also, it allows you time to think!

We were able to final bend the elevator skins using the hinged bender that we built, and we also began priming the under structure for the right elevator and are getting ready to begin riveting it together.

And what better way to finish the day than with New York strip steaks and bratwurst? I thought I'd cook dinner tonight for an early Father's Day.. O'Brien style!