Empennage, Rudder (Part 18)

Since my Stepdad is still here helping with the build, I decided to finish the Rudder.  In order to finish, all we had to do was rivet the trailing edge and roll/rivet the leading edge.  I've been putting it off because I wasn't 100% sure how I wanted to do it.....today, I guess I decided!

 

Section 5.8 of the plans describes how to rivet trailing edges.  The trailing edge is riveted with what is called "double flush" rivets.  These are standard #3 rivets, but instead of setting the rivet on a flat surface, it is set in a dimple.  The result is rivet that is flush on both sides of the Skin.  Van's tells you that the rivet will not completely fill the dimple and will look differently than the manufactured head....and it does.  It's been described as an "acorn sitting in a dimple".  I didn't really know what that visual looked like until I completed the first rivet.  Van's also warns about not making the mistake of trying to use a longer rivet to "fill up the dimple".  By doing this, the longer rivet tends to bend over instead of setting properly.  Additionally, due to the force of driving more rivet material, it can introduce puckering and waviness into the trailing edge.  

So, following the directions in the plans, we started in the MIDDLE of the trailing edge.  The plans say to backrivet about every 10th rivet just to "set" the rivet and hold everything in place.  We deviated from the plans here slightly.....not in procedure, but by means.  Instead of back riveting to initially set the rivets, we used the hand squeezer with flush sets. I squeezed the rivet just enough for the flush set (on the shop head side) to just touch the Skin.  After setting every 10th rivet, we continued with the remaining rivets by doing the one rivet that was midway between the others already initially set.....alternating back and forth along the Trailing Edge.  Once all the rivets on the Trailing Edge were initially set, then we backriveted them (in the same order) to get the double flush result. This process was not very hard, but time consuming.  You want to work slowly and constantly check for any deformation of the Trailing Edge.  It turned out pretty straight.....well within the tolerance required by Van's.   

The video below shows the work completed on the trailing edge.

The video below shows the work completed on the leading edge.

Section Complete

Empennage, Rudder (Part 17)

I showed up at the hangar tonight with the intention of riveting together the Trailing Edge of the Rudder.  After some staring, more staring, and internal debate (and some outloud to myself), I decided I wasn't happy with the way it looked while clecoed together.  The gap between the Skins and the Trailing Edge Wedge was larger than I was willing to accept, so I decided to make it "mo betta".  Structurally, it would have been just fine, but cosmetically it bothered me.  

I determined the 3/32 dimple in the Skins and the 3/32 countersink in the Trailing Edge Wedge wasn't allowing the three pieces to fully nest together.  I'm sure you've heard the analogy of trying to put two cups of the same size into one another.....they don't fit.  So, I decided to make the countersinks in the Trailing Edge Wedge just a tad bit deeper.  Due to the thickness of the aft portion of the Wedge, I didn't go crazy.  Looking at the hole, you would think to yourself....that's just a little to deep.  Once that was done, the Skins and Trailing Edge Wedge fit tightly together and the result made me happier.  Here is a picture of the trailing edge ready to be riveted.

 

Empennage, Rudder (Part 16)

Tonight was a short work night, but I got one step closer to finishing the Rudder.  Besides the fairings, all I have left is to rivet the Trailing Edge and roll the Leading Edge and rivet.  I picked up from Sunday's work by riveting the Top Rib to the Skins.  The two pictures below show the aft (first picture) and forward (second picture) areas of the Top Rib completed with all the rivets installed.  If you recall from the previous post, the Rudder Counterweight is installed under the Top Rib in the forward area.  In the second picture, it is located under the two prepunched holes in the Rib.

 

 

The picture below shows the opposite side of the Top Rib with the manufactured heads of the rivets.  The last three rivets (MK-319-BS) were installed per the plans instead of 426 flush rivets.  There isn't enough clearance for the yoke of the pneumatic squeezer or a bucking bar to use the rivet gun on regular 426 flush rivets.

 

The picture below shows the completed Horn Brace.  The Horn Brace uses a combination of AN470AD4-6, LP4-3, and AN426AD3-4 rivets.

 

The plans call for the Left Rudder Skin to overlap the Right Rudder Skin as shown below.  A lap joint (slight bend) is made in the Left Skin in the area the arrow is pointing.  This helps the skins remain tight together after the rivets are installed.  

 

Empennage, Rudder (Part 15)

!!!!!Happy Easter!!!!!

Here we go.....riveted the Rudder Skins to the R-912 Counterbalance Rib using AN426AD3-3 flush rivets and the pneumatic squeezer.  The E-614-020 Conterweight was then installed on the Counterbalance Rib using MS21042-3 nuts, NAS1149F0363P washers, and AN509-10R16 bolts.  The Counterweight had to be trimmed slightly to allow clearance for the shop heads of the forward most rivets on the Counterbalance Rib. 

Next, the Rudder Skins were riveted to the Spar using AN426AD3-3.5 flush rivets.  I had to shoot these rivetes using the Rivet Gun and Bucking Bar because the distance was to great for the squeezer yoke due to the forward part of the Skins.  This part of the Skins will be rolled and riveted together in a future step to form the leading edge of the Rudder.  You can see the area I'm talking about in the picture below.....it's the part of the Skin that has the six empty holes.

 

I Final-Drilled #33 the six aft most holes of the R-903 Top Rib to allow these holes to accept MK-319-BS flush pop rivets. The Top Rib was clecoed to the Spar and Rudder Skins and is ready to be riveted together during the next session.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 14)

My buddy's Jeff and Frank were able to help me out today, so I shifted attention back to the Rudder.  Picking up where I left off, I needed to connect the Right and Left Rudder Skins together.  The plans were pretty straight forward and easy to follow.  The first step is to use adhesive to adhere the R-916-1 Trailing Edge to the R-00901-R-1 Skin.  Based on Van's recommendation from the plans, I used 3M F9460PC Adhesive Transfer Tape and attached the Skins together as shown below.

 

The Skins are connected by riveting the middle of the Stiffeners together and the aft end of the Stiffeners to the Shear Clips using LP4-3 Pop Rivets.  The Skins and Trailing Edge were also clecoed together as the assembly came together.  

The Spar assembly was next inserted into the Skin assembly.  The Bottom Ribs were riveted with LP4-3 rivets, the Spar assembly was riveted to the Shear Clips with LP4-3 rivets, and the second Attach Strip was riveted with AN426AD3-3.5 flush rivets.  Lastly, the Horn Brace was riveted with a combination of LP4-3 and AN470AD4-6 rivets.

 

Below is the Spar Assembly attached to the Skins.

 

Empennage, Rudder (Part 13)

Yesterday, I riveted the Stiffeners to the Left Rudder Skin, so this afternoon I worked on the Right Skin.  In the picture below, you can see the completed Right Skin and the R-00904B-1 Bottom Rib and R-00918 Attach Strip riveted to the bottom of the Skin.

 

The next step in the plans was to rivet the R-00914 Shear Clips to the Stiffeners with LP4-3 rivets.  Here are two different angles showing the riveted Shear Clips.

 

 

During the next work session, I will work on attaching the Trailing Edge Wedge and joining the two skins together.  The video shows the work on the Right Rudder Skin.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 12)

Tonight, I back riveted the seven R-00915-A thru G Stiffeners to the Left Rudder Skin using a Back Rivet Set and Back Rivet Plate.  Below are a couple of pictures of the Left Skin with all the Stiffeners riveted with AN426AD3-3 rivets.  Additionally, you can see the trailing edge of the Skin has not been primed (as suggested by the plans).  This is where the Trailing Edge Wedge will be attached to the Left Skin.....the Right Skin will be prepared in the same fashion.  You can also see the finished product after I primed the Skin and Stiffeners yesterday with Akzo.

  

 

I did, however, make a mistake while riveting one of the Stiffeners.  I did not FULLY have the back rivet plate under the rivet head and jacked up the rivet.....here is the evidence.  I drilled the rivet out with a #41 drill bit and successfully installed a new one.

 

Back riveting the Stiffeners to the Left Rudder Skin.  My phone's battery died and I didn't capture the last few stiffeners being attached.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 11)

As I wrote yesterday, the only piece I have left to prepare before priming and assembly is the Trailing Edge Wedge.  Today, I Machine Countersunk the #40 holes in the Wedge using the Trailing Edge Wedge Jig, Threaded Micro Stop Countersink, and 3/32 Countersink Cutter.  Prior to using the tools on the actual Wedge, I had to setup the Micro Stop and 3/32 Cutter for the right depth.  Below are the three countersunk holes I made, but it took about 7 adjustments to get to the correct depth on the left.  I used excess wedge material as the test piece.  Since the wedge is not on the jig in the picture below, it makes the holes look "not round".  They are.....it's just the angle I took the photo. 

 

After all the adjustment were made to the tools, I used a clamp to hold the Jig and the Wedge tight to the workbench while I countersunk the holes.  Below, you can see I've countersunk the three small holes on the right.

 

After all the #40 holes were countersunk.....on both sides.  

 

After completing the work on the Trailing Edge Wedge, I moved on to the Rudder Skins.  Just like on the Skin of the Vertical Stablilizer, I used Alumiprep 33 (acid etch) and Alodine 1201 (corrosion resistance) prior to priming.  Below are the Skins hanging up to dry after being treated with the Alodine.

 

I allowed the Skins to dry for a few hours and then primed them with Akzo Epoxy Primer.  The video shows the preparation of the Trailing Edge Wedge.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 10)

I dimpled all the holes in the Left and Right Skins yesterday.  Today, I dimpled the corresponding holes in the flanges of the R-00915 Stiffeners, R-00902-1 Spar, R-903, R-912, and R-00915-1 Ribs, R-00918 Attach Strips, and R-00910 Horn Brace.  I was able to use the DRDT-2 to dimple the holes in the Stiffners, but due to clearance issues, I had to use the Pneumatic Squeezer for all the other parts.  

The last piece I need to prepare before final assembly is the R-916-1 Trailing Edge Wedge.  Tomorrow, I will machine countersink both sides of the Wedge to accept the 3/32 dimples in the Skins.  

Here I am dimpling the Stiffeners, Spar, Ribs, Attach Strips and Horn Brace.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 9)

I continued plugging along with deburring the remaining parts of the Rudder today.  Fortunately, I was able to finish it all and moved on to dimpling.  I started with the Right Skin first.  I never really thought to much about ALL the holes in the Skins until it was time to dimple ALL the holes in the Skins (almost all the holes).  The holes just kept coming.....and kept coming (ALL 500 of them.....250 each Skin)!!!!  Guess I'm going to have to get used to it.  Anyway, not hard work with the DRDT-2 just tedious.  

When I purchased the DRDT-2, it came with plans for building support tables.  I followed those plans for the tables, but I did not join the two platforms together.  Instead, I decided to have two small tables that could be moved independently from each other.  Below are a few pictures of my setup....

 

 

 

 

 

I think it is much easier to support your material with moveable tables.  I also move my large worktables around as necesary to accommodate the size of material.  It's worked pretty well so far....try it out.  

I was able to complete the dimpling on both the Left and Right Skins tonight.  Tomorrow, I will start on all of the Rudder skeleton pieces.....Stiffeners, Spar, Ribs, Attach Strips, and Horn Brace.

This video shows the completion of all the skeleton disassembling and deburring.

And now ALL the dimpling of the Left and Right Skins.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 8)

I finished all the final drilling last night.  As I found out in the plans, and from reading several discussions in the VAF Forums, the RV-14 Rudder Skins do not get final drilled.  The reason is the pre-punched holes come from Van's already punched to their final size.  So, I continued with the plans and removed the Left/Right Skins from the Rudder Skeleton along with the Trailing Edge Wedge.  Once the skins were removed, I scuffed the areas that make contact with the Trailing Edge Wedge with a grey Scotchbrite and put a slight break (Lap Joint) on the the trailing edges with my Edge Forming Tool.  Next was to disassemble the remainder of the Rudder Skeleton.

I started the deburring process and was able to complete the Right Skin before I stopped for the night.  I will continue deburring tomorrow. 

Empennage, Rudder (Part 7)

Had to take a little break to cover some work related tasks.  Anyway, I'm back at it.  Tonight, I final drilled #40 all the holes common to the Left/Right Skins and the Trailing Edge.  The plans have you start drilling in the middle of the span and work toward the ends.  The holes common to the Skins and flanges of the R-903 Tip Rib and R-912 Counterbalance Rib were then final drilled to #40.  Lastly, I match drilled the hole in the forward flange of the R-00901-L-1 Skin into the R-00901-R-1 Skin.  It doesn't sound like a lot of work, but foward progress was achieved. 

Empennage, Rudder (Part 6)

Yesterday, the Reinforcement Plates, Counterbalance Rib, Bottom Rib, Shim, and Rudder Horn were all clecoed to the Spar.  Today, I was able to make significant progress on the Rudder.  I riveted those pieces together with the appropriate rivets called for in the plans.  Additionally, the K1000-6 Nut Plates were riveted to the Spar and the Reinforcement Plates.  Below is the upper Reinforcement Plate and the Nut Plate.

 

 

This is the lower section of the Spar assembly.  The Reinforcement Plate is on the opposite side and you can't see it from this angle.  You can, however, see there is a missing rivet in the two pictures below.  The plastic Tie-Wrap Clip will be riveted in this location with an LP4-5 rivet.

 

The opposite side with the Reinforcement Plate in view.

 

This is a forward looking view of the Spar.  From this view, you can see a couple of the Stiffener Shear Clips and the Bottom Rib attached to the Spar.

 

After riveting the Spar assembly together, I moved on to attaching the Stiffener Shear Clips and the Stiffeners with clecos.  Below, you can see the seven sets of Stiffeners between the Rudder Tip and Bottom Ribs.

 

The Trailing Edge Wedge came in a length that was about a foot to long.  So, it had to be clecoed to the Right Skin and cut to length.  This picture was taken after I cut the wedge.

 

The plans are very clear that the holes in the Trailing Edge Wedge need to be drilled perpendicular to the chord line.  So, to make sure I didn't mess it up, I got this Trailing Edge Drill Jig from Cleaveland Aircraft Tool.  It's machined to accept the Training Edge Wedge and assures the holes are drilled (and later machine countersunk) perpendicular as described in the plans.  This is the jig and the jig with the Trailing Edge Wedge in it.  Well worth the money in my opinion!

 

 

After drilling the #40 holes in the Trailing Edge Wedge, I aligned the Right Skin and Trailing Edge Wedge to the Rudder skeleton assembly and clecoed the upper and lower corners.

 

Then, the entire Right Skin. In this view, you can also see the Rudder Horn Brace and Attach Strips.  I did the same thing for the Left Skin.

 

Riveting the Spar

Clecoing the Left and Right Skins to the Rudder skeleton assembly.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 5)

I primed the few remaining parts and began the Rudder assembly.  Pictured below is the Horn Brace and several of the Rudder Stiffeners after they were primed with Akzo.  Since there was only a small number of pieces to prime, I used the Preval Spray System again.  It's very easy to use, quick, and cleans up quickly.

 

This is the middle reinforcement plate clecoed to the Spar.  

 

Below you can see the upper reinforcement plate and the Counterbalance Rib clecoed to the Spar.

 

At the bottom of the assembly is the lower reinforcement plate (on the opposite side of the Spar), the Shim, the Bottom Rib, and the Rudder Horn.  

 

Here is a portion of the Rudder skeleton (minus the Top Rib and Stiffeners) all clecoed together and ready for riveting. 

  

Empennage, Rudder (Part 4)

After completing the Vertical Stabilizer (see previous post), I resumed work on the Rudder.  In Part 3, I began the Alumiprep and Alodine process of a few of the parts and pieces that would fit into the bins.  Today, I used spray bottles and a foam brush to prep a few of the bigger parts.  I began by spraying the Alumiprep on the piece and scuffing it with grey Scotch Brite, rinsed with water, and sparayed on the Alodine.  I used the foam brush to make sure all areas were covered on the pieces.  Tomorrow, I will prime and begin assembling the Rudder skeleton.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 3)

I've reached the point in the Rudder build that requires parts to be riveted together.  So, in preparation of the riveting process, I began to Alumiprep and Alodine the parts this evening.  I did the smaller parts in medium sized bins as described in previous posts and I will finish up the larger parts with the foam brush tomorrow.  Once all the parts have had their Alumiprep and Alodine treatments, they will be epoxy primed with Akzo.

Empennage, Rudder (Part 2)

I made some pretty steady progress on the Rudder today.  Started with removing the sharp edge on the top flange of the R-405PD Rudder Horn, then radiused the four corners. 

Clecoed the R-606PP, R-607PP, R-608PP Reinforcement Plates, R-00904A-1 Bottom Rib, R-00917 Shim, and R-405PD Rudder Horn to the R-00902-1 Spar.  Once clecoed, all the common holes were final drilled to #30.  Then, all the parts were separated and deburred.  

 

Radiused the forward corners and fluted the R-912 Counterbalance Rib and R-903 Top Rib flanges.

 

The rudder has two Skins, R-00901-R-1 and R-00901-L-1.  Both Skins needed slight trimming on the top forward flange.  Then, the top aft-most hole on both Skins was final drilled to #30 and dimpled to accept a CS4 flush rivet.  

 

The left Skin flange also needed a lap joint (slight bend) to assist in making a tighter fit when the Skins are riveted to the rudder skeleton.  I used the Edge Forming Tool (pictured below) from Cleaveland Aircraft Tool to make the appropriate bend.  Here is the company video on how to use the tool.

 

Next, the Counterbalance Rib and Top Rib were clecoed to the Spar to be final drilled to #30.  Then, disassembled and deburred.  Finally, the E-614-020 Counterweight and Counterbalance Rib were final drilled to #12 and deburred.