Rudder Bottom Fairing Mounting

I am working on my last fiberglass part on the RV7 empennage; the rudder bottom fairing. I am planning on installing either an Aeroleds or Aveo position light/strobe. My question? Is it worth the trouble to install nut plates and make the bottom removable with flat head screws and Tinnerman washers, or just rivet it on as the plans say?

I spent a fair number of hours installing nut plates on one of my elevator fiberglass tips only to decide later to glass over the screws and tip-to-skin seam as many other builders have. But the rudder bottom has the wiring for the strobe so I am concerned about removal. Any advice or opinions out there? I'd love to see photos of the rudder bottom installed both ways. I've searched the forums and builders sites without finding very much info.

I pop-riveted mine on.

My strobe can be removed from the trailing edge and I left enough wiring in the rudder bottom to pull the strobe head out far enough to un-plug the connector and if need be de-pin the connector so that the wiring can be pulled out the fwd end.

I made fabricated a mounting plate for my AeroLED strobe tail light out of some .25" stock. It got glassed and riveted to the lower rudder tip. I drilled and tapped out two 4-40 holes for the light to screw into:





Don't bother making the lower tip removable. It is really easy to snake the tail wire through it.

If you are building a taildragger, I would wait until much later to work on the lower rudder tip. From the factory, the tip is too tall. It needs to be trimmed so it doesn't interfere with the tailwheel spring.





More details is at: http://rvplane.com/?categoryid=7&dayid=909

I made mine removable and it has been useful

I made mine removable and it has been useful on several occasions over the past six years. Anything that has wiring in it requires access eventually. It simplifies removing the rudder and You may be surprised how much oil can collect in there in a few years. If some day after you have been flying a while you want to add "the wedge" it can provide access for supporting the thin skin during drilling, etc. I also have the fin cap installed with screws to provide access to the NAV antenna and coax. I found that after building for a few years I could anticipate the need for a better way of doing small things like this, thought it out and followed my instincts - seldom sorry.

Bob Axsom

P.S. I built my RV-6A right across the San Diego Freeway in Laguna Hills.

Removable here too

I made it removable for the reasons Bob says.

Also; if you schould damage it at some point, the repair is much easier when you can remove it.

I also second the recommendation to wait with the trimming until you have the VS and the tailspring installed. Then it's easy to do the required trimming.

Thanks for Your Feedback

Thanks for the feedback guys - although I see that two of you have weighed in with "rivet it on", and two have opted for removable. I guess I'm still on the fence but I will definitely wait until I am mounting the rudder and the electrical wiring issues have been resolved before making a final decision.

I'll go ahead and tip the scale. riveted my on. no problem poking wire through for the tail light and can't for the life of me think of a reason to remove it.

Riveted

Another vote for riveted. I also went with a mounting plate like Mike, but took the lazy way out and bought mine from Cleaveland tools: http://www.cleavelandtoolstore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=RVTLR

jpharrell said:

Thanks for the feedback guys - although I see that two of you have weighed in with "rivet it on", and two have opted for removable. I guess I'm still on the fence but I will definitely wait until I am mounting the rudder and the electrical wiring issues have been resolved before making a final decision.

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I've done it both ways. The first rudder bottom was riveted in place and when I had my prop strike, the tail was driven down and the rudder bottom cracked by the large tailwheel bolt. The replacement is attached with #6 screws and the light secured just like bullojm1 did.

YMMV

I've always been a fan of making all the fiberglass components removable with screws and nutplates. Some builders think it a complete waste of time. For those builders, it probably is.

A week or two ago, I had the unexpected opportunity when an experienced painter who would love to go for an RV ride offered to repaint my fiberglass empennage components with a more pleasing Mercedes Silver Riff coating that compliments my polished airplane better than the gray Acry Glo coating I applied myself some years ago. Gee, I think I'll give him a ride.

Bottom line: It took all of 15 minutes to remove the tips and empennage fairing from the airplane and turn the parts over to the painter to work his magic. A few days later, I quickly reinstalled the newly painted parts and I must say I am pleased with the result. Screws and nutplates serve me well, and in this case on the spur of the moment. To me, there is something cheesy about drilling out a bunch of pop rivets to achieve the same end.

As an aside, I openly wonder what certified production airplanes have permanently attached tips? I do not know. Can someone answer that for me? I am naturally chary about permanently closing up anything and I do know my old Cessna had its plastic parts attached with screws for easy removal yet there is generally no compelling reason to remove such parts.

My experience is not your experience and vice versa. Our airplane is as unique as each builder who creates it and all stand as personal extensions of who we are as builders and flyers, warts and all. This discussion illustrates how each builder must consider and then ultimately chose a path that best serves that individual's needs and desires.

I just installed my Strobe/tail light with.....plastic anchor nuts! a 6 pack cost $1.29 @ McLendon's Aerospace and Hardware, including the screws!. I chose that because car tail light lenses are held in the same way, and my 25 year old Toyota is 'proof of concept'. The plastic anchor nut has a flange that keeps it from falling into the rudder fairing, so I made a rubber gasket for the strobe light bezel, no sweat. Very strong, lightest weight, did I mention CHEAP?
Pop rivets for me, where ever VAN's reccomends them. They are easy to drill out, lighter & faster than screws & platenuts, and you always use 'new' hardware when reassembling, instead of fumbling around with old rusty stuff that's stripped or you just lost to the floor.
I guess you know how I feel about platenuts!
Now I'm worrying about wire routing, and I think I'm going for the NOVA XPAK 604X HR, unless the Reg-480 strobe power supply is legal? It looks lighter and cheaper, always good for an airplane if it will do the job.
Scott