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  #1  
Old 09-10-2007, 03:19 PM
Flying Scotsman Flying Scotsman is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,256
Default Rudder trailing edge suggestions?

Sometime shortly after returning from the Reno Air Races I'll be doing the rudder trailing edge. I want a razor-sharp, perfectly straight trailing edge here...any suggestions?

I see in the instructions to use a piece of angle aluminum as a sort of backing material, and match-drill everything including the AA, cleco it together and use fuel tank sealant. So far, so good, that makes sense. What about perhaps using a second piece of angle on the *other side*, to make a sort of "sandwich" to hold the sucker squoze up tight and straight?

And any suggestions to avoid getting a nice straight edge that is twisted with respect to the rest of the airfoil?

Or other tips?
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  #2  
Old 09-10-2007, 03:46 PM
BillC BillC is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Ramona, Ca
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Default

IMHO,
Just follow the instructions and it should come out great (mine did). The second Alu angle might help some but you will need some long clecos to get through the both of them and you won't be able to see the prepunched holes. I did a 9A and all trailing edges are done with this technique and it worked just fine.
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  #3  
Old 09-10-2007, 04:04 PM
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scard scard is offline
 
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Default

Worked fine for me as well. I don't think there is any need for a second piece of angle. Also, believe it or not, you can actually effect the straightness of the edge as you set the rivets. If you work slowly and evenly, you can tune the final edge by how much you set particular rivets as you go.
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  #4  
Old 09-10-2007, 11:32 PM
Paul 5r4 Paul 5r4 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Foley, Al
Posts: 563
Default Use an Aluminum level from Home Depot or Lowes!!

I had no angle so I used what I had. Worked absolutly great. It was an aluminum level from Lowes. Not expensive but perfectly straight. When finished with the gluing of the rudder trailing edge I cleaned all the glue off of my level and it is good as new all be it has a few holes in it now. The trailing edge of the rudder came out perfect.

Last edited by Paul 5r4 : 09-16-2007 at 05:05 PM.
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  #5  
Old 09-11-2007, 12:14 AM
Rivethead Rivethead is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Corvallis Oregon.
Posts: 680
Default MHO

Contrary to what you may expect the rudder is really a non issue. I personally found it much easier than I?d expected. When finished with mine it was straight arrow but while working it I had developed a technique for working small waves out. I will share it here. Follow the manual closely that step alone should give great if not perfect results. Waves are removed if need be at all by tapping the inside of the cup with the rivet gun not the backside and do it gently with reduced pressure checking progress often. Always use a well supported flat surface to work out any waves this way.
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  #6  
Old 09-11-2007, 09:04 AM
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nippaero nippaero is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Nampa, ID
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I agree. Once you complete the trailing edge you ask will ask yourself what the big deal was. I used a slightly different method than the manual called for. I used U-channel instead of angle. See my log entry.
http://www.nippaero.com/log/20070811.php
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  #7  
Old 09-11-2007, 09:05 AM
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RV7Guy RV7Guy is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 2,904
Default Steel strip

My neighbor and I used a length of steel approx 3/8" thick by 2" wide and the full length of the rudder. This was clamped into place and the riveting done. Turned out great.

I further finished mine by block sanding the trailing edge to get it perfectly trued up. Then I taped in 1" from the TE and block sanded the skins to remove any high points. (There were only a couple from poor shots with the rivet gun). This area was cleaned with acetone then a mixture of epoxy and micro filler used to fill the rivets and any other low spots.

The tape was removed and the rudder retaped to 1.25". The micro filler was sanded and blended into the skin. Rage auto body filler was used to touch up any areas necessary.

After getting this perfect I used 1" glass cloth tape and epoxy and sealed the trailing edge. All necesssary filling and sanding was completed. The result is perfect rudder trailing edge that is dead nuts straight and a very clean appearance. The process added roughly 3 hours of work to the process.
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  #8  
Old 09-11-2007, 09:31 AM
C-J C-J is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Aiken SC
Posts: 83
Default Rudder Trailing Edge

Steve,



Mine turned out absolutely straight by doing the following:



1) Clecoed the trailing edge to a piece of 1/4" aluminum angel (easy to match drill and stiff enough to keep it straight) 1/8" may be good enough if straight and backed up by a board. Use just one skin to match drill the angle and don't go through both and the V strip at one time or you will get egg shape holes in the bottom.

2) Taped off the trailing edge on the inside surface and scuffed it up good with Scotch Brite where it meets the V strip

3) Cleaned with MEK

4) I epoxied with JB Weld (not too much) and clecoed to the alum angle- Proseal may be better, I just don't know for sure and the JB weld worked so well for me.

5) Let it be for 48 hours (BTW- you will need to clean out the holes before setting with a Qtip dipped in thinner) I was really stiff after it set and never moved while riveting.

6) Mill a flush set to the angle of the trailing edge, I think it is 9 degrees

7) Squeeze riveted the trailing edge starting in the middle and skipping 5-8 holes in both directions and then I came back and added a rivet in the middle of the pattern and then did it again. You get the idea.



This is one of those things that people make a big issue of and I just didn't find it very difficult after setting with the JB Weld and using the angled flush die. I think the curved trailing edge develops when builders over drive the rivets on the trailing edge via bucking and it stretches the metal.



Good luck, take your time and continually check your progress and it will turn out good results. Carl

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  #9  
Old 09-11-2007, 05:46 PM
ditch ditch is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Fargo ND
Posts: 135
Default

I didn't use any glue what so ever and mine turned out perfect. I just used 2 stair steps that I bought at home depot to make the mechanism to crease the trailing edge of the elevators. They are over an inch thick and very straight. Stacked them on top of each other and layed the rudder edge over it with just enough room for the bucking bar to hit the rivets. I didn't use any angle iron but had all the holes clecoed at once. Had a buddy lay his arms along the edge to hold them down tight against the wood. This insured the edge stayed as straight as the board. Just worked every other rivet half way first then finished off with the other ones. Once they were done, went back and final bucked them all. Took 10 minutes and it looks great. I was panicking when I read posts on how to do it and how tough people made it sound. Actually one of the easier parts yet.
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Last edited by ditch : 09-11-2007 at 05:51 PM.
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  #10  
Old 09-11-2007, 08:47 PM
txnbuilder txnbuilder is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 66
Default Two More Suggestions...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flying Scotsman
Sometime shortly after returning from the Reno Air Races I'll be doing the rudder trailing edge. I want a razor-sharp, perfectly straight trailing edge here...any suggestions?

I see in the instructions to use a piece of angle aluminum as a sort of backing material, and match-drill everything including the AA, cleco it together and use fuel tank sealant. So far, so good, that makes sense. What about perhaps using a second piece of angle on the *other side*, to make a sort of "sandwich" to hold the sucker squoze up tight and straight?

And any suggestions to avoid getting a nice straight edge that is twisted with respect to the rest of the airfoil?

Or other tips?

I only have a couple of things to add ...

1) If you're going to proseal the trailing edge, get a helper! Proseal is a non-issue if you have someone helping you out.

2) The caulk-like tube looks attractive (at least it did to me), but be aware you'll have about ten times as much proseal as you'll need, and you won't be able to use it on anything else. Get the 1oz size from Vans instead.

I too was a bit worried about this, but like most other 'difficult' tasks, it wasn't really that bad...

Good Luck,

Luis
RV7A - SuperSlowBuild(tm) Wings
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