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Riveting the leading edge

Anna

Active Member
Hello,

I have rolled the leading edge of the rudder with a wooden broomstick, that part worked very well. My Problem is, that the prepunched holes in the leading edge doesn't fit after the rolling process. I tried to bend the leading edge with my hands but that's really hard.
If I press the left and the right side of the leading edge together the clecos does fit very well.
Is that bend enough for riveting or does the leading edge need a further work?

Thanks in advance for your help and best whishes from Germany,
Anna
 
Hi Anna,

I can tell you that I did not have an easy time with getting this to work, but in the end I did get good, not perfect results. I used duct tape to hold the two edges together until I could get some clecoes installed. Start by taping it just to get it close. As you add more pieces of tape you'll be able to get it closer to where you need it to be. Eventually you'll be able to start installing the clecoes. Once you get a few in just keep working down the length, squeeze the edges and then install a cleco.

The first leading edge that I did was not as nice as the second, but that seems to be this whole project goes.

Good luck.

Ray
 
Hi Ray,

Sorry, that I write so late, but our Kit arrived those days and we were so busy and excited, so I forgot everything else? :D

Thank you for your help! We used some tape and it worked! We set some RTV between the rivets, too. The RTV is holding the aluminum shape on the leading edge better together? Now your rudder is ready! It looks really nice!

Best wishes from Bavaria
Anna
 
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