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Counterbalanced Rudder and other updates.

Nick

Well Known Member
Long story short: About 3 weeks ago an acquaintances of mine better half decided that rear view mirrors were overraited and backed into my -4.

The good news is only the rudder was effected. The bad news is, I had a squished rudder.

I've done a LOT to this airframe. I didn't think that the rudder was one item that was in question. Now it was.

Pulled the rudder and started disassembly. My initial hope was I could just reskin it. That quickly faded.

The forward 'spar' was slightly tweaked. the 'L' stiffeners (3 of them) where destroyed. The bottom fiberglass cap and associated mounts were not to my standard.

Short version. I decided I was to build an entire new rudder.

So If I'm to build from the ground up, why not modernize it?

My -360 -4 will without effort go past 180ktas. I'm OK with that. I'd be more OK with that if ALL the control surfaces where balanced.

LETS BUILD A BALANCED RUDDER!!!

So that's what I did. 2 weeks of time, some .020, .025, and a little .032 later and here we are. Oh, and a custom riveted trailing edge. It should be expected at this point....

PXL_20210318_014712802.jpg

I promise that new paint is in the NEAR future. :D
 
I'm planning to do this too

Last annual I had 10 cracks in the rudder, all stop drilled at the end of the stiffeners, but enough is enough. I too can blow right by 180 TAS in level flight, so I was planning to balance my rudder as well. I would be interested in dimensions of the counterbalance if you have them.

Also, my plan is to build it like an RV-10 or RV 7 rudder with the stiffeners tying together at the back to eliminate the oil canning.
 
Breakdown of what I used. It worked out pretty well.

R-402 Rudder "spar" RV4
R-404 Bottom Rib RV4
Either R-405PD or R-405 Rudder Horn (the PD is pre-drilled)
R-406, 407 straight off the Plans. .063
Custom R-408. Extended it up and bent to top to support the top rib. .063

Stiffners as well. .025, bent on my brake.
Skins, I did two piece skins, riveted trailing edge. On the Rudder you can, and I probably should have, use the RV-10/9 Trailing edge "axe". Its lighter than what I made up and will save some lead on the counterweight.

Trailing edge Axe. I machined a .25 barstock with 5deg each side. Then took out as much material as I could in lighting holes.

Upper Rib: RV-7/8 R-703
Counterbalance Skin: RV-8 R-703
I then made a .032 diagnal support from the Spar to the top rib.
Top Cap: RV-8 R-809

This picture shows most of the custom things.

PXL_20210311_034220884.jpg PXL_20210311_222951485.jpg PXL_20210312_030500702.jpg
 
Wow Nick!! That is really sweet. I’m glad you used .020 skins. If someone backs into my rudder, I’m going to give you a call. Hammerheads, even with a little tail slide, should be OK - - although.... I didn’t say that, so don’t do it....
You do have a safer airplane. Very nice.
 
I do a lot of work on airplanes, but nick always amazes me. The guy is an artist at fixing things in record time. His panels and sheet metal work are fantastic. If you need a damaged airplane fixed or a new panel installed, he is your man.
 
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