Van's Air Force
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Rv6 Rudder needed
- Thread starter Lbaero
- Start date
Frank Smidler
Well Known Member
Rudder crack repair
I built my RV6 rudder back in the 90's before it was well know that you should add some caulking/adhesive at the rear of the ribs to prevent flexing which will cause cracking. Add to this I did not crimp the rear edge adequately. This resulted in 3 cracks on the rear edge that I had stop drilled. After 1200 hours, I was in the process of vinyl wrapping my airplane and I did not want to cover over these cracks but I also did not want to delay getting back in the air by building a new rudder (I have the parts, plan to build eventually). Therefore, I came up with the following fix that worked very well.
First I drilled out the rivets at the back edge of the rudder ribs where the cracks were. Second, I re-bent the rear edge to better meet Vans recommendation. Third, I injected one part urethane caulk (automotive body sealant) into the holes to add a connection between ribs on opposite sides of the rudder. Fourth, I made .020 x 3/4" dia. aluminum washers that I then bonded over the hole with JB Weld and one pull rivet thru washer and into hole.
Now the back edge of the rudder is very solid and the repair looks OK.
I built my RV6 rudder back in the 90's before it was well know that you should add some caulking/adhesive at the rear of the ribs to prevent flexing which will cause cracking. Add to this I did not crimp the rear edge adequately. This resulted in 3 cracks on the rear edge that I had stop drilled. After 1200 hours, I was in the process of vinyl wrapping my airplane and I did not want to cover over these cracks but I also did not want to delay getting back in the air by building a new rudder (I have the parts, plan to build eventually). Therefore, I came up with the following fix that worked very well.
First I drilled out the rivets at the back edge of the rudder ribs where the cracks were. Second, I re-bent the rear edge to better meet Vans recommendation. Third, I injected one part urethane caulk (automotive body sealant) into the holes to add a connection between ribs on opposite sides of the rudder. Fourth, I made .020 x 3/4" dia. aluminum washers that I then bonded over the hole with JB Weld and one pull rivet thru washer and into hole.
Now the back edge of the rudder is very solid and the repair looks OK.
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