Rudder leading edge -- need advice.

[jferraro17]

Guys--

I've rolled my Rudders leading edge, the top and bottom sections worked out nicely, the middle section, not so much. I managed to re-roll a bit, and get it together without so much "forcing", but the lap joint is really wavey, or puckered between the rivets.

Any suggestions? More rivets between each (spacing issues)? Tap with a hammer/work the edge?

Anybody out there recovered from this?

Thanks--

Joe

[AndrewTR30]

It helps one skin lay down flat on the other. You don't have to put a lot of bend in the skin. Just use light pressure to roll a little crease into the edge of the outer skin.

[Rick6a]

Originally Posted by jferraro16

Guys--...the top and bottom sections worked out nicely, the middle section, not so much. I managed to re-roll a bit, and get it together without so much "forcing", but the lap joint is really wavey, or puckered between the rivets. Any suggestions? More rivets between each (spacing issues)? Tap with a hammer/work the edge?Anybody out there recovered from this?Thanks--Joe

Hi Joe,

I am sure you are aware (though not relevant to the rudder) but (for moisture shedding purposes) the elevator top skin will overlap the bottom skin....this applies later on. But the joint is the same. Beyond that, keep in mind that joint will not show. No one will ever know it but you. Still, I ran into a similiar situation during my -8A empennage work and was not happy with the overall quality of the finished lap joint. Going against the written caution in the instructions, I went ahead and drilled out the blind rivets. (Van assumes the average builder will have trouble drilling out those rivets). I then rerolled/massaged/reworked the skins and used an edge rolling tool on BOTH skins much as you would with any overlapping (or butt adjoining) skins. The final result was a significant, though not perfect improvement over the first effort. Since there is plenty of space between those pull rivets, you can easily lay out 1 or 2 additional holes between the plans callout spacing and add more fasteners if you want to. Most folks would settle to just leave well enough alone. The choice is yours and yours alone to make.


Rick Galati RV-6A "Darla"
RV-8A empennage complete

[jferraro17]

I too drilled out the first set of rivets...all of them. (didn't find them any more difficult than solid ones, lot's of practice I guess ).

I think I'm leaning towards one rivet between each pre-punched...I'm concerned about the tension on the heads, as well as the moisture issue and looks--the top and bottom protion of the leading edge came out so nice, I don't think I can stand leaving the center section so cheesy!

Thanks for the advice.

Joe

[jferraro17]

Andrew--

Funny thing is, the center section is the only one I bent with an edge rolling tool, and it's the only one with this problem. Maybe I put too much bend in?

Anyway, I'm going to have to practice with that tool before I use it again on the elevators.

Thanks for the suggestion--

Joe

[mburch]

For what it's worth, I wasn't happy with the way my elevator leading edges were all puckered up, so I doubled up the number of rivets and they came out fine: click here for a photo. I think my bends could have been a little better, since I had to pull the two halves together slightly with my fingers, but there are a lot of fasteners and not much stress on them. As Van's says, I built on!

mcb
RV-7 QB parts arriving tomorrow

[jferraro17]

We've got a spare bedroom we call the "airplane room" too!

Thanks for the sanity check...build on it is!


Joe