[Yen]

Has anyone experienced rivets pulling away from the leading edge of the stiffeners to the rudder skin. I saw it on an old RV4 last weekend. Would it pay to use RTV adhesive on the front end of the stiffener in the same way as specified at the rear end?

 

[Dean Pichon]

My rudder developed cracks...

in the skin at the rivet location where the forward portion of the stiffener is attached to the skin. When I built a new rudder (w/ 0.020 skin instead of .016) I rivet and bonded the entire structure with ProSeal.

RTV is not a great adhesive. Although messier, I felt ProSeal worth the extra effort.

Regards,

Dean Pichon
RV-4