Picture Comparison

[rdockery_3]

Is it just me or is this worse than it was? The rudder has had a dent in it ever since I bought the plane but when I was looking at the plane tonight it seemed to be worse than it was. I'm not sure how it could be as I always have the gust lock on the plane. Maybe it's just been angle of the camera but what do you think? It's really puzzling me. The picture that is in daylight is from a few weeks ago, but as I said it was like that when I bought it. The other two pictures are from today. There is some glare from the lights on today's pictures but it still looks different to me.

 

[Amadeus]

The lower, more forward, crease appears to be longer. In the first photo it is maybe an inch higher and forward of the rivet and in photo three the crease appears to be over two inches higher and forward of the rivet. This could be a structural issue...

 

[rdockery_3]

The lower, more forward, crease appears to be longer. In the first photo it is maybe an inch higher and forward of the rivet and in photo three the crease appears to be over two inches higher and forward of the rivet. This could be a structural issue...

I think I'm going to take pictures of it each time I preflight to see what happens with it. Any idea on what a replacement would cost?

 

[Amadeus]

You may want to check if when the stabilator is at extreme limits of movement if the bottom tip of the rudder is making contact.

 

[Amadeus]

Any idea on what a replacement would cost?

You could possibly find someone that started (but abandoned) a build that has a rudder completed. Get it painted before installing.

 

[rdockery_3]

You may want to check if when the stabilator is at extreme limits of movement if the bottom tip of the rudder is making contact.

I did check that and it has clearance. It is actually at its limit in the photo.

 

[seagull]

Mine did the same thing, looked just as bad. A little the first time I noticed it was a wind gust, then a month later it was worse, both sides were wrinkled. I don’t what caused it to get worse. My solution was to order the vertical rib that is added to the newer design. I removed the lower rivets and lower rib. Straightened the skin, installed the new rib using Proseal so I wouldn’t have riveted holes to deal with. I made a custom 1.5” triangle gusset 1/8” thick of plate carbon fiber and bonded it into the bottom TE with JB weld (original). Before the glue set I put the bottom rib back in place so the gusset would bond to the end of the bottom rib. The rudder looks good and will not wrinkle again.

 

[rcarsey]

I had replaced the skin, since mine wasn't yet painted.

1x R-01211 $21.90
1x R-01201-1 $87.68
200x LP4-3 $36 -- $145.58 total.

Drill out all the LP4-3's carefully.. just pop the heads off. Once the skin is off, you can pop out the remainder of the rivets. The stub spar is retro-fitable; however, your main ribs are R-01203, not the R-01203-1 (which have 2 extra holes in them to mount the stub spar). Thats no problem. You can cleco the stub spar to the new skin and ribs (1 side of the skin only, not both).. then drill the holes in the lower two ribs. Alternatively, you can buy and replace the lower two ribs (R-01203-1) - and buy an extra 12 LP4-3's. Shipping to NJ was $76 as of 2022 (and my parts were $76 back then )