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Rudder Stiffener holes not lined up.

msturgis

msturgis

Well Known Member
I was working on clecoing the stiffeners to the left rudder skin this evening, and when I got to the 5th from the bottom I found that the holes in the skin did not line up to the holes in the stiffener. I tried some of the other stiffeners and they did not line up either. The holes in the skin all seem to be off by about one hole length.

Has anyone else had this problem? Will Van's take care of it?

Thanks.
 
keep looking

I seem to remember having this problem on my rudder.

Check the plans again.. You probably have something reversed. Take everything apart and start again.
 
ClayR_9A said:
I seem to remember having this problem on my rudder.

Check the plans again.. You probably have something reversed. Take everything apart and start again.
Click to expand...


I had thought about that. So I double checked the stiffeners were orientated correctly, which they were. Every other stiffener lines up fine on both skins, except for the 5th from the bottom on the left side.
 
They ALL only fit one way, if you cut them wrong (I did) only SOME of them will fit. I had to order replacements from Vans.
 
I don't know if I can help, but I seem to remember that one line of holes lined-up almost perfectly with a hole intended for the forward spar. If the stiffener is mistakenly lined up on the "spar hole", none of the other holes in the row will line up. It may be simple, but I remember having to think about this to ensure that I had it oriented properly. Good luck.

Brad
 
I had a similar problem with my left rudder skin. Just one of the holes was about 1/8" out of alignment.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=43338&highlight=rudder+skin+stiffener

I emailed Van's support with a couple of pictures. One to show the misalignment, and another to show that I had the stiffener installed in the right place. If you are confident that you have the stiffener in the right place and the holes are misaligned, I'd send an email to Van's and see if they'll send you a new skin. I received a replacement skin today and the holes now line up perfectly.
 
Compare skins

If you compare left and right skins back to back are all the other holes except the 5th row the same? This should quickly confirm a error on Van's punching.

Peter
 
Not Vans error

The holes are not punched with uniform spacing. You can't just cut the stiffeners in half and expect them to work. Of course, that's what I did! I ended up bending my own and match drilling them to replace the ones that would not line up. It's easy if you have some scrap of that thickness and a brake to bend them on. The plans should have some notes to prevent future builders from doing the same thing!
 
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