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Wavey Rudder Trailing Edge (Is there time to fix this still?)

CharlieWaffles

CharlieWaffles

Well Known Member
I got my rudder buttoned up yesterday and when I looked today I could see that the overall line is straight, but in some places the skin isn't completely flush with the trailing edge so it is a little "thicker" in parts. Is this normal? Will it decrease once the riveting is done? Anything I can do to help it? I have it with a large 4x4 on top, rivets alternating side to side and sitting on the edge of a table per plans and other photos I've seen.
 
A few ideas

Hey Charlie,

It sounds like you may have varying thickness of Proseal applied. This will cause pillowing at the trailing edge. The thinner the better for this.

Also, did you use an edge rolling tool to put a slight bendin the skins? It helps. It just takes a slight bend along the trailing edge of both skins to help them meet.

One other approach is to use a piece of angle and clamp it to the trailing edge while the Proseal cures. It will help take out the pillowing between the clecos.

If the Proseal is already dry, probably too late. Pretty common to see this on many finished planes.
 
Funny thing is I picked up some angle iron due to someone else's log that said their clecos didnt stay in. I tried and mine stayed in so I didnt drill the angle iron and use it. I did put a bend in the end per the plans and it looked pretty consistent. I'm guessing it's just because of the varying thickness of the proseal. It's pretty goopy so hard to keep it consistently thin all over. Tomorrow is the end of the 2 day cure so I'm guessing its pretty well set now. Will the riveting flatten any out it out or is the proseal pretty solid once cured?
 
It should flatten a little with rivets, but be careful not to deviate from the plans and alternating the the rivet pattern. If you follow the directions, you will keep the trailing edge straight. That's by far more important than the "bumps".

If you search the archives on this site, you will see many posts about this challenge. It ends up being a smaller deal as you move onto other things in the build.

BTW...I would still look into the angle iron idea. About 1/8th of an inch thick X 1"X1"X8 feet long. Make a bucking bar with two sets of holes like the link shows in the previous post. Use the line of holes for every rivet spot to cleco during Proseal stage. Once dry, move to the trailing edge to the set of holes that is every other hole. This allows you to put a rivet in the other spots and use the bar for a bucking bar. Once those are driven you can move the assembly one space over and do the remaining rivets.

It keeps everything absolutely straight. On the 10, this needs to be done again on the wing control surfaces.

Make sense? Hope this helps.
 
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My best advice for laying down an even layer of proseal on any surface is to use a plastic knife. You can pick these up for free at just about any fast food chain. The tiny serations on the knife act as a notched trowel. Makes application as easy as putting peanut butter on a slice of bread. Popsicle sticks are horrible to use, with maybe the exception of creating a nice rounded fillet.
 
Dimples

It's also possible the dimples from one side are hitting the dimples from the other side. Don't ask me how I know.
 
Once I got everything cleaned up and riveted today it came out pretty dang straight so I think I'm good. I did use the angle iron as suggested and think it would out pretty good.
 
Great!

Cool...good job, Mark. Now that you have practice, it'll be a piece of cake the four more times you get to do this on your project.


Good luck!
 
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