RV7-Factory

Sub Structure Work Begins

With the stiffeners now complete and riveted onto the skin, it was time to move onto the skeleton of the rudder. Here you see the spar, ribs, re-enforcement plates, counter balance, and rudder horn clecoed together. This was after the top and counterbalance ribs were fluted straight. The structure is then match drilled to #30 and the counterbalance skin is match drilled to #40. Again…the precision of the pre-punched kits really shines through. It simply lines right up.

I think this Part is Important in a Spin!

Here you can see one of the important parts of the plane. It is the rudder control horn. Cables will attach to the outboard ends and then run up to the rudder pedals in the cockpit. The 3/8ths holes is for one of the ball joints that will make up a pivot point of the rudder. It took a little love and filing and Scotchbrite wheeling to get it to nestle in with the rib above, but it turned out a great fit. One of the parts that Van’s has you fabricate is a shim that fits under this horn so that you can tie the horn, spar, and the rib together all fitting at the same level. It was pretty easy to make out of 0.032″ sheet stock.

Fairing Strip Fabrication

Here you see the rudder nearly completely assembled and clecoed together. The substructure is complete, the Rudder horn reinforcement is in and drilled, and at this stage I am fabricating the other two parts Van’s makes you create. These little strips of sheet stock will be what holds the lower fiberglass fairing onto the rudder. A few simple cuts and you match drill to the rest of the already assembled parts.

Good Edge Distance Here

One of the more challenging parts of assembling the rudder is this reinforcement part. First, you have to cut some sizable ears off of it using the standard practice of trimming to the center of the guide holes Van’s pre-drills in the part. Some have found that it is difficult to do this and still retain good edge distance for the holes. Either I am lucky, or Van’s has improved the part because I trimmed to the center and then installed and match drilled and it came out with some room to spare. Here you can see that I have good edge distance and the part clears the web of the adjoining rib. Whew. I have also heard that they used to make you bend this part to the shape they now ship it as. Man am I glad…cause that would have been a bear.

Looking Like Something

After all the fabrication of parts and assembly it was time for all the remaining match drilling. I was able to get it done in short order. The one thing to remember on the rudder is that the trailing edge is NOT drilled perpendicular to the skin but IS drilled perpendicular to the cord. Careful attention however helps and avoids to much trouble as the AEX wedge is pre-drilled to the right angle and helps align the bit as you are match drilling the parts. Still remember not to fight the flow of the bit.

Another View of the Prepped Rudder

Here is another view of the rudder match drilled and ready to…take all apart again. Just when  you think you got something, you have to tear it down and do a TON more work. It is fun to show the kids though…”look at the size of this!!!” I love it when my kids reply, “WOW, that is soooo cool!” Motivation for sure.

After all That Work...Torn Down for Paint and More Prep

It got late in the evening by the time I was done match drilling the rudder. So I tore it all down and got everything ready to finish all the prep before paint and turned out the lights. Here is where the Rudder stood once it was all said and done. All in all…a great build session. Thanks for the shop pass Dear!

My Back Rivet Set and Other Tools of the Trick

It’s Saturday and my Honey-Do’s are done…so off to the shop for another good and healthy build session. For some reason, I felt inspired to do a back rivet tutorial. Maybe it will be useful to someone else down the road. So here goes. There are some key tools that are needed to do back riveting correctly.

1. Rivet Gun
2. Back Rivet Set
3. Back Rivet Plate
4. Rivet Tape

As you can see here, I have my tools for back riveting in place. My back rivet set has a brass collar. I have seen others with a Delrin collar. Before I got started, I polished my collar to a smooth finish both on the sides and the face to reduce the chance of it marring my parts. I made sure to remove the sharp edge of the collar on the inside and outside radius. Turns out that was a good thing. I also lubed the collar and spring up with some dry lube called White Lightning typically used in Cycle lube. It is good stuff and won’t get all over stuff when the tool is in use.

My back rivet plate (not shown) is a 12″ x 4″ x 1/4″ piece of cold rolled steel bar stock a machinist friend gave me. I simply took some Harbor Freight Aviation Department metal finishing abrasive wheels and got one face finished to a mirror. It is hard and heavy and works well.

The Rivet Tape is Avery Tools version. The outside edges of the tape are adhesive, while the center portion that goes over the rivet head is not. I like it.

Lay in a Row of Rivets

Step 1, lay your row of rivets into the dimples on the outside part.

Avery Rivet Tape them In

Taped in and Ready

Step 2, place your rivet tape over the heads to hold them in place and to protect the heads from the back rivet plate. Here you can see my back rivet plate on my bench.

Ready for Part on other Side

Step 3, flip the part over and set over the back rivet plate. Ready the part to be joined.

Stiffener in Place over Back Rivet Plate

Step 4, Stack all the parts over the back rivet plate. You can see that I used the carpet on my bench to keep the skin the same level as the back rivet plate. Here you can also see the skin, rivet tails, stiffener all lined up and ready to smack.

Rivets Smashed and Stiffener in Place

Step 5, Smack the heads with your back rivet set. The key here is to make sure the rivet you are setting is on the back rivet plate…otherwise you will make a mess. You can see here that my back rivet set left some marks in the primer. I am sure that they would be far worse if I had not polished the collar. As it stands, they are superficial and a light dusting of primer will cover them nicely.

This concludes your photo Back Rivet tutorial, now back to regular programming.