Empennage Kit

Riveted Rudder To Skeleton

 

12/12/03, 3.0 hrs

 

I finished up on the rudder's trailing edge.  I bought a length of aluminum 'C' channel at Menards to hold the rudder trailing edge straight after applying tank sealant and clecoing.

I cut the channel to length and then used the holes in the AEX wedge to drill the holes in order to cleco the channel to the rudders trailing edge.

I am using Flamemaster tank sealant I purchased from Van's to bond the components of the trailing edge to ensure a straight trailing edge when done.

This was my first opportunity to deal with this gooey stuff.  I bought the 6 oz tube for $14.95 and used very little of it.

This comes as a two part solution with the accelerator being in a narrow tube (top of picture).  The rod all the way on the right is pushed down the center to push the accelerator (black) into the main syringe body.  The instructions state not to push all the accelerator out into one place.  Therefore, I pushed a little accelerator out, the pushed on the main syringe (flange on top of the tube containing the accelerator) a little ways, then pushed out more accelerator.  By the time the main syringe was all the way down to the red cap, all of the accelerator was pushed out of the inner tube.  Then comes the manual labor where you push the main syringe rod full in and full out a minimum of 50 times (yep, called out by the instructions).  When you get closer to the 50 cycles on the syringe, you will notice the tank sealant will become a uniform dark gray.  Remove the main syringe center rod, screw on the tip and dispense.

 

I dispensed a small amount of tank sealant onto a large popcicle stick and smoothed out on the edge of both skins, and the AEX wedge.  This stuff sticks to everything.  I was fairly reserve when applying this, but attempted to get a nice even coverage on the edge of the rudder.  I didn't want any bulges on the trailing edge.  When I was happy with my coverage, I cleco'd the skins to the AEX wedge and 'C' channel.

I was pretty happy with how true the trailing edge looked when I was done.  Then came the long wait to let the tank sealant cure.  I let it sit for 4 days before riveting.

NOT SHOWN:  I used a high-temp (RED) RTV I got from a local auto parts store for applying to the trailing edge where the stiffeners are close together.  My understanding of this is that it creates a pliable adhesive between the two stiffeners.  This will dampen vibration and prevent stiffeners from rubbing on the opposite skin.  The rudder is really narrow at this point, I hope the RTV works as intended.

 

          


Last Updated: February 21, 2004