12/16/2020 – 1.1 hours I prepared a 1.5” x 1.5” x 6' Aluminum angle section to provide a straight anchor for the rudder trailing edge while the 3M VHB Tape adhesive bonds to the rudder skins and trailing edge wedge. I match drilled the aluminum angle to the trailing edge wedge, and then upsized the holes in the angle section to #30. The idea is to secure the angle to the edge of a table, and then cleco the rudder trailing edge through both skins and the wedge to the angle to hold everything tight and straight during the bonding process. I upsized the holes in the angle to allow a little back and forth play since the holes are not necessarily perfectly aligned with the holes in the rudder trailing edge pieces. I used small nuts drilled out to #40 to hold the cleco since the clecos won't grab the #30 holes. 01-04-2021 – 2.7 hours Today was a significant milestone. According to Section 5 of the plans, “Building a truly straight TE is one of the more difficult things to do in aircraft construction.” That statement, coupled with the fact that this was my first attempt at double flush riveting, led to a slightly elevated heart-rate as I dove into the final step of the trailing edge assembly. I used a special set of squeezer dies that match the angle of the trailing edge in the pneumatic squeezer to set the rivets in the trailing edge. I also decided to alternate the shop head and factory head on both sides of the rudder for primarily aesthetic reasons. I started with the center rivet on the trailing edge, and then set every 10th rivet up and down the trailing edge. Every hole was cleco'd, and the rivet for the hole was set as the cleco was removed (e.g. remove center hole cleco, rivet center hole, count 10 holes up or down, remove that cleco, rivet that hole, repeat, …). After the first pattern was riveted, I split the difference between the set rivets and set the center rivets starting from the middle of the TE and working outward. I followed this pattern until all of the rivets were set, and I flipped the rudder over when I came to the holes that were to be set from the opposite side. The end result is a rudder trailing edge that is as straight as I can get it with the skins closed tightly over the trailing edge wedge and double-flush rivets. [Pneumatic Squeezer, AEX Wedge rivet set] 1/5/2021 – 0.9 hours Another new task at this point in the build is rolling the leading edge of the rudder to form the final leading edge shape. The rudder leading edge is in 3 sections – the top section is approximately 6” long and the middle and bottom sections are approximately 20” long each. Going back again to Section 5, the plans recommend using duct tape to attach a 3/4" to 1 outer diameter pipe to the free end of the skin and roll the skin around the pipe with downward and rearward pressure to avoid creasing the skin at the spar. I started with the short top section to try the recommended technique. I managed to put a curve in the top section of the left and right skin leading edges that appears to conform to the template shape in the plans. I was a little disappointed in how the skins come together when they are cleco'd, since there is a gap between the skins especially near the top of the section. I suspect that I rolled the right skin too far, and the gap is due to the cleco trying to pull it back to the left skin. I will check the template fit to see which side is closer and either reduce the roll on the right skin or increase the roll on the left skin. Fortunately, this is a step that allows you to tweak your work before riveting as long as you don't crease the skin. [3/4” PVC Pipe (1” OD), Gorilla Duct Tape, Vise Grip Pliers, Clamps] 1/7/2021 – 1.5 hours Rolling the leading edge of the rudder continued with the center and bottom sections of the leading edge skins. The top section can be rolled solo since it is only a few inches long, but the center and bottom sections definitely need an extra set of hands and II enlisted the help of my oldest daughter. One issue I noted with the center and bottom sections is that taping the pipe at the edge of the skin results in too much curve at the edge and not enough curve near the spar. The result is the curve doesn't quite conform to the template shape and there is a lot of tension at the holes if you attempt to cleco the skins together. I ended up damaging one of the holes in the center section by clecoing at this stage, so I have some work to do to repair the damage and I may end up drilling an additional hole for another rivet. I did find that using strips of duct tape from one skin to the other is a much safer (for the pre-drilled) holes way to line up the skins before inserting clecos with a lot less force on them. That will let you remove he clecos to continue hand-forming the curves to get a better fit and conformance to the template. [3/4” PVC Pipe (1” OD), Gorilla Duct Tape, Vise Grip Pliers, Clamps] 1/8/2021 – 3.8 hours The rudder leading edge adjustments are complete, and the leading edge is finished! I made a lot of hand adjustments to the initial leading edge rolls on each section to get the skins to align without a lot of force on the rivets and to conform with the shape templates in the plans. I ended up putting a little more roll in each section close to the spar, and reduced the roll close to the skin edge. One thing that helped was to align the holes with duct tape rather than clecos. That really lets you see what the roll of each section looks like without the cleco imparting a straightening force at the edge of the skin to hide the roll. I increased the roll at the spar by clamoping my pipe inside the section just aft of the spar to the table, and manually lifted and rolled along the length of the pipe. I used a second PVC pipe on the outside of the roll to provide a straight edge against the inside pipe to make the roll along the entire length more even. I also used a wood block with rounded ends and edges to work the skin against the inside pipe. Reducing the roll near the edge of the skin was simply the opposite of the initial roll. I stuck a piece of duct tape along the inside edge of the skin, and then attached the pipe to the outside. Vise grip pliers attached to each end of the pipe provided some additional leverage, and I was able to very slowly and cautiously reduce the roll radius at the edge of the skin. The final result was a more curved section near the spar and a flatter section near the skin edge that matched a lot better (not perfectly) with the template. With the rolling complete, I final-drilled and deburred the holes, and installed the blind rivets to finish the assembly. [3/4” PVC Pipe (1” OD), Gorilla Duct Tape, Vise Grip Pliers, Clamps, #30 Drill, #30 12” Drill Bit, Deburring Tool, Maroon Scotch Brite Pads, Blind (Pop) Rivet Puller]