26 Dec 08 Progress!

For various reasons I have been neglecting the plane project.   It’s been tough to find the time and energy for everything.  But today, I finally got my self back to it, and worked on the rudder and vertical stabilizer.

The first thing was to figure out where I had left off. Fortunately I’ve been really good about marking notes in the instructions and checking off tasks as I go. I started by making the shim for the bottom of the rudder. (not visible in this picture, it is wedged just below the non-alclad aluminum part):

From Rudder

I then spent a bit of time doing my favorite task, fluting some parts. Thanks to some VAF forums I did pick up a few tips for fluting. It seems the trick is to lay the ribs on their backs, web-side down, and just bend at the points highest from the work bench. This plus checking the hole-alignment with a metal rule gave me pretty quick results:

And installed:

Skinned:

Full rudder skins:

Starting to look like a rudder:

I also cut and scotchbrighted the rudder horn brace:

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