Rudder

Now we’re on the straight and narrow!

After the construction of several practice empennage pieces and the airworthy elevators, it is time to move on to the Rudder. The construction of the rudder is identical to the elevators – just in a slightly different shape.

As before, we set about drawing the outline of the members on the jig based on the dimensions provided in the Pietenpol plans. There are rumours in dark places of the internet that there is a dimensional discrepancy in the rudder/vertical stabiliser height. However, for now, I decided to put my head in the sand on the issue and fix it when I came to the vertical stabiliser. Hence, my rudder is built exactly per the dimensions on the plans.

Once the main members were cut to length, I proceeded to cut the T-shape profile into the appropriate front, side and rear beams using the rebate plane and jig as per the elevators. 

Once everything was fitted in the jig nicely, I produced some templates for the gusset plates. As with the elevator, I took some liberties with the gussets to make them curve nicely where possible. These will be hidden under fabric covering but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to have nice-looking gussets.

The first glue-up was to glue the simple butt joints of the rudder frame together. I like doing this before the first set of gussets because it ensures that the frame doesn’t separate accidentally whilst I finesse the gussets.

Once the frame glue-up has cured, I level the joints with a file and chisel. The gussets are cut out on the band saw and fine-tuned on the disc sander. After some test-fitting, the gussets are glued onto one side of the frame using lashings of T-88 epoxy and staples. 

The gussets on the other side of the rudder are next and receive similar treatment to the first side. The rudder ribs get cut to rough length at the band saw and trimmed to final length with the disc sander. All the ribs are glued onto the rudder in one go – I thought a partial glue-up might risk warping the rudder so decided to attach all ribs at once. 

Once the ribs are secured, I set about doing final trimming of the gussets, tapering the beams, rounding edges, and doing a completed sanding of the rudder. The finished product looks good!

 

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