Before it was time to disassemble the rudder, we had to prepare the trailing edge. We opted to match-drill each hole just once at an approx 90° angle to the chord line. After that, a solid aluminum angle from a local hardware store was match drilled. That angle will be used in the process of sealing the rudder trailing edge.

Alex in the process of dimpling the HS and rudder spars.

Concentrated at work... Although the pneumatic squeezer doesn't look dramatic, it can develop up to 1.5tons of force at the pivot point! Definitely enough to dimple-punch a hole where there was none before, not to speak of squeezing a finger beyond recognition...

At the same time, Bernie completes the bottom rudder horn assembly. This assembly will be responsible for transferring control forces coming from the rudder pedals and cables to the rudder.

The small aluminum strips visible on this pic will later attach the bottom fiberglass fairing to the rudder.

Another visitor to our shop, "Heidi", the guy who brought along the spray gun from the states :-)



Rudder parts need yet to be prepped and can soon be primed... Although we'll probably have to wait till temperatures rise a bit... Current OAT's are around -11C° which of course affects our makeshift primer booth, which cannot be heated and needs to be vented via a door to the outside...