Riveting rudder trailing edge
2.0 Hours
Finished trailing edge full size
The sealant has been drying for over a week, so it's time to rivet the trailing edge. I cleaned out the sealant from the countersinks using the deburring tool, then put in all the rivets and covered with rivet tape. Then I back-riveted the rivets in as the Van's building manual says. First every 10, checking that everything looks good, then the ones in between and so forth. Then flipped it over and used the mushroom set on the manufactured heads against the back riveting plate on the shop heads. It came out pretty good. Not perfectly straight, but only a very minor wow, 1/16" or so.
Forming leading edge and riveting full size
Next step was to form the leading edges of the skin using a broom handle to form a curve. Then I drilled the two flanges to size, took apart, deburred and then riveted using blind rivets. The picture shows before I started the drilling. Only a few rivets on the trailing edges of the ribs to do before the rudder is done.