The procedure for mounting the rudders is similar to the ailerons… Just backwards. First the bottom of the rudders are squared up and the fit is verified. Then the hinges are mounted to the rudders with structural epoxy and countersunk rivets.

One of the hinge pads drilled and countersunk ready for the hinge.

Next two holes are drilled in the winglet.

Then Malcolm held the hinge in place and with a thin piece of steel, pressed hinge against the inside of the winglet. While he was doing that, I drilled through the hole in the winglet into the hinge. Once the hole was drilled, a cleco held it in position and a the second hole was drilled.

All three hinges drilled with two holes each.

Close up.

A third hole is then drilled in each hinge.

These rudders aren’t really rudders in the traditional sense. They’re actually vertically oriented ailerons that can only be deflected in one direction. End result is that to get them back in the neutral position, a spring is used. The spring is embedded in the winglet. A one inch diameter hole is drilled into the back of the winglet five inches deep. To keep the hole from damaging the navigation antenna, it’s important to keep the drill laterally aligned. It’s also important to keep the drill aligned vertically so that it’s perpendicular to the leading edge of the rudder.

So a line is placed on the side of the winglet.

Closeup

Then a hole saw drill is chucked into the drill. Malcolm will make sure the drill is aligned laterally. I will watch from the side tell Malcolm whether he’s high or low. Once the hole is drilled, the spring sleeve is sanded, the hole is coated with an epoxy/cabo mix and the sleeve is inserted.

Here’s Malcolm drilling into the winglet. While he’s drilling, I’m saying “up” and “down” so he can keep the drill on line.

This is the rudder return spring epoxied in position.

Once this was done, the bottom of the rudder and aileron ends need to be covered with a layer of lightweight fiberglass.

This is the inside surface of the right aileron with a layer of fiberglass and peel-ply.

Now that the rudders are mounted, the control of the rudders is the next task. The rudders are activated by a “horn” (basically a bellcrank) that is attached to the bottom of the rudder. But there’s a slight problem. The book says “Place your rudder horn on the bottom of the rudder.” But there’s no part number. Which would indicate that this is not a supplied part. But there’s also no template that is typically used to make one. A phone call to other builders indicate that this is supposed to be included in the kit. I’m sure that I could get the two horns shipped out to me. But where’s the fun in that???

So the first thing I had to do is make a template.

This is the bottom of the left rudder. I’ve drawn a line to indicate how far the horn will extend.

Here’s the template held against the right rudder.

Since the rudders are a symmetrical, I only need one template. I’ll just need to flip it over to for the other rudder.

The rudder horn is mounted to the bottom of the rudder by means of a hardpoint embedded in the foam. But the hard point provided is a puny piece of 1/8″ aluminum about 1 inch x 2 inch square. I decided to upgrade to a 1/4″ hardpoint the covers the entire area under the rudder horn.

First I removed the foam where the rudder horn and hardpoint will go.

Then the web (fiberglass) is removed at the front of the rudder.

Here’s the hardpoint dryfitted.

And the rudder horn.

Then I filled the pocket with an epoxy/cabo mix, pushed the hardpoint in place and covered it with 3x BID.

After it cured, I trimmed away the excess and was left with this.

Then the rudder horns were sanded along the edges to remove any nicks from cutting and the fit was checked again.

Two holes were drilled for mounting

Then I put the horn in position, drilled into the hardpoints and tapped the holes.

After that I drilled a hole in the end and mounted the rudder cable attach pulley.

Here’s the finished product.

And this is a factory hardpoint.

Not very impressive, huh?