Rudder Stiffners

Hey Guys, I need some help.. Am in the process of cutting rudder stiffners...R915...I can cleco the first stiffner from the bottom R/H side. and then the next one up the holes do not match any stiffner, almost a hole off on trailing side.
Anyone had this problem...Thanks

Sam Fly
RV-7 QB

They do fit just fine if cut and aligned properly. Mine did. The notches in the AL angles should define where to make the cuts. See if yours are set up like this.

Roberta

I had a similar problem. The issue was that that skin wasn't sitting completely flat. Just start putting clecos in one end of the stiffener and work your way across, putting a cleco in every hole. That did it for me, even though just sitting the stiffener on the pre-punched skins made it seem like the holes were misaligned.

Hope that helps,
Jamie

Those skins are so thin it doesn't take much for them not to sit flat on a table. I just went through the rudder stiffeners and it worked pretty well for me. There are a few pictures on my site, http://www.rv7abuilder.com

Once you get everything ready the backriveting goes so fast you won't believe it. Those tiny rivets didn't take much air pressure and they set fast. I think I used about 38-40psi and it took a short burst to get them set properly. I think I even ended up turning the gun down more.

Something else I found that is a little off topic. Make sure your C-Frame with the dimple dies is set at the right height relative to your table. Mine wasn't and I have some depressions around about the first 15 rivets. Got it set right and the rest look great.