StressedOut
Well Known Member
All that was left on my rudder was the riveting of the trailing edge and rolling the leading edge. I used Proseal on the wedge instead of tape, so after it cured I was clearing the holes of excess Proseal and discovered that almost all of the TE holes were double drilled (binocular).
Thinking back I know exactly where this happened. I used a rectangular steel tube to cleco the TE against. I match drilled holes using the TE as a guide. It served its purpose well. I had a perfectly straight TE. I just didn?t use enough care in the match drilling the tube.
The holes look to be about 15 to 20 percent oblong. I think I?m going to buy new parts and rebuild the rudder. I?m not comfortable with such a defect. The cost is about $320 plus shipping. This is a hard lesson to learn. It?s not the cost that bothers me as much as the 40 or so hours I have to spend rebuilding the rudder.
Thinking back I know exactly where this happened. I used a rectangular steel tube to cleco the TE against. I match drilled holes using the TE as a guide. It served its purpose well. I had a perfectly straight TE. I just didn?t use enough care in the match drilling the tube.
The holes look to be about 15 to 20 percent oblong. I think I?m going to buy new parts and rebuild the rudder. I?m not comfortable with such a defect. The cost is about $320 plus shipping. This is a hard lesson to learn. It?s not the cost that bothers me as much as the 40 or so hours I have to spend rebuilding the rudder.