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Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date: 8-3-2008
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Number of Hours: 4.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Fiberglass Rudder Bottom - Part 1
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I'm particularly proud of how this assembly turned out, especially considering how much I detest fiberglass work. Van's supplies a fiberglass "bottom" for the Rudder that is kind of "rough" as far as fit is concerned. The notion is that you are suppose to "rivet" the fiberglass piece to the rudder bottom using pop rivets. The problem with this idea, in my opinion, is that if you have to get access to the back of the Strobe light or the wiring, you're gonna have to drill out the rivets. Considering how hard that will be on the paint job, I decided to use platenuts and screws instead. It was a lot of extra work, but the result was worth it considering that I have full access to the "inside" now.
Prepping the fiberglass part was a fair amount of work and required a huge flat file and a number of Dremel cutoff wheels to get "just right". The fit up against the metal rudder is nearly perfect and I'm really pleased. The "mount" for the Strobe/RearPosition lights is just a flat piece and I used a 1" "circle saw" to cut out the hole. The light assembly fit nicely into the fiberglass part and with some work, I was able to get screws and nuts in there. I'll probably take the light back out before the plane gets painted, probably painting the metal mount, but making sure no paint gets on the glass part.
I'm going to cut the connectors off and add a 12" extension to the wires so that I can take the rudder off the plane without having to remove the fiberglass part.
So, finally a part that came out 100% perfect.
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Rudder Bottom
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Rudder Bottom
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Rudder Bottom
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Copyright © 2008-2024 Matt Dralle. All Rights Reserved.
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