November 9, 2006 ...   Yeehaw! The rudder assembly is completely assembled!

I am very happy with the way this turned out. The second photo gives a close up of the countersink rivets (CCC-42). When I up-drilled, I used a 1/8 inch bit instead of a #30. I was going for a nice close tolerance fit when I inserted the rivets. As a result, all of my rivet joints came out great. (Not bragging; just being truthful.)
I found it to be much easier to drill, dimple and assemble the rudder without the plastic protective material which came on the factory pre-formed rudder. But I wanted to protect the rudder from scratches during  the rest of the construction process. So, I bought a jumbo size roll of white Contact Paper from my local Wal-Mart, and re-covered all of the flat surfaces.

 

 

November 20, 2006 ...   I began fitting and pre-drilling the skin to the vertical stabilizer assembly. The pre-drilled skin I obtained from the Sonex factory will abbreviate this job considerably. I visited a few builder websites to gather ideas on the best way to approach this process, and decided to follow Jeff Shultz's technique of laying the vertical stabilizer frame flat on the bench, and setting one side over the frame structure,  while the rest of the skin  hangs down in front of the bench. I found it easier to work on the right side (no rudder hinge) first.

After fitting, pre-drilling, and clecoing the entire right side, I turned the entire assemby over, and set it on a couple 2X4 blocks. Make sure your bench is flat and the blocks are free of warps and knots. I carefully but firmly pressed the skin into place, clamping and adjusting the skin into position. Then, I pre-drilled and clecoed everything except the row of rivets that secure the upper rudder hinge.  After getting everything pre-drilled and clecoed, I fit the upper rudder hinge into place, clamped, predrilled, and clecoed the hinge.