Stjohn's RV-7

7 hours
And not all at once.. This is a patch entry from December 10 or so. This is kind of an insert edit; I think my server was down around this time, but I have to tell the tale of the rudder skin. I had a lot of fun putting this thing together, because I didn’t want to blow a whole tube of pro-seal (which is what I had available at the time) on that AEX wedge at the trailing edge. I did some noodling around with a big piece of aluminum angle , matchdrilling skins, wedge, and aluminum angle together. Well, this didn’t turn out to be the best idea in the world. Trailing edge came out a little wavy. How wavy? Not so bad, but all the builder sites and forums warned direly of what happens if the trailing edge wavers by more than 1/8″ from top to bottom. I was pretty freaked out until I sent some photos to Van’s Aircraft. They said “It might not be pretty, but it should fly just fine.” I can live with that, and if push comes to shove, I can build a new rudder or buy a completed emp kit off the internet. I realize the latter is akin to cheating, but I’m OK with it for now. Maybe I’ll have a different opinion of it a few months or a year down the road. Maybe I’ll wake up in a cold sweat from a dream of falling in a rudderless airplane. I’ll sit up all night drinking coffee waiting for Van’s to open so I can order a new rudder. Or I’ll just paint it flat black and paint a great big eyeball on the tail. I’ll have the first ‘rat rod’ RV on the field.