Rudder

The first activity when constructing the rudder is the cut and shape the rudder stiffener.  The one piece angle gets cut in half, then further cut/tapered depending on which position it is taking.  BE CAREFUL HERE!  I recommend that you lay out all of the stiffeners and mark the locations and part numbers before making any cuts.  I got too excited and starting cutting away...it turns out that you must cut from one specific side (doesn't really tell you that in the instructions or plans).  Mark all the pieces, cleco them to the skin, then make cuts.  I realized my problem only a couple of stiffeners into it, so I only had to order two replacement stiffeners.  I ended up skipping ahead to the elevator, and the rudder stiffeners are my only replacement parts to date.

Another tip that I strongly recommend is using a piece of home insulation foam to cleco into.  The instructions say to drill into a bench, but a $7 piece of home insulation foam does the trick (and doesn't ruin the bench).

 Typical backriveting to finish the job...311 tape to hold them in place.  Really produces a nice rivet.

Starting on the rudder spar...first step is to drill a large hole for the rear light wiring:

Top counterbalance skin clecoed in place ready for final drilling...have to be careful with the two tip ribs, as they go on different sides of the spar.

Rudder horn riveted to bottom rib assembly.  It was not real clear at first what the spacer was for, but as it gets assembled you can see that it is needed to account for the thickness of the rib.  I had to grind some material from the top of the horn (thick piece) to allow all of the holes to line up.

One of the next steps is to fabricate the attach strips for the bottom rudder fairing.  It does not say so in the instruction, but you must obviously drill through the 710 horn brace at this time.