Tail/stobe in rudder and pro seal

Joe Parish · Post by **Joe Parish** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:47 pm

A couple questions- I have the VS done and the rudder is partialy closed up. I need to run a wire or wires(not sure) for the tail/ strobe light. I know it won't be easy but I am sure I can get a wire ran but do I use one long wire that will reach the firewall or make it so there are connections between the VS and rudder? I have a 3.5 ounce tube of pro seal. Will that be enough to do all 3 trailing edges?

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:23 pm

Just wait on the rudder wire, it's easy to pull that in during the final assembly.

I have a terminal strip under the seat pan, so ran the power wire from there along with the strobe wires to the tail bulkhead. I drillled one hole and left a about 3' loop hanging out of the fuselage. When I installed the rudder for the last time I just fished one little wire thru and pulled the bundle.

I can't help with your pro seal question, I didn't use any

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:19 am

I'm not sure what the proseal is for either, Joe. Do you mean riveting the trailing edge of the rudder where the wedge goes in between the skins? One tube of proseal is more than enough for that. I separated the white part of the proseal from the black catalyst so I could mix up a little bit at a time in a cup, rather than mix up the whole tube at once. This involves cutting the tube open in an unconventional manner, but you can stretch it this way and get a lot more use out of it over an extended period of time.

But regarding the rudder bottom...

I would wait if I were you and not fasten it permanently to the rudder at this point. I worked on mine quite a bit while I was waiting for my wing kit, thinking I would be ahead of the game later on. I felt pretty smug at the time about having it nearly finished. I almost pop-riveted it on and glassed it over, but I'm really glad I waited! Here's why.

Fast-forward several years to the moment I mounted the empennage to the fuselage for the first time. As you can see in this picture, the rudder bottom sticks down below the bottom of the fuselage roughly an inch or so. I was shocked! This is completely unacceptable. I didn't know it at the time, but some of the fiberglass parts from Vans aren't made all that accurately. They're oversized and will require some trimming and fitting. I'm going to have to trim this bottom piece and do all the fitting and drilling over and get it to fit right this time.

This is even more problematic for the RV-7 or 9 tailwheel RV's, because the tailwheel rod has to go underneath the rudder and have enough clearance to allow the rudder to swing through its' range of motion. So all that work I did was for nothing. My suggestion is that you put it aside for now and get on with your wings. As I'm sure others here can tell you, you'll be into the fiberglass components soon enough and you can deal with it then.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:55 am

I'd agree 100% with Bruce here...wait on that bottom cap. I ended up trimming mine to the "score" line that it came from Van's with, and ended up with this after some final trimming to get it to fit right...

It ain't pretty, but I do have plenty of tailwheel spring clearance!

Joe Parish · Post by **Joe Parish** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:24 pm

Thanks guys I was thinking if I have time before the wings arrive that I would be able to get alot of the tips done. I will wait on the ones for the rudder. I guess if I need something to do I could work on the horizontal stab tips.