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Hanging the Rudder

Should I attach the rudder to the vertical stabilizer now or should I wait until it’s attached to the fuselage? I’m just finishing my empennage kit and I’ve already ordered the fuselage.
 
Rudder

Carefully!!, hang it on temporarily, take a few pictures and then remove it. It will be in your way when it comes time to attach the vertical stab to the fuselage. It's also easier to store and carry when the two parts are not together and less likely to do damage as the rudder will want to swing back and forth.
Have a great day!
 
That was the answer I was looking for. I’ll just make this sure everything fits and swings without binding then take it apart. - Thanks for the reply.
 
As a counterpoint, I found it easier to store both stabs with the control surfaces installed - just my experience. Probably depends on how you store it - I had mine mounted to a wall, and later in a fixture I built for an interstate move.

Another point - don't spend too much time right now making sure it swings freely; you may find that it binds when you mount it for real. Part of hanging the vertical stab on the fuse is getting all the hinge points aligned, which they might not be without the stab mounted. So no matter how carefully you adjust the rod ends right now, you'll probably have to do it again down the road.
 
A little trick I discovered - the rudder is really hard to align by yourself (if, like me, you do the vast majority of your work on your own) with the tiniest of tolerances that all these parts have.

Instead of trying to align everything with real AN3 bolts from the start, get some cheap narrow screws. I used 1 inch long 6-32 screws for electrical outlets. They take far less effort to line up perfectly with the eyelets and holes. So, you drop those in to test the fit and can swap them one by one for the real screws once you want to go with the real thing.
 
A little trick I discovered - the rudder is really hard to align by yourself (if, like me, you do the vast majority of your work on your own) with the tiniest of tolerances that all these parts have.

Instead of trying to align everything with real AN3 bolts from the start, get some cheap narrow screws. I used 1 inch long 6-32 screws for electrical outlets. They take far less effort to line up perfectly with the eyelets and holes. So, you drop those in to test the fit and can swap them one by one for the real screws once you want to go with the real thing.

I have alignment tools I made for this same purpose. Just some 3/16" rod stock from your favorite home improvement store, with a little hook bent in the end. Having the long handle makes it worlds easier to maneuver in place as opposed to a screw or bolt, and as in your case, then it can be replaced with the actual bolt.

IMG_2802.jpg
 
Should I attach the rudder to the vertical stabilizer now or should I wait until it’s attached to the fuselage? I’m just finishing my empennage kit and I’ve already ordered the fuselage.

You will have a chance to fit the vertical stabilizer and the rudder to the fuselage after it has been riveted together. You will use the rudder to check for the rudder travel stop. However, it will be on temporarily because you don't want to get any hangar rash until you attach it permanently for the airworthiness inspection.
 
I found having the rudder attached to the VS while fitting to the fuse to be useful. The rudder will swing freely when the position of that forward spar is correct. I did not clamp and drill until I could see that the rudder was happy.
 
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