Pieter Visser's X350

[Pieter001]

A little bit of useless, or not so much useless information...

I've now spend 181 hrs on my build.

I don't think I'm going to make the 1000hr cut, but then, I like pondering over things and making sure I like, no LOVE, what I do. Building 2 rudder shear webs are definitely not planned for in the normal build. Add to this that I'm a complete noob with composites too!

Just goes to show that anyone will be able to build a Whisper

[Pieter001]

Phew, made the rudder counter balance horn this weekend. This is really not easy for someone with my artistic ability

I think it came out OKish... It is drying overnight and I pray it stays in place. There is still a lot of sanding and shaping that will be needed, but I think it is better to get the horn attached and then do the final shaping.

Also, the carbon layer is going to thicken it up by a bit, so I'll need to shape it finally so that it is 1mm or so smaller than the desired part size. This is a tricky bit of work!!

Will post pictures in the morning

Attaching counter balance horn to rudder

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Will fit the rudder this afternoon to see if the horn does in fact line up correctly.


I think the better way of doing this step would be to shape the bottom end of the horn and fit it to the rudder first, then shaping it already attached! My shaping is already done and if anything does not line up, I do not have much EPS to work with, so I hope this thing is correct

[Pieter001]

Fit the rudder last night and it seems, well great

I'll need to trim it down a little to accommodate the carbon covering, but all in all it fits pretty well and it seems straight. At this stage it is hard to tell if it is perfect, but it seems straight to the naked eye at least, so I trust the airflow will see it in the same manner...

So I'm ready for final shaping and covering.

I'm milling around ideas to shape the top... Maybe follow exactly what Russell had done in his a/c is likely the best option

RH side of rudder with fin skin

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LH side without fin skin

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LH close up

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[Pieter001]

I finished shaping the rudder counter balance horn and everything seems to be right

The next step would be to cover the rudder, which will be the first time I sheet anything! I will be using 300gr +/- 45degr carbon fiber for this step. I'm thinking about adding a single layer of 300gr UNI carbon around the counterbalance horn for a bit of added strength there to support the counter bal. weight.

shaped rudder 1

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shaped rudder 2

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[whisper]

horn looks right!

[Brett]

Looking good Pieter - I must still shape my horn as well.

[Pieter001]

Thank you Gents

I'm feeling more confident about the rudder the more I work with it

On the weekend (in between kids birthday parties) I started cleaning up the rudder RH side in preparation for the sheeting. Basically I put a thin layer of micro on the nasty indentations I created because of a bad hot wire cut. I finished everything with peel ply and the reason here is two fold:
Firstly, I'll need to bond onto the surface and secondly because winter came this week with vengeance and my resin is really cold and thick! Curing is also much slower and I actually opted to mix a 50/50 quick and slow hardener to speed up the curing process.

I also decided to give the rudder trailing edge a little additional support by adding a single layer of UNI carbon (300gr) along the length of the trailing edge. As I'm going to sheet the rudder with a single layer of 300gr Bi-Ax, I thought adding this little support should serve the rudder well, especially when adding the trim tab in the trailing edge.

My trim tab is going to be sheeted in the carbon and not be a rivet or bolt on, but integral part of the rudder

This week I'll start measuring the carbon carefully and cutting the required shape for sheeting. I look forward to giving this a go!!

UNI 300gr carbon reinforcement at the rudder trailing edge

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[Pieter001]

Started making a pattern for cutting the carbon to fit the rudder. I look forward to sheeting this part

[Pieter001]

Last night I cut the carbon for the RH side of the rudder and trial fit it. All in all, good fit. I find with the carbon is is not nearly as easy to drape into curved shapes as the the fiber glass. When it is wet out with resin it is easier, so I'll see how this works out.

The critical part of my fit is the rudder horn, which needs to go line up firstly. So when laying it up, I'll micro around that area and then carefully get that area lined up and then progressively do the micro and carbon layup. Once the carbon touches the micro, you can hardly move it, so you basically have one chance to get it right.

Plan to do this either on Sunday or Tuesday on the holiday

[whisper]

The 50/50 mix referred to is blending of hardener. The resin ratio stays unchanged. I know that's what you're doing but the post got a few folks worried!!!