Time: 1 Hour
Last night I ran over to a friends home to have some expert help with bending the trailing edge of my rudder. This process is required to get a narrow and straight bend at the end of your rudder. The catch is that you want to maintain a nice round radius in this spot. Van’s gives you plans on how to make a “break or brake” to bend your rudder. It’s simply made from 2×6 wood and hinges. You then wedge your rudder in the opening and use force to evenly bend the skin. I used a 3/16 wood dowel taped to the inside of the rudder skin to help maintain a good radius while bending.
After several “easy” squeezes we got it to the perfect position. The radius was perfect and a nice clean line down the trailing edge.
