28 Mar 2023

Installed 3mm inside diameter (about 6mm outside diameter) stainless steel washers on inside of rudder and right elevator tips behind countersunk holes to provide extra strength for the rivets, secured with clear epoxy. Soldered tail beacon light to Midwest Panel Builders pigtail harness and insulated with heat shrink tube. Although I only intend to use the strobe function on the tail beacon, I connected all four wires and will address the use of only two further up the harness in the fuselage. The idea is to install a white light below the fuselage as a standard nav / strobe light and the tail beacon will replicate a red beacon on a certified aircraft.

Riveted both elevator tip skins in place. Once epoxy was dry, riveted rudder tip and right elevator tip in place.

Stainless steel washers were used because I could not source aluminium anywhere. Other options were an aluminium strip or fibreglass. The stainless washers are corrosion resistant, tiny and light but magnetic; however they were considered the best solution. Primed to prevent galvanic corrosion with the aluminium rivets. Rudder is now complete.