With the rudder mostly complete sans a few rivets on the horn brace I needed to place it out of the way so I could have more room to work on the elevators. Up until now I had either stored it flat on a workbench or propped it up using some wood blocks:
Either way, I was taking up an entire workbench. Storing the rudder on the wall with the other empennage parts wasn't really feasible since the control horn at the base sticks out so much, so I made a stand out of some spare 2x4s. Design-wise I elected to follow the above logic of having the rudder rest on its front spar with the counterbalance as low as possible so it wouldn't be as likely to tip over.
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| I didn't want to remove the rod end bearings once they were installed, so I made a cutouts in the blocks just large enough to accommodate each. The rudder rests securely on its spar on each block. |
The rudder is stable enough sitting in the stand that I won't have to worry about it tipping over or coming loose. It will sit next to the horizontal stabilizer until I find a better place for it.
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| The stand is just tall enough that the rudder can stay level without touching the ground. |
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