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Old 07-22-2021, 03:02 PM
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Isaac Isaac is offline
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Cool Rudder

The Skyhawk rudder started as a low cost construction in which a flat plate was wedged between horizontal stiffeners with a forward frame. This supposedly was a lower cost version of a smoother conventional rudder. Douglas did make a smooth surface rudder, but during flight testing found that there was really no difference, so they retained the ridged version that is a signature of all the Skyhawks regardless of the marks or derivatives.


here is a close up of an actual early Skyhawk
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-rudder-close.jpg

For this build, I decided to go for the more complicated built up version since it will be prominent in this large scale


here are the parts
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4774.jpg


remove the rudder's flat plate and add the forward frame. Then add the small triangular stiffeners on both sides
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4778.jpg

ready to mate to frame
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4780.jpg

glued
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4781.jpg

other side.
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4782.jpg


add a piece of wood dowel to forward edge to maintain a shape
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4788.jpgA-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4789.jpgA-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4790.jpg



here the rudder is installed



left rudder deflectionA-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4792.jpg



right rudder deflectionA-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4793.jpg


neutral rudderA-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4794.jpgA-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4795.jpg



and finally the vertical fin and rudder view
A-4 Skyhawk- Yoav in 1/30 scale-img_4796.jpg


This detail certainly added a few hours to the build, but was really satisfying at the end.


Isaac
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