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Main spar: Which nutplates go here?

Draker

Well Known Member
Getting close to riveting my wing ribs to the spars, and I noticed some pre-drilled holes in the main spar near the root that look like they will house nutplates one day. I looked ahead in the plans and drawings, but so far did not find any reference to what these are for or when they go in. Seems like it might be easier to attach nutplates now, rather than after the wing walk ribs are riveted in, making it a tight fit. Or should I stop trying to think ahead so much? What are these for, and when are they supposed to go in?

IMG_1290-M.jpg
 
Fuel tank attachments. Detail A on page 16A on the RV-8 plans.

There are probably similar holes as you move outboard, although those nut plates attach to the forward side of the Z bracket in lieu of to the spar. Probably wouldn't hurt to install them now.
 
Ahh! thanks, yup there they are. I was confused because the spar was pre-punched for nutplates at only one of the attach points. Pretty clear upon further study that, for the others, they go on the brackets instead.

I will follow the ordering in Van's instructions and wait until I start on the brackets. I don't want to back drill the bracket through nutplates if I don't have to.
 
Arghhh... I'm finally at the point where I'm riveting these nutplates onto the spar and boy are they a pain in the rear. Due to their awkward positioning, I can't actually see the shop head as I buck them, and they're ending up over-set. I've probably drilled each of them out a three times already, trying to get reasonably decent shop heads. Going through nutplates like there's no tomorrow.

Any tips or tricks on how to get these done? In order to ensure the nutplate fits well I'm leaving a bolt in place while I buck them, but it doesn't leave a lot of room for the mushroom set. Squeezer is obviously out of the question due to where these are on the spar.
 
.....Any tips or tricks on how to get these done? ....

Maybe get yourself a practice piece of material, and practice riveting (and then drilling out) the platenuts on the practice piece. Once you have your air pressure and feel for how much its going to take to properly set the rivets, then go back to the spar.
 
These rivets are just holding the nutplate and keeping it from spinning when you attach the bolt. Dont overthink it.
 
Yea just took my time and turned the rivet gun down a bit. They're passable now. Good experience for when I really get to the tougher rivets.
 
Draker would you suggest installing these before ribs? I am about to start rib deburring phase and wondering if I should install these now as I may be able to get a squeezer on them.
 
Nut plates

Draker would you suggest installing these before ribs? I am about to start rib deburring phase and wondering if I should install these now as I may be able to get a squeezer on them.

Jereme
I seem to remember the manual talks about when to install the nutplates. Seems like it's after the tank brackets are fit. Ribs are not an issue. The rivets are easy to buck.
 
Seem to recall

If I seem to recall, the nut plates on the spar need to be off to drill the tank brackets. Then they are installed. JMO

In addition these rivets for the nut plates are non structural so can be pretty ugly. Better to have ugly nutplate rivets than a damaged spar.
 
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Good call guys, I forgot about the drilling of the bracket that needs to be done so installing these now would be a no-no for sure!
 
John is correct. In fact I had one nutplate on before I realized my error. Need to drill the z bracket holes before installing the nutplates.
 
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