Lower longeron question

Working on the forward section of my RV-9A project. I did the right one first, so it wasn't til I did the left that I noticed that the left side sat lower than the right. I did a lot of head scratching and measuring everything I could think of and came to the conclusion that the left side skin is about 1/16" higher than the right side. I swear I measured them 18 ways from Sunday before drilling the skins to the firewall, but either it slipped or I was not paying attention.

So - the right side looks like this (pretty much the way the plans describe):

.

It's about 3/32" proud of the skin and parallels it all the way back.

Shot of the whole right side:



Left side close up:



And here's the whole left side:


It's just 1/32" above the skin at the forward edge, so there is 1/16" in difference between the two. Doesn't seem like much, but is it an issue?

I'll give Van's a call Monday but thought I'd bounce it off you all.

Thanks,
Dale

They will probably tell you to move on. Keep on building.

An RV build is more like a pick-up truck than a watch!

Or, As Ken Scott told me once ...

...early in my build, when I was similarly obsessing over a similar issue, "Think about your project like building a tractor, one that's just lighter than a John Deere."

Same way

Mine was the same way, slightly less, but basically the same. Have you drilled the top (bottom, right side up) yet? Be careful, the measurements in the plans will not leave you with the correct edge distance on the engine mount. I have a nice pair of lower longerons in my scrap pile

Thanks guys. You all nailed it. Ken says it looks fine and keep going.

RV7AJeremy said:

Mine was the same way, slightly less, but basically the same. Have you drilled the top (bottom, right side up) yet? Be careful, the measurements in the plans will not leave you with the correct edge distance on the engine mount. I have a nice pair of lower longerons in my scrap pile

Click to expand...

Yep. Ken said go (just watch the edge distance), so I drilled it last night. I took someone's advice and drilled #40 first and checked the edge distance first though, so it came out ok.

Thanks!