RV10 Cabin Top "Gutter"

Quick question for those of you who have finished your doors...

Does anyone recall the width of the "gutter" around the door opening? I'm thinking I need to shorten mine. I have about an inch on top and 3/4" around the sides.

I'm working on installing the strut attach bracket and it seems like I'm way off. Either I need to trim this back 1/4" or so, otherwise notch it so that the attach bracket will fit.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Charlie

On mine, the outer hole through the bracket is clocked slightly farther outboard on the gutter than yours seems to be. Have you made the temporary spacer that replaces the strut (to the length specified in the plans)? That sets the location of the bracket.

I have not... but maybe my photo doesn't show it at a good angle. Basically the recess in the bracket (to accommodate the McMaster seal) is probably 1/4" back farther than the seal will actually sit.

cderk said:

I have not... but maybe my photo doesn't show it at a good angle. Basically the recess in the bracket (to accommodate the McMaster seal) is probably 1/4" back farther than the seal will actually sit.

Click to expand...

Make the spacer and see where it results in the bracket being located. I seem to remember having to do some work on the gutter (not narrowing it, but profiling it) to make the bracket fit properly.

Thanks Kyle - I will give it a try. I'm at a loss. I reviewed the dimensions that Ivan K had on his, and its pretty much spot on, but its got to be at least 1/4" off.

Kyle Boatright said:

Make the spacer and see where it results in the bracket being located. I seem to remember having to do some work on the gutter (not narrowing it, but profiling it) to make the bracket fit properly.

Click to expand...

It looks like you should be a lot further out with the bracket.

A shamelessly stole blog pic here -



The little notch in the PlaneAround bracket should straddle the McMaster seal.

I'm ready to mount these brackets this week, but with the older green top cover the concept of the fibre glass fitting the angle to the bracket is somewhat nebulous.

I have ended up with the top gutter cut down to about 1.125 inches.

bracket

I think I ended up moving my bracket outboard a bit...

Pics

Update... I did a trial fit and the 1 1/8 gutter size seems OK.
However with the old green cabin top a big portion needs either cutting down for the middle portion, or a lot of building up under the inner portion.



That's a #30 drill bit for reference.

I think I'll go mostly with the build up method.

Thanks Gil - seems like i need to do some more trimming, unfortunately. These doors suck!

As I recall, I had to do some trimming, and had to add a shim on one side. I found that on my cabin top, the doors/gutters were not the same on both sides, so I had to do more trimming/fitting on one side than the other.

In fact, when I initially did the install on one side and tightened the bracket down, I ended up breaking the mounting bracket on one side at the bend in the bracket channel. Had to order a new bracket and then do more work on the cabin top in order to get a solid flat surface for the bracket to mount to. In the end, it all turned out fine, but certainly wasn't an easy install.

Unfortunately, the RV-10 fiberglass cabin tops are not accurately formed nor a drop-in fit. I thought I was buying/building an aluminum aircraft but it turned out to be almost a 50/50 hybrid of well fitting aluminum parts and poorly fitting fiberglass parts that required an undue amount of work.

Keep at it. With work it will eventually all fit together nicely.

Thanks Dave - I spent some time working at it today. I think I?m getting there. Just chipping away a little bit at a time. I hear you on the fiberglass parts. Just when I was getting really good at the aluminum part, they throw in the cabin top. Feels like I?m starting over again. Fortunately, fiberglass is much easier to fix when you screw something up than aluminum.

One of my brackets fit pretty nicely after forming the gutter for the MC seals. However, I had to make a bracket for the other side. Must have been a problem with the locating holes on the door. The gutter ended up sticking out a full 1/4" more than the other side. Fit was good otherwise. You really can't notice this issue unless comparing gutter width and door fits fine otherwise.

I think there may have been some issues with the pre-drilled fuse holes on the early kits. My left Naca cutout was perfect, but the right was a full 3/16" higher and therefore the standard naca scoop wouldn't clear the lower panel piece. I had to cut them apart and make custom vent mounts to make it work. In the end, it was ok as they look much better. Vans said it wasn't their issue, eventhough the naca cutout and pre-drilled holes were made by them.

Larry