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Fitting F-771 Skin - Distorting Firewall

efitzgerald

Active Member
I am fitting the F-771 skin on a RV-7 Tip up.

This started as a quickbuild kit so none of the firewall to skin rivets are set on the bottom and sides (not sure if this would be the case with a slow build).

First the skin is extremely tight. I had to use a ratchet strap to pull it into position with the longerons. All of the clecos are in and now the firewall is being compressed in the curved sections to the point is being bent.

Should I be concerned with this, or wait until the time comes for final mounting to see what it looks like?

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Thanks
 
After massaging the firewall and sub-panel flanges the fit is much better. Still A little bit of distortion on the firewall but much better.
 
The firewall does bend forward slightly at the upper angle. I used another piece of angle clamped on the forward side of the firewall for support to make the bend. I actually thought the bend would be more significant than it was. Maybe this is why it?s not mentioned in the instructions, but I have seen it mentioned here and other builder sites.
 
rapid-ascent

The firewall came bent from the factory on this quickbuild.

The distortion was occurring at the top just below the flange, from being compressed by the top skin. The firewall isn't flat to being with but it made it worse.
 
My skin was also quite a tight when I first installed it, my shop was cold, probably 55?. Next time was outside in the sun and 80?, and the fit was remarkably better. Try warming the skin up with a heat gun, cleco in place and let it get some "memory".
 
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