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HELP--#%*$ Baggage Door

skyking902001

skyking902001

Well Known Member
Ok guys, about to admit the baggage door has beaten me :(. This is the second door I've built and it is only marginally better than the first. I've read every thread on the board regarding the door and just can't find a magic potion. The fit is quite good everywhere except in the tight curve, both the fore and aft edge stick up about 1/32". I marked the areas in blue--I can push the aft portion of the door down flush. The forward portion can be pushed down almost flush. I'm thinking I need to shrink the skin in these areas but not really sure. Is there anyone in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where I could get some help fitting this door? Thanks in advance.
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Call Jay Pratt. If he can't tell you how to fix it, then it simply isn't able to be fixed. He's the master on -8's.
 
Yep, J is close to you.

Don't let this door get you down. I have a friend that made four or so before he accepted that it was not going to be perfect and used the last one. If you are set on making it per plans, there are some tricks or more like the order you do what and how you do it in. You need to see someone like J that has been doing this for a long time. Or do what most of us do. Go very slow and check the fit over and over and over and over ext. tell you can't see any daylight anywhere. Then crawl inside and very carefully set the rivets slowly and from side to side, starting at one end and going to the other. When it finally fits you will be proud of yourself and rightfully so. keep up the good work. Yours, R.E.A. III #80888
 
I reshaped the fore and aft door ribs to match the curve of the fuselage on my 2nd door. I tried all the other suggestions found on this sight. Nothing else worked. The curvature of the door must match that of the fuselage. Hammer and dolly the ribs until the curve matches. Maybe it was my 4th as Robert suggests.
 
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I spent a good bit of time looking at baggage doors at OSH, both this year and last, and my observation was that most were no better than what you describe...a couple were better. Mine is like yours and like the vast majority of those I saw. It's not a good design and very difficult to get perfect. I'm going to fly off my phase one and then consider trying one more door to see if I can achieve the holy grail, but if I can't, too bad so sad...it'll fly!
 
With the shrinker. Did you modify the shape of the F-873 ribs to achieve the correct shape? I am not too far away from this and have access to a shrinker/stretcher so this is good info to have ahead of time.
 
baggage door fit is important

Why is the fit important? Because lots of RV-8's have so-so fit of the baggage door. So, when I want to assess the quality of a build, the standard of care of the builder, that is the first place I look.

That isn't meant to sound snobby. Its just a fact that the parts, as supplied, don't produce a great fit. It is a perfectly adequate, functional fit. But it doesn't look great.

I found that the only way to get the fit right was to use metal-forming tools to reshape the ribs. Oh how I wish I had access to a shrinker. But I fiddled with the ribs, got a second set of ribs and fiddled with those, and got something I am happy with, although maybe not proud of. Mine is probably in between the average so-so doors and the really good ones that metal-working geniuses do.
 
Flox is your friend! And other tricks

My baggage door fits perfectly. Sometimes I make the trip to the hanger just to stand there and stare at it cuz it makes me feel good. (Kinda kidding.)

But seriously, I did a couple things. I strapped the door tightly closed with ratchet straps, then clecoed the ribs to the door with a layer of flox between the the rib and the outer door panel. After that set, I riveting on the outer door to the rib, and strapped it back on. Then drill the inner door from inside, remove, deburr, re-strap, pop rivet from inside.

Also, I ended up only riveting the inner panel on 3 sides, the side against the hinge is open.

Fits, plenty rigid, and works great.
 
Arvey Fleur said:
My baggage door fits perfectly. Sometimes I make the trip to the hanger just to stand there and stare at it cuz it makes me feel good. (Kinda kidding.)

But seriously, I did a couple things. I strapped the door tightly closed with ratchet straps, then clecoed the ribs to the door with a layer of flox between the the rib and the outer door panel. After that set, I riveting on the outer door to the rib, and strapped it back on. Then drill the inner door from inside, remove, deburr, re-strap, pop rivet from inside.

Also, I ended up only riveting the inner panel on 3 sides, the side against the hinge is open.

Fits, plenty rigid, and works great.
Click to expand...

By not riveting the side against the hinge, have you experienced any issues with moisture entering the baggage door area?
 
In my case shrinking or stretching the rib flanges would not have helped. The only portion of the rib you can shrink is the flange. Mine required reshaping of the rib curvature with a hammer and dolly, to change the curvature of the ribs by moving the location of the bend from the rib web to the flange. By carefully moving the location of the bend between the web and flange, I was able to get the rib curvature to match that of the fuselage. And it took less than an hour to reshape both ribs.

I tried straps, I tried proseal, I even tried foam and fiberglass. None of these methods brought success. But by getting the door curvature to match the fuselage curvature with the hammer and dolly, the leading edge is flush and does not leak when flying through rain. The trailing edge is almost as good.
 
xblueh2o said:
With the shrinker. Did you modify the shape of the F-873 ribs to achieve the correct shape? I am not too far away from this and have access to a shrinker/stretcher so this is good info to have ahead of time.
Click to expand...

No I didn't. It just allowed the skin to lay flat against the flange.
 
Is the inner door skin installed? If it is remove it.

Install and adjust the latch hardware to pull the door tight when latched.

Crawl inside with the baggage floor and pedals removed and pop rivet the inner door in place. Use the airframe as a jig.

You can drill out the top skin strip rivets in front of the door and install a thin tappered shim between the firewall and the flange strip to slightly raise the flange. Same type of thing can be done at the back of the door.

George Meketa
RV8
 
Progress!

Thanks to everyone who responded to my plea for help--many great suggestions. I believe the best fit can be obtained by shimming the cowling to match the door. However, I had a couple of cherry max rivets in the aft bulkhead which I did not want to disturb. The front portion matches the fiberglass cowling--another area I don't want to mess with. So, I used a piece of 4" PVC to gently roll the bottom third of the door to better match the curve of the ribs. BTW, my ribs do match the contour of the cowling. After getting the best fit I could, I applied a mixture of resin/flox to the ribs and clecoed them to the outer skin. Then I strapped the door down and left if for a couple of days. When I removed the strap and the clecoes, the door did not change shape. I began riveting, starting at the top (hinge area). I drove 3 rivets, then changed sides and drove 3 more. I checked the fit and still good. I went thru this until I had 11 rivets per side before ending the work session--still have another 7 rivets per side to drive. After the riveting is done, I plan to install the latch blocks prior to attaching the inside skin. I'll make another post to report progress. Thanks again all.

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Here is pic of final fit of the baggage door. I applied pro seal between the ribs and inner skin, then clecoed the inner skin and strapped the door in place. After the proseal cured, I removed the door and pop riveted the inner skin starting at the outboard end. I alternated sides as I riveted toward the top. After much frustration, I finally got the latch blocks installed. The door requires some effort to close while locking, however, the fit is pretty decent--not perfect, but good enough. I can feel a slight raised edge (barely measurable maybe 1/64") in the front for about 2.5 inches beginning 3 inches from the bottom of the door. This might be fixed with a shim between the skin and firewall flange, but that might lead to the cowl no longer fitting flush. The back of the door is pretty much flush all the way. I plan to fly as is. Thanks again for all who responded.



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jump4way said:
By not riveting the side against the hinge, have you experienced any issues with moisture entering the baggage door area?
Click to expand...

I have not had any water infiltration. The .0625 angle that rivets to the door-side hinge is still there, and I stuffed some foam in the channel on the airframe hinge. The foam seals against the angle when the door is closed. the unriveted part is interior to the seal. Hope that makes sense.

Course, I don't fly in the rain much but the few times I have there has not been any rain coming in. Also I have a canopy cover when tied down in weather.
 
More pix

Did the bonding of the foam reinforcing yesterday. And it turned out really nice. The curve of the door needed to be slightly modified as my quick mold was slightly relaxed. But today the door fits really nice! I need to clean up some edges.


And let me add, there is fiberglass on the surface so the carbon won't corrode the aluminum that has been primed, painted, and clear coated.

And vacuum molding only works if you have a proper mold that will not deflect, inside curves require a very very strong mold!!

This particular door along with airplane will be wrapped

In conclusion: this is the "perfect" and proper size part to make a vacuum mold from. Any takers?



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