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RV-7 #74023

longranger

Well Known Member
I'm already: 1)Dating and checking the boxes in the build manual, 2)Doing a Picasa Web Album and 3)Doing a Kitlog. Now this! If I can't prove I'm building this thing, I'll give up!

The Journey Begins
I broke out the vixen file and radiused the edges of the HS reinforcement bars on December 17, 2011 - 108 years to the day after Orville and Wilbur first separated themselves from their shadow in a powered airplane.
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Two days short of 3 months later, I plan to roll and rivet the leading edge and drop the trim servo in the left elevator tonight and call the metalwork on the empennage done (for now). This elevator is rougher than I'd like and I'm seriously considering having Van's throw a new skin and trim tab parts in the SB wing or fuselage kit I'm expecting in about 2 weeks.
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A few shots of the journey so far...
Rivet #1:
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Evidence of an understanding wife:
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Poundin' those rivets...
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Who's taking the pictures, your hired gun?

:D:D No self-respecting pro would be caught dead in my shop. If I'm not in the photo, I took it. If I am in it, the photo credit would go to my Chief Cook, Bottle Washer, and Navigator Karen.;)
 
One Step Back...

Due to several errors in bending the tabs on the elevator and trim tab (caused by poorly fabricated bending blocks), I'm joining the do-over club.:eek: It was nothing filler probably wouldn't have corrected, but it just didn't sit well with me. Yesterday I faxed an order for a new left elevator skin, trim spar, trim tab parts, and stiffeners, to be delivered with my wing and fuselage kits due in a couple of weeks.

Today I drilled out 125 rivets to liberate the skeleton and trim servo reinforcement from the skin. I didn't even try to drill out the monel blind rivets in the trim spar, and I didn't feel like the stiffeners were worth the effort of drilling them all out. All went well, except for a minor amount of bloodshed (see below:eek:) and all the holes still hold silver clecos.:cool:

The gap is 3/32 on the bottom and 1/4" on top, and the trailing edge of the trim tab is slightly crimped.:mad:
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Skeleton and trim servo reinforcement liberated from the skin.
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I drilled my first hole in an RV part way back in 1998, and this is the first time I've managed to drill a hole in a finger. It happened when I was trying to "walk" the 1/16" bit toward the center of a rivet when it broke, and the end left in the drill found my left index finger. Fortuately I had the drill turning very slowly and I don't think it penetrated more than 1/8". So I have made the jump from Those-That-Will to Those-That-Have.:eek:
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bucking post

In the picture of you pounding the rivets in what looks like the elevator, you have what looks like a bucking post. That looks like a great idea. Do you have a picture of it or can you give me a quick rundown on what you did? I have the plans already running through my head, but a picture always helps!

Thanks. I am pretty close in my build to where you are but haven't ordered my fuselage kit yet. I think Im going with qb wings and regular build fuselage.

Thanks, rockwood
 
Rockwood,

That's the trailing edge of the rudder I'm working on in that picture. I'm using a 3lb bucking bar from Avery to do the initial partial set of the double-flush rivets. I used the same bar with the mushroom set to do the final setting of the rivets, but had to move the bar further under to rudder to prevent hitting it directly. The bar is what I've seen in some build logs to back rivet wing and fuselage skins. Here's my kitlog entry for riveting the rudder trailing edge.

Closeup showing some fully set rivets. I'm pretty happy with how it came out.
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nice bucking bar

Miles,

Thanks for the info. I can see exactly what it looks like and I think it is a great bar to have. I thought it was a post that went all the way to the ground. I kind of like the idea of taking that bar, maybe threading the back end and mounting it to a post or pipe welded to a plate that sits on the ground. You could move it around and it would be a solid, moveable bucking stand. From my limited experience, the more solid, the easier it is to make a good rivet.

I think I will see what I can come up with. I have a 5-1/2"x30"v3/8" plate I polished for a backriveting, but sometimes clecos get in the way. I do like the shape of the one in your picture and it looks like it works great by itself.

Thanks for the info and pictures.

rockwood
 
Wing and Fuselage Kits Arrive!

The looooong trailer and truck driven by Mike from Partain. He couldn't get the trailer down my cul-de-sac, so he parked on an adjacent street. Fortunately, I live at the end.
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Me at the end of the spar box, with RV-7 builder/flyer Hal Lyons assisting in the middle, and Mike in the trailer. The big box on the floor just forward of the door looks like somone's finish kit. My fuselage kit is up on the overhang.
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We look disturbingly like pallbearers carrying the wing skins box. Many thanks to my neighbor Dennis Lodge and his family for allowing me to disturb their backyard Easter picnic to recruit help! That's Mike (Partain driver) on the front left corner.
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The first production RV-14 Quick Build Fuselage on its way to its proud new owner!:D
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Mike was kind enough to take the fuselage kit to the airport for me so it will be out of the way during the wing build. I cracked open the crate just to take a look. Good thing I did, as my left elevator parts re-order was in there. I hope to get back out to the hangar for an inventory sometime this week.
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Wing Kit Inventory.

Why wait! Yesterday, I cracked the tops off of the crates, then Karen came out and we spent a bit over a couple of hours unpacking the crates, checking off the 6-page packing list, and storing the parts. We got through all the parts and through the hardware as far as accounting for the bags but not the contents. I'll do that as I organize the parts into bins later this week.

Well-packed, and nary a mark in transit (Partain, of course). The main wing spars are in the far end of the long narrow crate. That's ONE piece of paper wadded up between the spars and the crate top. It filled my empty 30-gal trash can all by itself.
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I know this is a well-worn phrase, but those spars are works of art! Too bad they aren't countersunk before anodizing.:(
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Karen, my trusty inventory clerk. The shelf brackets on the wall will hold the spar crate with the longerons, aileron push-pull tube material, etc. prior to use. I did that on my HRII project and it worked great. Note the bag of bags of hardware...
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All bags accounted for, but contents verification will wait a day or two.
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Wing kit inventory complete. All parts that would fit are on shelves organized by assembly (tanks, flaps, ailerons, etc.) I'm leaving the wing skins and spars in the box for now. Note the overflowing trash can in the background. That's AFTER I stuffed the outdoor bin full. Thankfully Monday is trash day.
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That big pile of paper in the shop just looked like a fire waiting to happen, so I stuffed it in my trusty '97 Saturn and took it to the dumpster at the airport. That's a LOT of paper!
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RV-7

Hey Miles, keep up that enthusiasm. Maybe you can fly it to LMO. Just remember do something on it everyday no matter how small the task may be. The next thing you know, its complete.
 
... Maybe you can fly it to LMO. ...

Hmmm... flying by July? Maybe so, if I could figure out how to scab an O-300 to the front of it.... If only it weren't a slow build.:D Any way, I guess we'll be ground bound across the Rockies this summer to save a few pennies for Kentucky next year. I've always wanted to go through the Eisenhower Tunnel anyway, and even if the 170 would fit through the tunnel, it just won't go that high....

... Just remember do something on it everyday no matter how small the task may be....

Great advice that paid dividends on the tail kit! Unfortunately I'm going have to settle for reading the manual some more for the next week or so. We lost Karen's brother earlier this evening after a 10-year struggle with Multiple Sclerosis. We've got a date with USAirways' alumium cattle car to Michigan in about 6 hours.:(

See ya in Colorado.
 
Great advice that paid dividends on the tail kit! Unfortunately I'm going have to settle for reading the manual some more for the next week or so. We lost Karen's brother earlier this evening after a 10-year struggle with Multiple Sclerosis. We've got a date with USAirways' alumium cattle car to Michigan in about 6 hours.:(

See ya in Colorado.[/QUOTE]

Sorry to hear that Miles. Please convey our sympathies to Karen. Talk at ya Later, Ed
 
I-70

Hey Miles,
We live just off I-70 about 160 miles from Denver. We have lots of room if you are in need of a stopover!
Sorry for your families loss.
 
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Wings Started!

I finally got started on the wings in earnest this weekend. First of course was countersinking for the nut plates. Van?s instructions call for riveting the nut plates in place, then using them to center the countersink pilot. I didn?t really like the thought of the countersink pilot spinning against the threads, so I spent some (probably too much) time making a countersink pilot centering jig. It took a couple of iterations to get something that would work for both the straight and diagonal ones. Even then I had to modify it for the ones close to the aft edge of the spar flange. -3 length flush rivets taped in place on the 1/8-thick jig serve nicely as locator pins.

Jig fit on a diagonal platenut location:
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Modified for a platenut location close to the edge (using the end didn't allow for clamping close to the edge of the flange):
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While doing a post-riveting quality check, I noticed one #8 screw hole that I failed to countersink before installing the nut plate. Rather than drilling it out, I reverted to Van?s suggested method. It worked great and my fears of damaging the threads were unfounded. I should have known Van?s know of what they speak? It turns out that the biggest drawback to the suggested method is having to spot prime twice, once for the rivets, then again for the screws; not a huge deal.

One thing I hadn?t considered beforehand is the fairly large amount of shavings that come from #6 and #8 countersinks as opposed to those for #3 or 4 rivet heads. The buildup in the cage was enough that I had a hard time telling when I was done. Karen helped me out here by holding the shop vac at the bottom of the cage, which made it very easy to see when the chips stop flying, not to mention much less of a mess to clean up afterwards. We countersunk all the screw holes in all four spar flanges in about 2 hours.

BTW, I set the countersink cage for a 0.385 top diameter, the same as the "ring" on the bottom of a #8 dimple in 0.032 sheet. The dimple doesn't fully nest in the countersink, but I wasn't really comfortable going any larger. I put a small bend on the edge of my dimple coupon and it does rest nicely on the spar flange, plus I'm hoping that torqiing the screw in the hole will pull it in some. IIRC, the diameter for the #6's was about 0.355, which brought the edge of the countersink just to the beginning of the radius at the edge of the flange.

I also got the tiedown bars and spacers ready to fit to the spar except that the 3/16" locator hole in the top outboard corner of the tiedown bar called for on the plans isn't quite large enough to accept an AN3 bolt. I don't recall having this problem on the empennage hinge brackets. Checking AN3 bolt specs it turns out that the range of diameters is 0.186 to .189, or .0015 either side of nominal. My bolts mic out to the high side of this range. I guess it's time to order a #12 (or #11??) reamer. I can get started on the rear spars while I wait...
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Rear Spars Complete; Started Straightening Ribs

I got the rear spars and associated parts fit, drilled, prepped, primed, and riveted this past week.
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I also built a rib flange squaring tool, and knocked out that process on all main wing ribs in about 2.5 hours. Building the tool was well worth the time.
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This weekend, in addition to flying down to Rosamond for EAA Chapter 1000?s annual fly-in, (lots of RV?s ? Paul you need to post pictures of that new upholstery!) and several social gatherings at KTSP (includng viewing the solar eclipse:cool:), I finished up the tiedown bars, got through all the drudgery of deburring the wing main ribs for both wings, fluted them, drilled the conduit holes, then assembled the left wing skeleton and match reamed the rear spar to aft rib flange rivet holes.

I stumbled across the idea of using the edge of the MDF top of my workbench as a reference for fluting ribs when working on the empennage. It worked so well there, that I tried it on the wing main ribs, and got through all 28 of them in 1:10, or an average of 2-1/2 minutes each.
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I located one #30 conduit pilot hole 1-1/4 inches above the bottom flange just behind the forward lightening hole of one left-flanged rib, then using a cleco through the aft tooling hole, I matched drilled all the right-flanged ribs back to back with the left one. I then used the first right-flanged rib the same way to match drill all the left-flanged ones.
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As others have said, it is quite a milestone to see a large component taking shape.
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Skins on the Left Wing (for the FIRST time...)

Before tackling the skins, I riveted rear spar to ribs. I skipped the step about taping over holes to be riveted in assembly with future parts, and paid the price: I had to remove 4 rivets to make room for the flap brace later. :eek: The problem was that I had the wing laying on the bench upside down and misinterpreted the plans. Live and learn. The bright side is that I'm now 45 rivets closer to a flying airplane.:D

Next I cut out the left wing walk doubler, then edge deburred, match drilled, and marked it for orientation. There is a mis-statement in the instructions which says the doubler should overhang the rear spar by "about an inch". Well, the plans call for it to be 26 inches long, which is the distance from the aft edge of the main spar flange and the aft edge of the rear spar flange. This leaves the doubler basically flush with the aft edge of the rear spar. I searched here VAF and found that this is an OLD problem with the instructions. The consensus is that the plans dimension is correct, and you should basically ignore the "1 inch overhang" part. Some that cut to that dimension have had problems with the wing walk interfering with flap operation. The thread bringing up the problem is dated in 2005. You'd think that in 7 years that Vans could have fixed the instructions.:rolleyes:

Next I remounted the skeleton in the stands and rechecked for twist. All good. I then jacked up the skeleton to take out the sag, clecoed the main skins (and the wing walk doubler) to the skeleton and final reamed ALL the holes. Way more quickly said than done; what a marathon job! Another note on the instructions here. After clecoing, they tell you to "start drilling in the upper middle of the panel and work down and out toward the edges, work out any slack as you go." I believe this to be a holdover from the non pre-punched kits, where you drill AND cleco as you go. With the pre-punched kits, there is no slack after you've clecoed the skin on. I did use this order to do the clecoing and it worked out great.

Left top skins ready for final reaming. Note that this wing stand design allows for plenty of clearance for the outboard overhang without notching the support angle.
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Left bottom skins ready for final reaming.
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Left Leading Edge and Tank

From wing skeleton on the bench to this in 3 days (including prep of ALL nose ribs for both wings). All weekends should be this productive.:cool:
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I'm pleased with the tank-leading edge fit. The tank sits about 0.018 higher than the leading edge, more than a third of which is the difference in skin thicknesses. The aft edge of the tank skin is tight to the main skin, so I'm thinking that a little agressive deburring will make it as good as it can be.
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This is where I left it this evening; all z-bracket baffle holes match drilled. I probably should get some fresh proseal on order...
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First Sealant Session...

The first sealant session for the RV-7 went reasonably well. On the HRII project, it was November/December when I was working on the one tank I completed, and temperature was always in 40's and 50's. Today the temp was probably in the low 80's and the sealant was MUCH easier to work with, though it did set up more quickly. I worked around that by just working with smaller batches, doing only two stiffeners at a time for most of the session.

I used a stainless steel brush to scuff all of the rivet lines on the bottom half of the skin, and cleaned them up with laquer thinner. For the first two stiffeners I used 10g of part A and 1g of part B, and had enough to butter up the stiffeners, but not enough to make the fillets or encapsulate the rivet heads. I made the next three batches 16g part A and 1.6g part B, and had enough to do the stiffeners, fillets and rivet heads with a bit left over. On the next to last batch I had enough left over to butter up the outboard stiffeners. The last batch was 13g part A and 1.3g part B and was enough to butter up the 5th bay stiffeners and fillets with enough left over to encapsulate the 5th and 6th bay rivet heads.

I used vinyl electrical tape to mask off the long edges of the stiffeners, and with minor cleanup the job came out reasonably neat. The instructions mention using rivet tape, but with the sealant oozing through the holes, and the little bit I added to the outside of the holes, tape wasn't required. For the ribs I will use Rick Galati's "McDonald Douglas" method and 100% cleco after applying sealant, then rivet the next day. With the stiffeners, it was just too easy to go ahead and backrivet.

I scuffed the bottom side stiffener, rib, baffle, and drain fitting rivet lines with a stainless steel brush (far end of the skin), and cleaned with laquer thinner.
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I cleaned up the outside of the skin as I went. The extra sealant spots are where I used the same piece of vinyl food wrap to protect the back rivet plate for multiple stiffeners.
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All stiffeners complete and cleaned up.
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More Tank Sealing...

I have a 3-day weekend so I'm going to try to get the left tank done by Sunday. We'll see; Rosie's having a movie night tomorrow, so I'll have knock off a little early.;)

Today I got all five interior ribs sealed and 100% clecoed. I was slowed down a bit as I had previously neglected to scuff and clean the rib and baffle rivet lines on the upper side of the skin, as well the flanges on the ribs themselves. I mixed one 26-27 gram batch of sealant for each rib, and applied it to both the skin and the rib with an acid brush trimmed to about 1/4 - 3/8 inch long to stiffen it up. This made the application MUCH neater than some jobs I've seen, and also came in handy for forming the fillets.

Yep, I'm the one doing the work::eek:
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All five interior ribs sealed and 100% clecoed. Using the trimmed acid brush for sealant application, cleanup was almost unnecessary:
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I noticed the skin pullng away slightly from the aft end of the rib flanges, so I dry installed the baffle to pull things into their final positions while the sealant cures. I also clecoed the tank to the wing spar to ensure that the tank didn't get tweaked during assembly. Looks GREAT!
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Looks good Miles. I just got my wings a couple weeks ago. I did a dry setup of the ribs on the spar just to see how it looked. Now the deburring - what fun. Yours is the neatest proseal job I have ever seen. I still have it all over the place from the rudder!
 
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Looks good Miles. I just got my wings a couple weeks ago. I did a dry setup of the ribs on the spar just to see how it looked. Now the deburring - what fun. Yours is the neatest proseal job I have ever seen. I still have it all over the place from the rudder!

Rocky, it looks like my vacation in Colorado was about a week too early to help you unload your wings.:( Beautiful place you have there!

I surprised myself on the neatness of the proseal job today. You can bet the one HRII tank I finished isn't that neat. The proof will be how well it holds gas.:rolleyes:
 
Left Tank Done!

Definitely a major milestone... at least it feels like it. Today I cleaned out the interior of the left tank, touched up a few spots that looked like they might have a greater than 1% chance of leaking, and ran out of excuses not to close it up.

Sealant beads and smears applied per the manual.
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Well-formed bead between baffle and skin. A mirror and flaslight revealed similar beads between the baffle and end ribs.
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Cover plate installed with sealant only, no gasket. I used Torx-head screws from McMaster-Carr instead of the supplied phillips screws.
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All 21 bracket bolts would start, so alignment is perfect!
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The aftermath of RV Tank Building...
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One Leak-Free Tank - I Think...

When I first got into the shop this morning, the tank was still on the wing and cool enough from the night before that the balloon I'd sealed to the vent yesterday was sucked in on itself... a good sign - the tank will hold a partial vacuum. After I match drilled the screw holes for the tank to leading edge joint and removed the tank for access to the joint plate and put it on the workbench close to the garage door where the heat of the day could get to it, I noticed the balloon inflated enough to hold its own weight. More good news!
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The sealant on the balloon was still sticky and I wanted to give it as much time as I could to cure, so I went ahead and finished the joint plate nutplates, final riveted the W-408 rib, dimpled all the tank screw holes, final drilled the leading edge ribs to the spar, and clecoed the leading edge to the spar (for the last time!) before testing the tank. Toward late afternoon, I pressurized the tank with my in-line pressure regulator set as low as I could and still get flow (about 5 psi). It took a half minute or so to get enough air in the tank, but the balloon finally inflated. No oil canning or bulging that I could detect:
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Time for the soapy water test. I got through all the skin and baffle rivets, then turned the tank on end to test the end ribs. Unfortuately, I was so engrossed in the test that without thinking I turned the tank up on the inboard end and popped the balloon (DUH!!). Fortunately, the remnants of the balloon sealed itself over the short tube I'd sealed it to, and the tank still held pressure, so I was able to go ahead and test the end ribs. No bubbles from the infamous aft corners:
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Also, as others have reported, no leaks at all on from the Newton deluxe cap. The only leak on the entire tank was some very small bubbles from the schrader valve where it was threaded into the drain fitting. A couple of flats of tightening fixed that. As far as I can tell, this is a leak-free tank, but I may still do the manometer test for an extra warm fuzzy. One down (I hope) and one to go...
 
Left Wing Tom Main Skins Done

Today, Hal Lyons (on the right in the first photo below) and I riveted the left wing's top main skins using the standard shoot and buck technique, with me shooting and him bucking. Hal has completed and is flying a slow-build RV-7, but had never used a tungsten bucking bar before. Needless to say, he was very impressed, and used it for all but a very few rivets.
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We partnered on all of the main spar and rib rivets (next photo), as well as aileron bracket doublers and several others on the rear spar where the shop heads of previously installed #4 rivets might interfere with squeezing. To ease the access to the rear spar rivets we rotated the wing stand to make the aft end of the top skins vertical.
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After Hal left I started to squeeze the rest of the rivets in the rear spar, but found that my 2.5" yokes were slightly too shallow, so I ended up shooting and bucking those solo. To make access a bit easier, I rotated the wing stand as shown in the last photo. After finishing the rear spar, I completed the inboard rib with a squeezer, including nutplates for the wing root fairing. To ensure good nesting I gave the nutplate screw holes and the -3 rivet holes not associated with the nutplates an extra squeeze in assembly. The final result looks really good!
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Good show, Miles. It sure looks like an airplane wing. :)

Thanks David! It feels good to have another part far enough along to be recognizable.

Now I need to assemble the wing cradle (borrowed from Hal) so I get this wing off the stands and get going on the right one. I'd like to get to the point of sealing the right tank before the weather turns cold (no heat in the garage to speak of). I thnk it's doable, as I prepared the spars and ribs for both wings in parallel.
 
Wings are downhill from here... I hope

I'm about 90% done with the right (last!) tank. I would have thought I would have learned some way to speed up the process, but it took me just about as long to close this tank as it did the first. I still have to rivet the end rib flanges to the baffle and brackets, install the fuel return and mount the cover plate, and replace a few skin to baffle rivets that are too proud for my liking, but I think I've mixed my last 100+ gram batch of sealant for a while... One anal milestone: I've passed 5000 rivets in the project!

Sealant in place, and ready to close:
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4.5 hours later::rolleyes:
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Good bead inside right fuel tank baffle to skin joint. I didn't rivet the end ribs to the baffle and attach brackets because it was waaaay to late to run the rivet gun. As a consolation, at least all 21 bracket bolts would start!
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Waaaayyyy Too Clean on the Proseal a job

Miles:
Looking good. I'm counting on a ride sometime in the near future. Daughter #1 finished her tour in the Far East and is now based at San Diego Naval Hospital (her husband is based at Pendelton). I was hoping to make an RV trip out there this past summer, but have pushed that to next year. Keep posting your progress. Hope we can reconnect in the not too distant future.
Terry
 
... Hope we can reconnect in the not too distant future.
Terry

Hi Terry. Thanks for the kind words on the tank. I did spend a bit of time removing the little strings of proseal that I fear (probably unwarranted...) would turn loose from the unscuffed aluminum and go downstream.

Karen just bought our tickets to Michigan for Christmas. We'll be there 9-10 days. Hopefully I'll have time to get up to Ponitac for breakfast one morning. You're welcome out this way any time.
 
Right Tank Complete!

Tonight I installed a fuel return fitting in the access cover for the right tank and sealed the cover to the inboard rib. As I did on the left tank, I used torx plus screws to secure the cover to the rib, hopefully being easier to remove than phillips screws should the need arrive. Once the sealant cures, the tank will be ready for testing.

This was actually my second try at installing the return fitting and cover. Two days ago, I installed the fitting with the long section and thick washer on the inside, but I'd drilled the hole too close to the edge by 1/8", and the cover wouldn't go on the rib - which I discovered AFTER applying sealant to the cover and rib.:mad: A small amount of purple language later, it occurred to me that I could just turn the fitting around and put the washer on the outside. Somehow in the process of reinstalling the fitting I managed to cross-thread the bulkhead nut between the two sets of threads on the fitting. Did I mention I didn't have a spare?:mad::mad: Now all the neighbors know it's been a VERY long time since I've been to Sunday School... Anyway, I finally recovered my composure enough to clean up the mess and order a new fitting and nut from Spruce. I get one day delivery from Corona using UPS ground so the parts were waiting for me tonight when I got home from work:

All parts cleaned and ready for installation. I had fit and installed the pickup tube before I installed the baffle to make sure it ends up in the right place. As with the left tank, those are torx plus screws in case the cover ever needs to come off...
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If this leaks, I'll eat my VAF hat.:D
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The finished product:
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One year in...

Today marks the one year since I broke out the vixen file and broke the edges of theHS-603PP horizontal stabilizer rear spar reinforcement bars for what someday will be RV-7 N904KM. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of setting the first rivet. 218 log entries, 5757 rivets, and nearly 660 hours later, I?ll have a set of wings very close to quick build stage as soon as I can bribe a bucking partner to help me final rivet the top skins on the right wing:
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I thought I could have the fuselage started by now, but I do realize that it?s a journey, not a race, and it?ll be done when it?s done (finished? complete?):D



In other news, last week when I was assembling the ailerons for final drilling, I noticed about a half hole diameter misalignment in the skin holes on one side of one of the outboard aft rib on the left aileron. I?ve always been told that if holes in pre-punched parts don?t line up, you?ve done something wrong. For the life of me I couldn?t figure out what it could have been. I swapped the rib with the identical part from the right aileron and had the same problem. The rib that miss-fit the left aileron skin fit the right one just fine. When I forced the clecos into the holes, the trailing edge turned up slightly:
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This is what it SHOULD look like:
FP12122012A0001T.jpg


Careful measurement showed the aft rib rivet holes on one side of the left aileron skin to be between 1/32 and 3/64? closer to the traiIing edge than the other side. I sent photos and a description of the problem to Vans support, and Ken S. said it was most likely the aileron skin mis-bent in production. A new skin is on the way, but I still have to repeat the stiffener fab and installation and closing the bend to catch up. Before I do that, I?ll be measuring the rib rivet holes in all four corners.;)
 
Good catch Miles. Some may not have questioned it and moved on.
One of the issues with the prepunched kits is occasionaly there is a mistake. In the past, the mistakes where usually really obvious, not like a slight shift of a prepunched hole.
It is important to lay up all the work and double check as you have done. If it doesn't look right, start questioning it.
 
4.5 hours later::rolleyes:
DSCN3800.JPG

Hi Miles,

Your progress is really looking good and is inspiring to me!!

I have a small question though when looking at your above picture. I'm working on the tank brackets and stumbling for no reason on the platenuts.

On my spar, I have platenut holes only for the most inbound bracket holes (seen here):
IMG_0909.jpg


All the other bracket holes on the spar have no platenut holes:
IMG_0911.jpg


If I look at your tank brackets, I notice that there's no platenut holes on the inbound one and platenut holes on the others.

So, if I'm correct, that tells me that platenuts are installed on the spar ONLY for the most inbound bracket. And platenuts are installed on the other brackets, correct? No drilling of new holes in the spar then ???

Just wanting to make sure before doing some stupid stuff on the spar...

Thanks !!!
 
Hi Miles,

Your progress is really looking good and is inspiring to me!!

I have a small question though when looking at your above picture. I'm working on the tank brackets and stumbling for no reason on the platenuts.

On my spar, I have platenut holes only for the most inbound bracket holes ...

All the other bracket holes on the spar have no platenut holes: ...

If I look at your tank brackets, I notice that there's no platenut holes on the inbound one and platenut holes on the others.

So, if I'm correct, that tells me that platenuts are installed on the spar ONLY for the most inbound bracket. And platenuts are installed on the other brackets, correct? No drilling of new holes in the spar then ???

Just wanting to make sure before doing some stupid stuff on the spar...

Thanks !!!

Eric, that's absolutely correct. Platenuts for the inboard bracket are attached to the spar web, and platenuts for the other six brackets are attached to the brackets. With the leading edge and the tank installed on the spar, the inboard bracket is the only one accessible from the front. The bolts for the other six brackets are accessed from the aft side of the spar through the inspection holes in the bottom main skins.

PS: Thanks for the kind words. There have been many others that were/are inspirations to me; glad to be able to pay a little back.:)
 
Thanks !!!

Thanks a million times Miles,

And I would think that many others here find your craftmanship inspiring!! :cool:

You can be sure that I'll strive to make my tanks as looking good as yours!!

Hope that my build can inspire others as well !!

You do have an inspiring calendar :eek: !!! :D

Cheers!!
 
Right Wing Top Skins DONE!

Two weeks plus since I've been in the shop. The holidays are over; time to get back to work!

I asked local RV-7 builder/flyer Hal Lyons to help me rivet the right wing top skins today. He agreed immediately, so I think he's enjoying my build as much as I am. He must, as the shop started out at 34 degrees, and only got up to 49 in the afternoon. Three-plus months ago we riveted the left top skins in shorts!

Only three drill-outs today. Two were proud rivets, my fault for relaxing just a bit on the gun before pulling the trigger. The third was an instance where the tape on the rivet set got under the rivet head. Only one minor smiley, which I won't point out; you'll have to find it on your own.:D

Finishing up the outboard end of the main spar. This is after it warmed up into the 40's and I shed the outer jacket, and the cotton glove for the rivet gun hand:
FP19012013A0002L.jpg


We rolled (looped?) the wing 180 degrees for better access for riveting the rear spar. Getting all the top wing skins DONE feels like a major milestone!
FP19012013A0002M.jpg
 
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Catching up on the Ailerons

I started out building both ailerons at the same time but ran into a little snag (see post #36, this thread). Vans' made good on the skin, but it put the left aileron significantly behind the right one. I got all the right aileron parts primed a week ago, and this weekend, I got them dimpled, countersunk, touched up, and riveted. I think this is the first major component that is DONE to the point of being able to hang on a flying airplane.

Weighted down on a very flat surface for riveting the counterbalance and bottom skins to spar.
FP27012013A00006.jpg


DONE, including hinge brackets.
FP27012013A00007.jpg


I drilled, deburred, prepped and primed the left aileron and stiffeners along with the right aileron parts a week ago, and got them dimpled and riveted yesterday:
FP03022013A00050.jpg
 
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I haven't been spending my usual 12 or so hours/week in the shop lately (I'm blaming the temps;)), so I'm just now finishing up the left aileron. Today I installed the main ribs, completed the riveting of the counterbalance pipe and bottom side of the skins, and attached the hinge brackets.

This photo shows a counterbalance pipe hole in the nose skin I dimpled with a 1/8" standard male die and a rivet gun set specially made to accept dimple dies. The manual says the skin should conform to the machine countersink in the pipe when the rivet is pulled, but I didn't take any chances.
FP10022013A000EE.jpg


As with the right aileron, I used a sturdy old desk with a very flat top to finish riveting the bottom side of the aileron. I weighted the aileron down with books to ensure it remained flat during riveting. I thought it was appropriate that one of the books was my "Applied Electronics" textbook from college (top right); one of the books that got me into the career that enables me to be able to afford this project.:cool:
FP10022013A000EF.jpg


This photo shows the completed ailerons awaiting my next trip to the hangar for storage. It's also evidence of how understanding my my wife is.:) (The missing vinyl on the nose skin is not an accidental gouge, but an area where the duct tape holding the parts in the shipping crate came off.)
FP10022013A000EG.jpg
 
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Wings Ready for Tech Inspecition

I've been getting anxious to start the fuselage, so I'm declaring the wings ready for pre-closure inspection. A couple of guys from EAA Chapter 49 down in Lancaster will be coming up soon to do the honors. Actually, I have a few minor tasks to complete before I start riveting bottom skins. The only one that I think really HAS to be done is dimpling the skin rivet holes for the pitot mast. I'll probably also add snap bushings for running pitot and AOA lines.

Not evident in the photo: Flaps are complete and drilled to the wing, with the skins dimpled and the flap braces countersunk.

FP02042013A0011Z.jpg


I kicked off the fuselage kit last night by fabricating the F-601J angles for the firewall. I roughed the cuts to within about 1/32" to 1/16" on my bandsaw, even though the blade is a bit coarse (and dull) for cutting the 3/16" thick angle. I took it slow and finally got through it. I then ground right to the scribe lines with my belt sander.

The plans tell you to radius the bottom and inboard vertical edges to nest in the firewall stiffener angles. I did this and got an excellent fit all the way around on both pieces. It turns out this was a bit of a wasted effort, because the plans have a note to locate the angles 3/32" above the lower stiffener. Also, there is a gusset between the angles and the vertical stiffeners, so neither edge of the angles really nest into the stiffeners. With the F-601J's fabricated to plans dimensions, the 3/32" gap at the bottom is necessary to get proper edge distance for holes that will be match drilled through the forward diagonal edge.

FP02042013A00121.jpg
 
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Where NOT to put a conduit in the wing.

I made this mistake about a month ago, but I just noticed it today when attemptng to intall the W-818 pushrods.:eek: My thinking on putting the conduit near the top was to maximize the room for riveting the bottom skins. Had I installed it in the bottom of the rib hole, I think I'd have been OK. I've either got to drill out 10 MSP-42 rivets or see if I can use some heat to "joggle" the conduit (thin wall PVC). I only have brackets every third rib.

FP29042013A0005G.jpg
 
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First Airplane Noises!

The engine noise went up in pitch as she pushed the nose over. She doesn't yet know I'm planning on a constant speed prop.;)
DSCN4185.JPG


Would someone please tell me whether or not the sticks are supposed to be parallel? With the interconnect rod bearing centers set at the plans length, the sticks are about an inch closer, center to center, at the top than at the pivot point. I took some measurements, and if I did the math correctly I need to shorten the interconnect rod by about 6 full turns (3 each side), or just under 7/32" to make the sticks parallel.

I also got the firewall riveted earlier today:
DSCN4184.JPG
 
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More Bulkhead Work

I finished the F-704 bulkhead by riveting the vertical spacer bars and vertical side members to the aft bulkhead, and the vertical side members to the forward bulkhead. I also enlarged the F-704J spacer holes in the aft bulkhead to 15/64 then reamed them to 0.249. I performed this step while the two bulkhead halves were aligned with two 7/16 bolts though both the forward and aft bulkheads on each side so I could use the final size spacer bolt holes already in the forward bulkhead as alignment holes. Many thanks to local RV-7 builder/flyer Hal Lyons for loaning his very well made laminated wood bulkhead spacer blocks to me.
FP19052013A0005V.jpg


After storing the F-704 bulkhead I rounded up all the parts and got started on the F-705:
FP19052013A0005P.jpg
 
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