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Filled rivet heads

Dave12

Well Known Member
Does anyone remember what Geico (Larry Geiger) used to fill the rivet heads on the Rv12 he built?
 
I used colored epoxy

I used a rather fine-gauge syringe with the plain old west system resin/hardener I used on the fiberglass. I found it difficult to see how much epoxy was going in the hole, so I used some colorant (comes in a tube from West) to give it some opacity. Since my rivet puller tended to leave a burr on the mandrel hole, I gently demurred the hole before filling with epoxy. If the epoxy is a little too high, it can then be easily sliced off with a blade after curing. (If there is a burr, it makes sliced the excess off a real pain). It sounds, and is, tedious, but I would guesstimate I did the exterior rivets on the entire plane in about eight hours, and I?m quite pleased with the results after painting.
 
I ran into Larry a few weeks ago and that very subject came up. He used a syringe and needle from a farm supply store and injected micro into the rivet heads. Subject came up while he was looking at the local Aviation Nation RV-12 teen build that I?m helping with.
 
Is appearance the only reason to fill the rivet heads? Is there a practical reason, like keeping water out of the wings and fuselage when it rains or preventing loose mandrels from falling out?
 
Is appearance the only reason to fill the rivet heads? Is there a practical reason, like keeping water out of the wings and fuselage when it rains or preventing loose mandrels from falling out?

The reason for me to fill the rivet heads was to keep the dirt out. I saw an aircraft with unfilled rivets and that particular plane had black strips running from the rivets.
It took about 40 hours to fill/sand all rivets, not that bad.
 
A data point: My white-painted RV-12 with unfilled rivet heads now has 650 hours over 4 years. It is hangared and has never been washed (other than the occasional wipe-down with a damp rag and "dry cleaner/wax"). There is no sign of streaking, smoking or residue from any of the open rivet heads or the rivets themselves. Frankly, I am amazed at how well the pulled-rivets remain firmly attached to the skins. Over the years, I have seen many relatively low time, traditionally riveted, aluminum experimental aircraft with loosening, smoking AD rivets. Granted these aircraft are typically sporting larger engines and perhaps operate in more severe conditions than our RV-12s. As for filling the rivet heads, I see it as being cosmetic and IMHO not worth the considerable extra effort.

ps -- If I hook-up an in-flight vacuum cleaner to the wings' interior can I reduce boundary layer drag and enhance airflow adhesion??? ;<)
 
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and remember the effects of wax

The reason for me to fill the rivet heads was to keep the dirt out. I saw an aircraft with unfilled rivets and that particular plane had black strips running from the rivets.
It took about 40 hours to fill/sand all rivets, not that bad.

If you apply any wax on and dark aircraft color, it really likes to collect in the un-filled madrell holes
 
snip

ps -- If I hook-up an in-flight vacuum cleaner to the wings' interior can I reduce boundary layer drag and enhance airflow adhesion??? ;<)

I like this idea. Active boundary layer control plus thousands of little vortex generators disguised as rivet heads.

Jerre
 
I've been thinking about filling the rivets ever since I found Geico's post..

can I do this and still be OK for going E-LSA? Or do I need to wait until after I get the AW certificate? For that matter, can I paint beforehand?
 
I've been thinking about filling the rivets ever since I found Geico's post..

can I do this and still be OK for going E-LSA? Or do I need to wait until after I get the AW certificate? For that matter, can I paint beforehand?

I did mine b4 inspection (called it pre-painting prep).....Mel, a little help here on the official take.
 
I did mine b4 inspection (called it pre-painting prep).....Mel, a little help here on the official take.

I think most DARs would consider this minor enough for acceptance. However, it might be worthwhile to check with your inspector first.

Painting before inspection is definitely acceptable.
 
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