F-741B Tunnel cover size

I've seen mentioned a few times that people have had to squeeze the z-brackets inboard in order to line up with the dimensions of the top plate. Seems like a fair amount of force needed to get them together.

Is there a reason this is the case and that's why Van's doesn't supply a wider piece?

I'm thinking of making a new one and take any stress out of this assembly.

I just finished this part and don't recall squeezing that much to get it to initially fit. After everything was drilled and riveted, it fit well.

I did end up with quite a bit of "overhang" on the aft side. If I drilled it according to the plans the aft-most holes would have been too close to the aft ends of the z brackets. Instead I clecoed everything together, made sure I was happy with the fit, then drilled in a way that satisfied edge distance requirements.

I also ended up filing away a lot of that overhang in order to fit against the flap actuator brackets:

Thanks for that. Looks like you have a good fit.

Without any squeezing, the plate is 1/8" too narrow overall. It does feel like the seat bottoms are rolling if I try to get it all flush.

Mine doesn't match up very closely, but it's not too hard to get the holes to align and start the screws.

There's an easy fix...remake it but change the order of match-drilling/riveting so that it ends up being the correct width (drill the top piece last), but it's never been worth it, since it only comes out/goes in once a year at annual CI.

Fabricate

RV7A Flyer said:

Mine doesn't match up very closely, but it's not too hard to get the holes to align and start the screws.

There's an easy fix...remake it but change the order of match-drilling/riveting so that it ends up being the correct width (drill the top piece last), but it's never been worth it, since it only comes out/goes in once a year at annual CI.

Click to expand...

I fabricated new. Can't remember why but it had something to do with the fit.

wirejock said:

I fabricated new. Can't remember why but it had something to do with the fit.

Click to expand...

I have an extra z-bracket so I may make a new one and inset it 1/16" to make up the difference.

Larry, I've got 544rv on reserve. Hopefully one day we'll fly in somewhere at the same time.

I didn?t recall having an issue with this, so went back to my build log for that item and sure enough, I moved both z-brackets 1/32 inboard to make the cover flush with the webs.

longranger said:

I didn?t recall having an issue with this, so went back to my build log for that item and sure enough, I moved both z-brackets 1/32 inboard to make the cover flush with the webs.

Click to expand...

I believe I see my issue. The plans make it look like the inboard vertical portion of z-bracket should line up the floor, but in reality, if I lined up the outboard edge of that bracket, so it's 1/16" hanging over the floor skin, everything would line up just fine.

Since it's not structural, I may elongate the screw hole so I can nudge it in inboard more to solve the problem.

N number

amaris said:

I have an extra z-bracket so I may make a new one and inset it 1/16" to make up the difference.

Larry, I've got 544rv on reserve. Hopefully one day we'll fly in somewhere at the same time.

Click to expand...

That would be cool. 1RV and 4RV. All we need is 2 & 3!