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RV 14A bottom cowl installation

Georges G

Member
How do you proceed for the bottom cowl installation?
Mine is very difficult to do especially because of the rubber inlets.
Georges
expect first flight April 2018
 
They are difficult to install for me also. I always have at least two people and it can be frustrating. I'm tearing the front rubber seals and plan on replacing with reinforced seals like found on the SuperCub cowl seals or older model aircraft for that matter.
 
The bottom cowl is a very tight fit. Two people is the minimum. We find the following works fairly reliably:

- with one person on each side, hold the cowl level with final position about 4-6" low, and slide rearward until the aft edge is aligned with the final mounting position, using the aft-most hand (each person, each side) to hold the top edge out about an inch from the fuselage
- raise the cowl straight vertically behind the spinner (it helps to have a cardboard or thin plastic protector taped to the back of the spinner to protect both the cowl and spinner, and to reduce any edges from catching)
- the baffle seals around the inlet will resist, but the cowl can be raised into position with a little jockeying
- attach one side (aft edge piano hinge, if standard install)
- the now freed up person (or a third person if you have one) then uses a suitable prying object (we use tongue depressor sticks) to pry the baffle seal from below the inlet where it naturally goes, to on top where it needs to lay. This is done first on the side of the cowl that is not yet pinned in place - you get some movement by flexing the forward edge near the inlet downward and forward
- once that side is oriented, pin it at the aft edge
- move to the other side, removing the pin and holding the cowl in place as done on the other side (an inside out from the fuselage), now allowing flexing on that side and a repeat with the tongue depressor
- finally pin the remaining aft edge

We have also observed some tearing of the baffle seal near the inlet, but the cowl has been on and off a lot since it's the first year and I'm at 140+ hours.

YMMV - I hope this is suitably clear to make some sense.
 
Methodically and carefully

I have been prepping and fitting the upper and bottom cowlings now for the past week, by myself.

You can detach, remove and reattach the bottom cowl by yourself. It has to be done slowly, follow the procedure suggested in the manual and the previous post; and once you have done it a dozen times or so it isn't so tough. I also use some strips of Gorilla Tape to hold things in position while I go through the two or three positioning steps getting it on; a couple on each side of the fuselage/cowling and at the front attached to the spinner back plate. The side tapes get pulled snug and re-attached once or twice in the process

On and off lots of times while checking fit to the fuselage and to the top cowl.

Oh yea > I also fabricated four short (2") hinge pins to use to temporarily hold things together, but you do need to insert the full length ones when checking the fit and gaps to adjoining parts.
 
Last edited:
I have been prepping and fitting the upper and bottom cowlings now for the past week, by myself.

You can detach, remove and reattach the bottom cowl by yourself. It has to be done slowly, follow the procedure suggested in the manual and the previous post; and once you have done it a dozen times or so it isn't so tough. I also use some strips of Gorilla Tape to hold things in position while I go through the two or three positioning steps getting it on; a couple on each side of the fuselage/cowling and at the front attached to the spinner back plate. The side tapes get pulled snug and re-attached once or twice in the process

On and off lots of times while checking fit to the fuselage and to the top cowl.

Oh yea > I also fabricated four short (2") hinge pins to use to temporarily hold things together, but you do need to insert the full length ones when checking the fit and gaps to adjoining parts.

I'm not sure I would like to try Gorilla tape on my painted surfaces?
 
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