The Deed is Done

I just faxed in my fuselage kit order to Vans a couple hours ago. It looks like I might finish this thing one day after all.

I'm looking forward to getting 'new' kit. I bought my wing kit "used" and I am getting tired of finding a mistake or missing part everytime I turn around.

While I have you reading:

I discovered yesterday that I will probably need all new parts for my right fuel tank.

Here is the story. When I bought the wing kit (used) I noticed that all the ribs for the right fuel tank were drilled, dimpled, and attached to the baffle. I also chacked and saw that the skin was drilled but not dimpled - I just figured they stopped before getting to dimpling the skin. Well, I realized much later that only 1 half of the skin was drilled. I figure that they mis-alligned or damaged the skin and tried to replace it.

My idea was to cut large holes in the rear baffle and then strap the skin to the bafle using wood blocks as spacers. I could then reach in and match-drill the ribs to the skin. Once the skin was cleco'd to the ribs, I could replace the baffle and match-drill it to the ribs also.

Well, I stated to mess with this yesterday and then realised that the spacing from the inboard rib flange to the skin edge is not the specified 1/2" but closer to 3/8 which doesn't really leave enough room for nutplates to attach the root-fairing later....so, any ideas or do I need to order all new tank bits?

here are a few thoughts...

I would not necessarily scrap the whole thing due to the flange to edge distance. 3/8" should be adequate for the nut plate but a bit of careful measuring for clearances is in order. You may even be able to cheat a bit on your edge distances here. You do not need to use #8 screws either. They are way over kill for this application in my opinion. Vans called out #8 screws because "that is what we had readily available and was common to the rest of the kit". The disadvantage of smaller screws, like a #6 is that they can be stripped more easily. However, you can pick up a bit of room that way.

Now, it sounds like a bunch of work to match drill these. Your method sounds reasonable, but at some point you may be better off cutting your losses and doing the job right. It will be tough to get in there and drill those holes but not impossible. Evaluate where you want to spend your time. As with most problems you will discover, contemplating them often takes more time than doing them.

Lastly, are you sure the tank skin was fit well to the wing? If it was not, then you will be disspointed with the final fit. Those skins are supposed to be drilled with the tank fitted to the wing in the wing jig and strapped down. You stand a good chance that things will shift a bit when you match drill out of the jig. It is hard to do perfectly.

Thank you for the input. I was considering #6 screws also since this would not be a structual item.

As far as the tank goes: I am also concerned about misalignment when building off the wing. If it does work I save a couple hundred dollars and if it doesn't I'm back where I started so it is probably worth a try at least. At the worst, I waste a few hours of labor trying to match-drill the tank. I will do some checking and make sure the #6 nutplates will work first.

On a side note, it would be really nice if the tank plans or manual mentioned the nutplates that go on this inner skin edge. Without them shown on the plans, I think it is easy to overlook the importance of that skin overlap.

Congrats!!!

Build on...

I'm Right there with you! I placed my Wing Kit Order today!!! After reading about your hold ups, I am glad I chose to build my wings rather than buying a used set. Now the wait begins.......
-david

Flyguytki said:

I'm Right there with you! I placed my Wing Kit Order today!!! After reading about your hold ups, I am glad I chose to build my wings rather than buying a used set. Now the wait begins.......
-david

Click to expand...

Congrats on placing the order! Good to get that in before the next price hike.

Not a lot of work was done on the wings when I bought them, but of course it is never the small cheap parts that have issues...haha

The problem with buying a used kit is that it is really hard to see these small issues when everything is disassembled. It's easy to pick out bad rivets or just plain poor workmanship, but how do you tell if dimensions are incorrect - especially for a first-time builder.

I will chalk it up to another learning experience and keep moving forward.

Since I purchased my Tail brand new off of someone else This is the first order I have placed with Vans, How long does it usually take to recieve a response from them saying they recieved your order??
-david

Flyguytki said:

Since I purchased my Tail brand new off of someone else This is the first order I have placed with Vans, How long does it usually take to recieve a response from them saying they recieved your order??
-david

Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing since this is my first 'real' order from them (I have ordered parts on-line, but not a kit).

I faxed my order yesterday morning and got a call this evening from Vans saying my c/c was declined (the c/c thought it was a fraudulent charge snd blocked it). I got that cleared up right away and didn't hear back from them again, so I am assuming my order was processed.

Like watching grass grow

"WingsOnWheels - I was wondering the same thing since this is my first 'real' order from them (I have ordered parts on-line, but not a kit)."
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I ordered the Finishing Kit weeks ago, and the anticipation builds, with an expected (per web site) wait of 8 wks. The estimate was 'the week of Dec 7th' but that came without notification, so I called them. "They're still pulling parts but they're working on it. Probably next week." (That was last week, and still no word.)

It's like waiting for Santa Claus now. The order is in, and it will get here when it gets here. Good news - Vans is busy, and in this economy, that's good for all of us builders.

Colin - congrats on ordering the new fuse - I'll quit scanning the hangars in Mesa for an orphan.

Thanks for keeping an eye out for me! At least I have the right wing and tanks to keep me busy for a while. I figure that the holidays will stretch that 8 weeks out to 9 or ten. I just started the right wing last week and I am already to the point of fitting the aileron hinges...I guess I better pause and build that right aileron...hahaha

I received confirmations for my wing and fuselage orders about 4 weeks after I sent them in. The ship date for the fuselage kit was supposed to be 12/7 but as yet (12/18), have not received any confirmation that it was shipped. Guess they are running behind.

Called today and My order was recieved, I should be recieving a ship date in the mail soon...

Well, I went ahead and tried that BS plan I made up to recover the right fuel tank. To my suprise, it actually worked!

I cut access holes in the rear baffle and strapped the skin to the rib/baffle assembly and then match-drilled the skin to the ribs.

Here is the assembly with the access holes cut. You can see that the ribs are drilled and dimpled, but the skin on the top is not.



Here is the assembly all strapped together with wood blocks used to take the load of the straps.





Here is the tank attached to the wing. All I have to do now is purchase a new baffle and match-drill it to the skin and ribs. I don't think it will pass the leak test it the current condition..haha. Overall it came out pretty good the skin is about 0.030 out of square, nothing a few minutes with a file can't fix.

Awesome!

Way to use your head Colin.
One item to be careful with will be dimpling that inboard skin that was left a tad short. You may need to file down your die set so it does not interfere with the flange. But, a guy like you probably has that already thought through!
As with most problems, you probably spent more time thinking about the fix than it actuall took. Well done.