Earlier in the week while making preparations for the RV-12?s first flight, a long taxi was made per the Matco brake conditioning procedure. Upon returning to the hangar and shutting down, I noticed the S-1207 bushing had parted company from the S-1201 spinner. The taxing was done during late evening so searches for the bushing in the near darkness turned out to be futile. (The bushing was found the following morning and looked seemingly unscathed but by then I had a new one on the way).
Van?s plans were followed during the initial instillation and Loctite 242 (blue) was used to secure the bushing to the spinner. And yes, everything was clean, both Acetone and Alcohol were used to clean the surfaces prior to instillation. Based on my experience and that of one other builder that I know of ? I?m wondering how many other RV-12 builders have had the S-1207 bushing part company from the spinner?
I decided to use a stronger adhesive for the job than Loctite 242. Silicone was briefly considered, but did not want to create an issue with paint not sticking to the spinner later down the road ? so went with some fuel tank sealant to install the replacement bushing I ordered. Sure, it will make removing the S-1207 bushing much more of a challenge if it ever gets worn out, but think I would prefer that over having the bushing parting company from the aircraft. I used a thin layer of fuel tank sealant over the bushing and under the lip on the bushing. On the inside of the spinner, I tooled fuel tank sealant up onto the sides of the bushing.
Hindsight being 20/20 ? if I had it to do over, I would use Loctite 242 per the plans but wipe all excess away from the inside of the spinner and only apply the fuel tank sealant up onto the portion of the bushing that protrudes into the inside of the spinner to prevent the S-1207 bushing from working forward. Replacement would be far easier than the way I did it, in that, the tank sealant could easily be scraped away from the surface of the bushing with an X-ACTO knife and the bushing popped out as usual.
Van?s plans were followed during the initial instillation and Loctite 242 (blue) was used to secure the bushing to the spinner. And yes, everything was clean, both Acetone and Alcohol were used to clean the surfaces prior to instillation. Based on my experience and that of one other builder that I know of ? I?m wondering how many other RV-12 builders have had the S-1207 bushing part company from the spinner?
I decided to use a stronger adhesive for the job than Loctite 242. Silicone was briefly considered, but did not want to create an issue with paint not sticking to the spinner later down the road ? so went with some fuel tank sealant to install the replacement bushing I ordered. Sure, it will make removing the S-1207 bushing much more of a challenge if it ever gets worn out, but think I would prefer that over having the bushing parting company from the aircraft. I used a thin layer of fuel tank sealant over the bushing and under the lip on the bushing. On the inside of the spinner, I tooled fuel tank sealant up onto the sides of the bushing.
Hindsight being 20/20 ? if I had it to do over, I would use Loctite 242 per the plans but wipe all excess away from the inside of the spinner and only apply the fuel tank sealant up onto the portion of the bushing that protrudes into the inside of the spinner to prevent the S-1207 bushing from working forward. Replacement would be far easier than the way I did it, in that, the tank sealant could easily be scraped away from the surface of the bushing with an X-ACTO knife and the bushing popped out as usual.
