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Flap Skin Alignment?

RV7Factory

RV7Factory

Chief Obfuscation Officer
Take a look at this...

061217_001.jpg


Anyone seen this before? If so, did you overcome it by bending the TE on the brake?

It appears that the holes in the top skin do not line up with the holes in the skeleton. To cleco the top skin to the bottom of the wing (where it wraps around) I have to push down and forward, causing what you see in the picture. If I hold the pieces together where I think they should be for a nice flat top and bottom, all the holes on the bottom are about 1D off.

Bending the TE on the brake might help a bit, but for a truly flat fit, I will need to push the holes on the bottom surface of the top skin forward and I am not sure how to accomplish that.

Any suggestions?

I am going to send an email to Van's, but thought I would ask here as well.
 
Can't tell very well from the picture, but it looks like the rib flanges are turned in? Since I can't see the cleco tips, I think they are.
If so, they should be turned out, which would effectively turn the rib upside down, from the way it is installed, and the holes will line up.
Just a guess...........
 
what Steve said, and. . .

I did bend the trailing edge in the brake a small amount, and there is a spacer that goes under the aft end of the ribs.
 
Yeah Brad, if that's the outboard side of the flap, it should be flange out. The inboard rib is flange in, assembled with blinds...

:)
 
Sorry guys, I wasn't clear, but this is the inboard end of the flap and it is correctly assembled with the flanges pointing outboard (or inside the flap). The spacers are not there (for the picture), but when they are, they don't make a lick of difference.

This problems exists at both ends of both flaps. At first I thought I must have assembled something wrong, but I have checked, double-checked, and double-double-checked everything. :) Besides, everything else fit fine until I got to this point. I'll head out once again and check the orientation of everything one more time.
 
What does it look like if you take the last cleco or two out, particularly out of the bottom flange? Does it sit right then?
 
Bend It

Brad,

It appears to me that if you bend that TE in your brake then it will come into alignment.

To my way of thinking, you should bend the trailing edge such that the ribs fit into it well without having to be clecoed, and without having to pry the skin apart to get them in to begin with.

At this point, it looks as if you were to take the clecos out, it would spring open much wider. I suggest doing the bend and then seeing how the holes line up - I bet they do.

George
 
dan said:
What does it look like if you take the last cleco or two out, particularly out of the bottom flange? Does it sit right then?
Click to expand...
Nope, if I take the aft two bottom clecos out, it does help somewhat, but the cleco that attaches it to the bottom skin still pulls it forward and creates much the same distortion. Thanks.
 
Misfitting skin

Hi Brad

This looks suspiciously like my left elevator. That turned out to be a mis-bend skin. As someone told me, the computer punching is very acurate. The skin then goes into a brake for bending. If the bend is a 1/16th off, then it just doesn't fit right. In fact, looked just like that. Is you other flap funky also?

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Fuselage
San Ramon,CA
 
Brad,


I had the exact same problem with both my skins and it looked just like your picture. This is a fairly common problem. I tried to the bending brake trick as you did and it didn't help either. I ended up calling Vans and having both skins replaced for free. They were pretty good about it. My advice is don't mess around with them any longer just call Vans and have them replaced.
 
rjmart1n said:
Brad,


I had the exact same problem with both my skins and it looked just like your picture. This is a fairly common problem. I tried to the bending brake trick as you did and it didn't help either. I ended up calling Vans and having both skins replaced for free. They were pretty good about it. My advice is don't mess around with them any longer just call Vans and have them replaced.
Click to expand...
Thanks guys! I am sort of suspecting that they are a little "off", but I kinda wanted to hear that it wasn't just me. :)
 
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Just a follow up...

I tried bending the TE in the brake... no luck, it made little if any difference. :(

Early this morning I received an email from Van's informing me that new flap skins were on their way. :D The skins were mis-bent. They say they know what caused the problem, and had fixed it.

Thanks for your help guys!!!
 
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