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One piece wing skin....Revisited

G

glenn654

Well Known Member
For those of you who have installed a one piece lower wing skin (-6 or -7),

Did you use both lines of rivets where the original two piece skins met or just one?


Glenn Wilkinson
RV-4
N654RV @ MLJ
 
Why would you use a second line of rivets?

The first line goes through both skins and the rib. The second line only goes through the 2 wing skins. Since you only have one skin, the rivets would do absolutely nothing.
 
Glenn,

I did this on my -6. I got a long sheet of .032 aluminum and used the two that came in the kit as templates. Got a long aluminum angle to use as a straightedge and a couple of sheets of plywood on the hangar floor to act as a backstop for the drill. Drill, cleco, drill, cleco. I ignored the second row of rivets as they don't hit a rib, basically they would serve no purpose in a single skin scenario. Hope this answers your question, if not, give me a shout.
 
Thanks for the info guys...

I asked the question w/o checking any plans so I didn't realize that the second row of rivets didn't attach to a rib or something.


Glenn Wilkinson
 
bkthomps said:
but you'd be running .032" all the way out....??
Click to expand...

I considered the one-skin option when I built my wings, but this is the main reason I didn't do it. It came down to a choice between having a seam or adding more weight. I chose the seam.

Plus, if you order the sheet for a seamless one-piece skin, it's not pre-punched. So it's more work and more money spent. I was told you can lay the two pre-punched skins down over it and drill it accurately that way, but that means you still have to buy the two skins used in the standard kit. So you spend more money, and you're left with two skins to throw away.
 
One more question.....

Is there any reason why the one piece lower skin could not be riveted first and then rivet the two upper skins last to make installing the lower skin easier?

Glenn Wilkinson
 
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