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Question for 7, 7A Builders (who have mounted wings)

jarvis

Well Known Member
I have trimmed my rear spars slightly smaller than the "full size" illustration on P38 of the drawings :rolleyes:
1001362-M.jpg

The blue line in the photo shows my cut versus the "full size". I'm under by approx. 1/16 on the angle and at the bottom--roughly 3/32 on the side.
Will this still give me the required edge distance...or do I need to order new parts and start drilling out rivets???

Any and all help much appreciated.
 
Just try to mount them as-is. I doubt you'll have any edge-distance problems based on your picture and description. Remember that the edge distance is from the *center* of the hole to the edge of the material, not the perimeter of the hole to the edge of the material. If you do end up having an edge-distance problem, Van's engineers have a fix for it that doesn't involve drilling everything out.

In fact, most people I've helped mount wings (including myself) end up removing more material than called for in the plans due to forward sweep of the wings. Again, I don't think you're going to have an issue. Sleep well tonight and don't sweat this.
 
Like Jamie mentioned, I had to trim my rear spar even more when fitting the wings.

No worries!
 
You should think about this some more. It's possible you're getting some questionable advice here. You may, indeed have to trim some of the spar to get it to fit, but you usually don't trim two sides of the the spar and you've "trimmed" three already (although the top part probably won't come back to bite you).

Be absolutely sure you measured properly because that drawing can be very misleading about exactly how big that stub is supposed to be.

First, there is VERY little room to spare when drilling this hole.

Second, the extent to which you may have to take a little of the doubler stud off is often predicated more on the spacer that's in the "fork." You may not have to remove any and you'd be OK.

Or, maybe your spacer is 1/16" wider than it should be in which case, you may well be in trouble, only now you've got a completed wing to take apart because Van's is pretty clear that his is a no-nonsense component.

Ask me how I know.

Here's how I misread the original drawing and you can see how the very little difference came back to bite me.

overlay.jpg


plans_overlay.jpg


Now, will this be the same for you? I don't know. You "may" end up with a slight rear sweep of the wing (unlikely, but it's possible) in which case you'd have to bring the spar out a bit. Or you may have to bring the rear spar up when setting incidence angle. Prong, edge distance violation!

Or you could end up with exactly the same part I did and exactly the same incidence angle and maybe you drill 1/32" different than did in the "box" that you have that is the "safe" zone for drilling. Then you end up with no problem.

Or maybe you drill a slight angle inboard (and/or down) when you go to drill the critical hole.

Be very careful here. This particular part is, in fact, not a place where people on a bulletin board can say "build on, no worries" with any degree of certainty. I respect them very much, but if you're getting validation here on your mistake, it's not a guarantee.

This is serious.

BTW, you don't say how far along you are. Is the wing completed? Is it just the "doubler and fork" you have in your hand?

Is it a pain in the neck drilling out rivets? Oh yeah. But you should see what it's like when you go to mate the wings and blow the edge distance.

I know this isn't the answer you want to hear. But you're going to have a little voice in your head from now until the time you mate the wings and for me, personally, the most important thing I've learned in building my airplane -- sometimes, the hard way as the giggles from people who come to look at my project demonstrate -- is when to listen to that voice.
 
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rear spar

When it comes time to commit to drilling the hole for the bolt I would strongly suggest making a drill jig to assure the hole is square to the surface of the spar.

Here's a link to a photo of a jig setup

http://unclephil.blogspot.com/2004/09/support_10.html

I also have some other setup information on setting the incidence on the rv7 page on my main website cobbin.com

Good luck...

Remember, measure measure measure.... before cutting!
 
Hey, Phil, welcome to VAF! Guys, Phil has a Bridgeport in his hangar which he has converted to run as a CNC rig with his own software. It's usually pretty humbling when he comes over and drags out the micrometer.:( But he's been a great help with the -10, especially machining the cutouts on those control column mounts.
 
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