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WD-1002 alignment

T

tims88

Well Known Member
I know the WD-1002 brackets tend to give builders trouble but it seems like most people have to figure out how to get the top and bottom tabs pushed inwards far enough to be able to match drill them. For me it's the vertical tab that is not aligned well enough with the F-1040 upper fuse channel so the tab runs into the curved part of the channel.

PXL_20230712_030421046.jpg

The recommendation from Van's is to somehow push the tab upwards so that it fits where it needs to but I'm not really sure how to accomplish that with the skin and channel in place, and I'm skeptical that it can be moved as far as it needs to go. Has anyone else run into this problem with these brackets and if so how did you solve it?

My initial plan was to grind away everything below the line with the arrow in the picture below. The only problem with not getting the tab pushed upwards is that there isn't very much distance between the aft top hole and the edge of the steel tab.

PXL_20230712_030218143.MP.jpg
 
Mine were not that bad but I wedged some popsicle sticks under the bottom and then clamp it against the F-1040. The sticks raised the vertical tab enough that my holes had proper edge distance and the tab didn’t run into the radius and sat squarely in the web of the F-1040.
Good luck
 
Same thing, get a wood wedge / shim and tap it under the steel plate inside the channel from the rear towards the firewall. Once the plate is in the correct spot use a c clamp to hold it in place. Start drilling and put in clecos until complete. Do not trim the steel as you will need that for proper edge distance once all holes are drilled.
 
Same thing happened to me. My first mistake was not drawing a sharpie centerline on the weldment to verify edge distance before drilling.

Drilled the weldments blind and upon removal for deburring- found I had blown through the steel parts on a couple of holes. Ran up to Aurora from Eugene and got replacements. Was more careful the next day and found the alignment issue you described. Calls Vans support and got the “wedge and c clamp” response. When I questioned the wisdom of pre- stressing both the weldment and the aluminum, the response was “there are 900+ RV-10’s flying and they aren’t falling out of the sky”. Hardly a competent nor a reassuring reply.

We did the centerline markings, used wedges and clamps and drilled the weldments. 50 hours of flying, ok so far :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. It does look like I can get the tab raised high enough to get the proper edge distances and I got some pictures from another builder that show much just how much clamping is going to be necessary. I'll give it a try once I can find some more hands to get everything in place.

One more question related to this spot...

Has anyone had a gap between the F-1040 upper fuse channel and the F-1001B firewall upper angle like in the picture below:

IMG_20230717_133748.jpg

It's about a 1/16" gap and I assumed I would have to put a shim there to close the gap but after talking to another builder last night it sounds like this is another spot where it should be clamped down until it fits. Most of the tab on the F-1001B can easily be pushed down until it's flush with the channel but it's very rigid right there where the arrow is so it will take quite a bit of force to get them squeezed together.
 
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