Riveted rear spars to ribs

Riveted the rear spars to the wing ribs. I tried to use the squeezer but it was cumbersome with several different rivet sizes and with the flanges in the way. So I switched to the gun. This was much easier.

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And of course, no section is complete without a few mistakes. I used the wrong size rivets in ribs behind the doublers. I used 4-4’s and needed 4-5’s the shop heads were too thin to be acceptable. So I drilled them all out. Nine rivets in total. I couldn’t punch the rivets out because there was nothing to back them up when I hit them with the punch. So I had to drill them all the way out. I was super careful but the holes are enlarged ever so slightly. If this wasn’t a critical structure, I’d probably just re-rivet it but this area carries the load from the ailerons and flaps. So I’ll go with a larger river to ensure structural soundness. I order some -5 rivets, a #21 drill, and a 5/32″ rivet set from Spruce.

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I also put in an order with Van’s for some fuel tank sealant.

 

Today’s Time (hours): 2.0
Wing Time (hours): 69.0
Total Time (hours): 280.0

Fixed the right aileron hinge and riveted to rear spar

Did some flying with Jared today in his RV-14A. Awesome day dancing around some scattered clouds and some fun aerobatics. Thanks for the great flight today, Jared! The aerobatic training is definitely paying off. Sorry no pics. I was having too much fun!

Meanwhile back at the airplane factory…

Received the replacement parts from vans and did the little bit of fabrication necessary to prepare the doublers and attach brackets.

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Deburred and primed the new parts with SEM rattle can primer. Riveted the attach brackets to the hinge.

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Riveted the hinge and doublers to the right rear spar.

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The mistake cost me $45 in parts and an hour and a half of build time.

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Got my new 3/8″ reamer from McMaster Carr. Used it in the drill press to precisely size the rear spar attach holes. The twisted flutes cut like butter.

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Clecoed the rear spars to the wing ribs. Ready to rivet tomorrow.

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Today’s Time (hours): 2.0
Wing Time (hours): 67.0
Total Time (hours): 278.0

Finished riveting everything to the rear spars… almost.

Finished riveting all the stuff to the spars…

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I really struggled riveting the aileron hinge brackets to the spar. Couldn’t get the squeezer in there. My rivet set wasn’t long enough to clear the bracket. So I had to use the offset rivet set. But that one is thicker and interfered with the bracket rivets. Mangled a bunch of rivets and drilled them out. Ended up mangling the bracket and bending the doubler drilling out one of them. Thankfully the spar was undamaged.

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I drilled out all the rivets and disassembled the brackets and doublers. The hinge is fine. Emailed Van’s to send me a new doubler and angle bracket.

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On the other wing I had the brilliant idea to try shooting the rivets for the hinge bracket from the other side of the spar. This worked a lot better.

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Should have replacement parts by next weekend when I get back from Florida.

Today’s Time (hours): 2.0
Wing Time (hours): 65.0
Total Time (hours): 276.0

Wing ribs complete

Riveted the forward flanges of all the ribs to the spar with the rivet gun. My riveting seems to be getting better… Didn’t have to drill any out. I set the pressure at the compressor to 75psi for the -4 rivets. This seemed to work really well. I had tried a lower pressure in the past and the manufactured head would get all beat up. At the lower pressure, I had to hit the rivet so many times that I think it was getting work hardened.

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I also finished installing the AN3 hardware and torquing to spec. Kinda sorta starting to look like wings…img_2291

 

Picked all the parts (including the service bulletin kit) for the rear spar.img_2293

 

Today’s Time (hours): 2.0
Wing Time (hours): 54.5
Total Time (hours): 265.5

Primed everything and started assembly

 

Wiped everything down with acetone and then shot primer. I did the spars first, then the ribs in two batches, and finally all the other small parts.

 

 

Riveted the flap hinges and hinge ribs to the ribs. I started using the squeezer but it couldn’t reach most of the rivets so just switched to the gun and shot the rest of them.

 

 

Assembled and riveted the the torque tube brackets and riveted them to the inboard ribs.

 

 

Clecoed the ribs to the spars and reinstalled the AN3 hardware and torqued everything down. I also installed the snap bushing in the systems holes in all the ribs. Many of them were a bit loose. I’ll have to give some thought on how I want to resolve this.

 

 

Today’s Time (hours): 7.0
Wing Time (hours): 52.5
Total Time (hours): 263.5

 

Rinse, repeat, right spar complete

Match drilled the J channel to the spar.

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Machine countersunk the nutplate attach holes.

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Riveted in the nutplates

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Countersunk the screw holes.

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Machine countersunk all the skin attach holes.

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Riveted in the nutplates at the tip end of the spar.

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Riveted the doubler to the spar and installed the tank attach nutplates.

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Final drilled, deburred, scuffed and primed the aileron bell crank brackets

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Installed and torqued the aileron bell crank brackets.

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Right spar done!

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Today’s Time (hours): 4.5
Wing Time (hours): 21.5
Total Time (hours): 232.5

 

Left spar complete

Riveted the spar to the doubler with the 5 AN470 rivets using the squeezer. Then shot the tank attach nutplates using the gun.

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Final drilled and deburred the left aileron brackets.

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Scuffed and primed the aileron brackets with rattle can.

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Installed and torqued the aileron brackets to the spar.

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Put up the left spar and moved the right spar to the bench. Hopefully I’ll get that one knocked out tomorrow.

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Today’s Time (hours): 1.0
Wing Time (hours): 17.0
Total Time (hours): 228.0

 

Countersunk ALL the holes

Countersunk the tank attach screw holes.

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Installed the inspection plate nut plates and countersunk the screw holes.

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Countersunk all the skin attach holes.

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Installed the snap bushings and the the four nutplates at the tip end of the spar.

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Today’s Time (hours): 2.0
Wing Time (hours): 16.0
Total Time (hours): 227.0

 

Aft Fuselage Complete!

My replacement cover plate arrived from Van’s. I deburred it, broke the edges, and dimpled the correct side this time! I’ll prime the inside next time I shoot primer.

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We riveted the top skin in place. We moved the fuselage to the floor and Remy crawled inside and bucked while I shot.

Still looks more comfortable than a Delta coach seat.

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And that completes the aft fuselage!

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All that’s left is fitting and drilling the horizontal stabilizer and elevators and a bit of fiberglass work on the tips. Then the entire empennage kit will be complete!

Today’s Time (hours): 3.0
Empennage Time (hours): 186.0
Total Time (hours): 186.0

 

Riveted the top side skins

Clecoed and bolted the vertical stabilizer to the aft fuselage and match drilled the upper attachment holes.

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Rolled the aft fuselage on its side to rivet the top side skins.

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Finished riveting both top side skins to the aft fuselage.

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Clecoed the top skin in place.

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Tomorrow I’ll rivet the top skin and that will complete the aft fuselage.

 

Today’s Time (hours): 3.0
Empennage Time (hours): 183.0
Total Time (hours): 183.0