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.

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.

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.

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

Riveted the hinge and doublers to the right rear spar.

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

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.

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

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…

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.

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.

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.

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

Primed and started riveting the rear spar and Ordered Engine and Prop

Had an awesome time at Sun N Fun with Jared, Wes, and the Family. That’s me ordering an engine and prop in Van’s tent! And that’s me and Remy sitting in the RV14 at Van’s booth. Suddenly this is getting more real.

We got back from Lakeland this morning and I got right back to work. No rest for the wicked! Primed the rear spars and all of their associated parts.

Clecoed the aileron hinges together.

…and riveted them.

Clecoed the spars together.

Started riveting the doublers to the spars with the squeezer.

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Wing Time (hours):	63.0
Total Time (hours):	274.0

More work on rear spar

Final drilled #30 the spar, doublers, rib flanges, and aileron hinge attachments.

Machine countersunk the flange holes where they match up to the doublers.

Machine countersunk the doubler plates. Also drilled the attach hole to 11/32 after this photo was taken. I need to pick up a 3/8″ reamer to finish the attach holes in the fork and doubler once they’re matched up and riveted to the spar.

Dimpled all the #40 holes in both flanges of the rear spar.

Everything is ready to prime and assemble when I get back from Sun n Fun next week. Pretty happy with this weeks progress.

Today’s Time (hours):	1.0
Wing Time (hours):	60.0
Total Time (hours):	271.0

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.