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Steps

LettersFromFlyoverCountry

LettersFromFlyoverCountry

Well Known Member
The plans very on the size of the whole for steps in the skin and ribs. On one it says 1 1/2" on the other it says 1 5/16. I went with 1 1/2 in the baggage rib and it fits in perfectly. But there's no way to get the exertnal flange to fit on against the side skin because the weld bead (I have no idea what you call it) makes the whole thing like a rivet.

So drilled it to 1 3/4" which now makes it fit flush. However, the hole extends below the external flange (which is fairlyflush with the weldment), there's really no way as near as I can tell to get the unti to fit flush against the side skins without having an oversized hole.

Is there?
 
Yup, you need an oversized hole to make room for the weld bead. I started with a 1-1/2" hole and then enlarged it about 1/8" around the top and sides with a rotary cutter bit in the Dremel. I ended up avoiding the gap at the bottom, but I'm not sure it was worth the trouble. You can kind of see the shape I ended up with in this picture:

IMG_3873.jpg


Dave
 
I just bent in the lower flange corner a bit to wrap around the fuselage in that area, and put proseal on the back of the plate before riveting it in place. The proseal filled the little bit of hole / gap on the lower rear corner in my case.
 
It's amazing what you can do to make the step flange match the fuse with a vice, a large crescent wrench & a big hammer. Should be in the "what would I have done Different", but I would have used flush rivets to do over again. I've seen at least one RV with the step flange inside the fuse skin. Try that with a QB!

Derrell
RV7A QB
Finish
 
Hey that would be slick. And it wouldn't be hard, as near as I can tell. Just dimple the holes and countersink the step flange. Heck you could even use countersunk blind rivets. Trying to think why I SHOULDN'T do it that way. Anyone?
 
flush rivets on step

There was a thread a while back (probably 2-3 months ago), I think on the Yahoo 7 or 9 forum where someone asked that question of Van's. The long and short of it, if I remember correctly, is that, when asked, Van's didn't think flush rivets would be strong enough and, in fact, at least one of the respondents had said that their flush riveting of the steps began to tear out later.

Sorry I can't be of more help on the specific thread, but I can never make the search engine work on the Yahoo forums. Just repeating what I remembered hearing.

Steve
 
If it's any consolation to anyone, I used the steel pop rivets to anchor my steps in my QB and after way over a year, they are holding just fine.

I trimmed the lower aft corner off on mine so it would fit better.

Roberta

step32wp.jpg
 
alpinelakespilot2000 said:
There was a thread a while back (probably 2-3 months ago), I think on the Yahoo 7 or 9 forum where someone asked that question of Van's...
Click to expand...

Here's a copy of the old thread: http://www.dualrudder.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8223

The conclusion was:
I discussed this with Van's when I was building, and they said that they
had done one with flat head screws, and that within a year, the screw
heads had sheared off, due to the sharp edge of the flange at the bottom
of the countersink cutting through the screw. Aluminum rivets would be
damaged much sooner. Of course this was with one of their demo birds,
with a couple of boardings/unboardings per day. When you're all
finished, the last thing you'll notice about your plane are these
rivets.

Ross/N2SU 280 hrs
Click to expand...

and
I did contact Vans and their response was "Sure, but we have not
tested it". They suggested I ask the group to see if anyone else
has. I'll go with the flush rivets too. Thanks for the feedback!

Paul
Click to expand...

Take your pick ;)
 
We have a -9A in my shop with the step plates inside the fuselage. It was a little extra work but it sure looks good!
Mel...DAR
 
I met someone at Sun-n-Fun who had retractable steps.
Does anyone know this guy or has seen his setup?
From the outside, he would turn the step & it would slide down to enable use.
Once inside, I believe he'd pull a lever to retrack.
It was pretty slick but I never did get his name. I've been putting off adding the steps while lookng for a better way.

DanLandry
[email protected]
RV7a, N527DL reserved
Lots of finishing stuff
http://www.adv-sol.net/rv7
 
Dremel tool rotary bit

Dave:

I am curious what the p/n is for the Dremel bit you used. Did it work well?

Thanks.

Greg
 
The Dremel cutter works great. I used it for the leg cut-outs in the bottom skin on my -7A as well. It's good for removing lots of metal, but it takes some practice using it so it doesn't dig in too much. I usually follow it up with the drum sander in the Dremel.

I'm not sure exactly what part number it was now, but this is a similar one from Sears.

Dave
 
I used a Dremel with a bit to cut sheetrock & soft metals. They are available at Home Depot, Lowes & any hardware Store. It looks like an ordinary 1/8 inch drill bit, but has small flutes on the side to cut with.

Derrell
 
Retractable Steps

I met someone at Sun-n-Fun who had retractable steps.
Does anyone know this guy or has seen his setup?
Click to expand...

The aircraft seen at SNF was probably the RV-9A built by Mark Phillips. Mark incorporated a lot of unique features on his plane including the hidden wing tip hinges that you can read about in the last issue of the RVator.

His RV-9A can be viewed in the "RV of the week" section #6/2005.

Mark Phillips-Columbia, TN
[email protected]
 
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