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Front Floor Side Alignment
This seems a little weird. When match drilling, all was good and right. But now that I am installing the front floors, the outboard-most hole alignment is off (These are the holes on top of the joggle that attach to the channel which is in turn attached to the skin). The miss-alignment is off the same amount on both sides of the airplane. I can flex the skin/channel enough to get clecos in, but it seems to take a lot of force. Has anyone else encountered this?
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while im not even close to this part. is it possible you put the left on the right and vice versa?
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My floors required quite a bit of force in that area, too. I'd cleco it up, take a look at the outside contour, and if good install those rivets!
David |
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oil can
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Hi Joe,
I don't have any noticeable oil canning in that area, but I didn't check for that before installing the ribs. I'd like to believe that riveting in your ribs (vs. just clecos) will stabilize everything nicely. David |
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I too had that problem
I also remember having that problem. Maybe not quite as bad as yours but I do remember pushing on the side to get the clecos in.
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None
Don't have any oil canning (At least in the fuselage). I do have stick-on sound insulation in that area as well. (In case it has an effect)
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As I recall, I had about the same gap. I believe that the floors help with the shape of the outer skin in that area. Just a little inward pressure on the fuse skin, and mine went right together.
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Mine were not anywhere near that far off in alignment.
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I wonder why
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Also, to get the clecos in I have to push pretty hard on the side. I'm wondering if it makes sense to add a few more rivets to the floor/channel to increase the strength of that connection. Any thoughts on this idea? |
I'm at this point now.
I believe the landing gear weldments are installed just prior to this. Could that have something to do with it? I know my weldments are going to have to be flexed inorder to get them in.
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I remember it took a lot of "easing" to get the rivets in. The problem is that the fuselage angle that you rivet to is slightly angled away. Basically, I had to put a cleco through whichever floor hole looked the closest and then guide it into the longeron and then push up to get it in place. Once you have one in, the others are easier.
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I noticed that when I did my first inspection and took off the top floor panels it was very difficult to put the outboard screws back in. The trick was to install the outboard fasteners first and work toward the middle of the plane. I don't know why this went together easier but the center holes lined up perfectly using this method. Perhaps it will work the same way when attaching the riveted area of the floor. Might be worth a try.
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Can you describe oil canning? I am just installing the side skins and longerons so not to this step yet.
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I don't have any oil-canning.
I believe that the amount this is off may be variable based on how the builder made the bend in the front fuse side skin. |
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I wonder for future builders if it would be better to rivet the skins to the structure while the floors are clecoed in place (aside from the lower rivets which are covered by the floor). If I had done it that way, I'll bet I would have no oil-canning. |
Well I had to use much force while my wife placed the clecoes. I have oil canning, more on the right than the left. It looks symmetrical and almost as though it was meant to be there. For the life of me I cannot imagine how the floor pan can accept the tension it does with those few clecoes in the lower fuselage channel and not rip apart. Actually the oil panning I have looks a little stylish and I too wonder if it won't disappear as other structures are added. I plan to let the clecoes hold things in place a few days and watch to make sure a gremlin doesn't creep into the structure and make things worse.
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I'm thinking it would be better to drill using the outboard floor pan holes as guides into the lower fuselage side channel after the skins are riveted in place, not before. I don't think the floor pan should be used to twist the side channel into the correct position.
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Floor Panel (F1050) & Lwr Fuse Channel (F1041) Matched Drill Holes no longer line up?
Resurrecting an old post. I am having the same issue with mis-alignment between the match drilled holes in the the front floor panel (F1050) and lower fuselage channel (F1041).
Now that the skins are riveted in place, the holes do not line up. I saw in earlier posts, folks putting a knee to the outside of the skin to force it into alignment.....not sure if this is the approach I should take or just drill new holes an inch or two down from the first holes..... sure would like to understand why the no longer line up. You can notice in the photo, the edge of the floor panel and edge of the lower fuselage channel are diverging. Do other see this same divergence in these two parts....? |
Same problem..but hope to avoid
As I am muscling my way through chapter 29 I have come to the point of clecoing the front skins on for the first time. I have noticed what everyone has pointed out.
The lower F1040 side channel gets pulled away from the floor pans. I took all the steps necessary: 1.) twisted to 20 degrees-digital level confirmed 2.) Bent the skins to nearly be tension free on the bottom when in position (some builders have remarked that under bending can cause this problem) I have not match drilled anything yet. Is there a sequence that I can do to avoid the possible oil canning or need to use brute force to get something to line up. It has been stated so many times that if something doesn't line up right you probably did something wrong, because Vans makes such a precision kit. I was thinking about drilling the lower firewall bracket and the lower channel to the floor pans BEFORE doing the skins and leaving the tight curve underneath for last. Any ideas |
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