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Guilhermepilot said:
D643B492-9D6C-4E5C-BED4-D9BE67FC8B00_zpsp1pn21lq.jpg
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Guilherme, is that an extra baggage compartment I see? If so, how is access to it arranged? I have been thinking about doing something similar.

And congratulations, by the way. I'm a few months behind you, I think.
 
Hello,

My empennage is done ! Waiting for my QBwings and Fuselage?in April ! There is a shortage of QB kit at Van's Aircraft. It's a pity.

 
In the build!

All you need to do is keep putt'n little pieces together and over time it becomes an airplane!

I guess you know I bought Larry's RV7?
 
Congrats!!! Hoping to get there this year myself. Maybe even this summer, if things go really well.
 
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Wings are done

Finally. I thought I would never get here. Lucy's wings are done. Plus due to a fudged hole, I completely disassembled the Horizontal Stab and rebuild the skeleton using new forward spars, inboard ribs, reinforcement angles and doubler plates so the service bulletin is also done.
The factory is all cleaned and prepped and the fuse starts tomorrow
ru5hn8.jpg
 
That's a great feeling to have another kit under the belt - way to go. Some people find the fuse kit much more interesting than the wings but I enjoyed the wings as much as the fuse, plus they took less time. Just compare the thickness of the plans...Good luck!

==dave==
N102FM
 
Flap spars

I was wondering if anyone would notice. :D They (2) made a great plans stand. I clekoed them to the cradle so the whole rig comes off in a few seconds.
 
I too have a couple of not-so-perfect holes :eek: after installing the stab SB but with all those extra rivets, I think it will be ok.

If I were to do it again, I'd consider Cherry-Max for some of the more difficult locations (permitted by the SB).
 
Hi everyone. I received my empennage kit #74424 yesterday.
It's going to be a long journey, and I'm going to need a lot of help from this amazing community of pilots!
Thanks in advance....
 
Welcome

AndyWW said:
Hi everyone. I received my empennage kit #74424 yesterday.
It's going to be a long journey, and I'm going to need a lot of help from this amazing community of pilots!
Thanks in advance....
Click to expand...

Welcome Andy.
Good choice!:D check out the Tips page for gotchas on the 7 assembly.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome! I already benefited from joining VAF because I found out using the search facility that everyone gets a banana-shaped VS-808PP with their empennage....
 
VS spar

Don't get too aggressive trying to straighten the banana. The flanges can buckle and you'll have your first piece for the scrap pile.
 
AndyWW said:
Hi everyone. I received my empennage kit #74424 yesterday.
It's going to be a long journey, and I'm going to need a lot of help from this amazing community of pilots!
Thanks in advance....
Click to expand...

Hi Andy
We have friends in Engelfield Green and often stay with them when we are in the UK.
If you would like to, send me a PM with your contact details, and we will try to call in when we next visit.

Cheers
Jim Talbot
RV7-A ZK-JLT
Tauranga
New Zealand
 
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My fits-and-starts project is finally getting somewhere! Just wrapping up the fuselage, canopy frame is done and i'm getting ready for the "big cut." I know I still have a ton of work left, but it feels like a huge step in a way. Next up,figuring out what engine i'll go with ...

The canopy is just sitting there uncut, but dang if it doesn't look like a plane now!

AJyhBq0.jpg
 
you're in the home stretch now! I remember when I was fitting my canopy. I drove my Jeep into the garage looked at the plane and said Wow it actually looks like an airplane now! You will be flying very soon if you keep up a good pace!

Looks great!

::) CJ
 
Progress

Wow. That is moving. I'm at 2 years and just starting the fuse. You should be in the air next week at that rate. Congratulations.
 
Nice, Guilherme! I'm almost to that stage, just waiting on Skybolt fasteners to arrive as well as another prop extension (got bad info, from a Lycoming rep no less, on the flange bolt diameter. I shoulda flipped a coin. :().
 
Finally got some riveting done again... and today I FINALLY got my Sioux drill back! Only three-plus MONTHS for a warranty repair. Hope this sucker lasts a lifetime now.

 
Well, I'm not anywhere near as far along as Guilherme, but last night a friend from EAA 80 came over and helped me get the bottom skin riveted on the aft section, cleco on the center section and the forward skins... Lots more work to do but it's looking more like "airplane parts" now!

 
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Fuse

Looking good Dale.
Right behind you. I spent the day massaging the tail cone and bulkheads into submission.
 
wirejock said:
Looking good Dale.
Right behind you. I spent the day massaging the tail cone and bulkheads into submission.
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Bah. You have my sympathy. I must have spent a week or more trying to get that bloody thing right. Patience and persistence, you'll get it.
 
Spent the day making a center console / arm rest, 7 screws locking it in. Made it out of 7/8 C channel and .040 2420, came out to 34 Oz. Big enough for the IPad and back up paper.

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95030c59b96c7bfb7774561cf3670d8a_zps72ab5375.jpg
 
I took measurements off the side arm rest and built the center to match. It is VERRY sturdy to assist in getting my big but out.:D

04d8b39b2e445777c69506335c5c9341_zpseaeecbb9.jpg



1b9523ec1d9b8e2ce9ec52bd8aabf034_zps183a29bf.jpg
 
Had to pull the flap motor back out to get the nut plates installed. The bottom C Chanel is riveted to the cover. I have read where others have installed a console and it takes up a lot of real estate, this is only one inch wide. 30 seconds, seven screws and it is out.


e753336f56d19e307c86762ff615c7b9_zps1a1f3588.jpg
 
Oil cooler attachment

Guilhermepilot said:
I managed to fit a 10 row in place

Click to expand...

Guilhermepilot,

I have a nine row cooler mounted to the baffle, very similar. At about 60 hours I started seeing cracks in the baffle and the cooler mounting flange. The cracks in the expensive cooler flange really got my attention. I had initially mounted the cooler with three short bolts as shown in your photo. Recalling that Cessna and Piper mount these coolers with long bolts (AN4-40) that go through both cooler flanges and a ~3.25 inch spacer tube, I studied load paths of the two different attachment methods. The single flange attachment method obviously transfers all loads to the single flange. To over-simplify, the single flange mount sees pushing and pulling forces. the two-flange mount loads one flange with push forces, and the other flange with pull forces. The reversed bending of the single flange quickly leads to cracking in the bend. Putting the spacer between the two flanges cuts the bending in half at the very least, but FEA modeling shows even greater reductions, depending on boundary condition assumptions.

The ten-row cooler will be quite massive when filled with oil. The #4 baffle will certainly need some sort of strategic reinforcement to survive the roll frequency fatigue loading caused by the cantilevered oil cooler mass. I added significant aluminum structure in three directions to carry oil cooler loads to hard points. See Photo for current solution...testing continues!

As I get older I find that there is a difference between making it fit and making it survive.

Best regards,

- Roger





 
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RKellogg said:
Guilhermepilot,

I have a nine row cooler mounted to the baffle, very similar. At about 60 hours I started seeing cracks in the baffle and the cooler mounting flange. The cracks in the expensive cooler flange really got my attention. I had initially mounted the cooler with three short bolts as shown in your photo. Recalling that Cessna and Piper mount these coolers with long bolts (AN4-40) that go through both cooler flanges and a ~3.25 inch spacer tube, I studied load paths of the two different attachment methods. The single flange attachment method obviously transfers all loads to the single flange. To over-simplify, the single flange mount sees pushing and pulling forces. the two-flange mount loads one flange with push forces, and the other flange with pull forces. The reversed bending of the single flange quickly leads to cracking in the bend. Putting the spacer between the two flanges cuts the bending in half at the very least, but FEA modeling shows even greater reductions, depending on boundary condition assumptions.

The ten-row cooler will be quite massive when filled with oil. The #4 baffle will certainly need some sort of strategic reinforcement to survive the roll frequency fatigue loading caused by the cantilevered oil cooler mass. I added significant aluminum structure in three directions to carry oil cooler loads to hard points. See Photo for current solution...testing continues!

As I get older I find that there is a difference between making it fit and making it survive.

Best regards,

- Roger
Click to expand...

Roger, Nice beefy looking installation. What specification aluminum angle did you use? It does not appear to have an internal fillet radius, nor rolled at the outer flanges.
 
Guilhermepilot said:
I managed to fit a 10 row in place
Click to expand...

I notice you have the parallel valve engine. I have the same, and, even in Memphis hot summers, high oil temps have never been a problem for me with a nine row cooler. In fact, I need to block off the front of the cooler in winter to achieve oil temps over 135 degrees. I also had problems with cracks in the baffling there where the oil cooler is mounted and had to replace and reinforce the baffling there after less than 100 hours, as many others have. Anyone considering a larger cooler should think about maybe mounting it on the firewall instead.
 
Bill, IIRC, it is 6061-T6 angle 1 inch by .125. Might be overkill... The square-corner extrusion allows getting the bolts closer to the perpendicular flange. Maybe. It was on the shelf.

Jerry, Agree on both points, larger cooler cheats the heads out of more airflow, overcools oil. My heads are closer to redline than oil. Next time I will mount the cooler on the firewall and SCAT it to the baffles.

- Roger
 
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