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08-11-2015, 02:15 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 130
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Tear in Dimple hole - what to do?
Hey guys,
While dimpling the rear spar on the right elevator for my RV10 with my pneumatic squeezer, I justtt missed one of the holes and tore a little flap of material out of the side of the dimple.
Here's the inside of the dimple: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kbwd4x4sg5...52.55.jpg?dl=0
And the outside: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ko7u2il2c4...51.46.jpg?dl=0
You can see where the male end of the dimpler caught the edge of the hole and tore it a little. Dimpling in the proper hole pushed the little flap back down, resulting in that tiny tear on either side.
Here's one final picture with the location of the hole: https://www.dropbox.com/s/74yfo5jx2r...02.51.jpg?dl=0 It?s right where my finger?s pointing.
What do you guys recommend I do? Will this require a replacement piece? I?ve read that you can stop drill the end of these cracks to prevent them from spreading - I just don?t know if this is small enough that it?ll just get clamped down by the rivet. I guess alternatively I might cleco everything together again, drill a hole on either side and add an extra rivet?
Thanks in advance for your help. I sent the same note to Van's builder support and will report back what they have to say.
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08-11-2015, 02:44 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Bartlesville, OK
Posts: 237
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Well cracks don't just get clamped down and disappear out of sight. Especially if a crack is on the tension flange of a beam, it will be encouraged to spread.
If it were me, and if, -it is not in the area that the piano hinge attaches -it has at least .3" edge distance -the skin has not been dimpled yet Then I would try to clean the hole up round to .199" diameter and install a NAS20426A-6 (soft #6) rivet through the spar only, using the existing dimple and shave the head flush. (The picture looked like a 6 would clean it up... I could be wrong).
Then double flush the pilot hole in the skin and shaving both sides flush.
Then add a rivet midspaced on both sides
Probably sounds overkill to some people but that is just what I would do.
Van's may have something completely different to say about it.
__________________
Andrew Austin
RV-10
-Flying!
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08-11-2015, 03:14 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Seattle (Edmonds) and Iowa
Posts: 200
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I'd say Andrew has a good approach. At a minimum, you need to drill or file out the hole enough to remove the cracks/tears. You could perhaps flatten the dimple and abandon the skin hole (flatten that dimple as well if needed). Plan on filling it when you finish the exterior. You will need to add a rivet on each side to replace the lost strength.
__________________
Dave Grimmer
RV8 N46LG for Lynda
Flying
Edmonds WA
paid 2019
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08-11-2015, 04:20 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Midland, mi
Posts: 962
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I bet that is only a $15 piece plus $5 shipping (since I had to buy the same piece for a -14, when I did something stupid), so just buy a new one that is what I do.
You are building a -10, which is at least $150K project. $20-25 for peace of mind.
I am not sure how many parts I have purchased from Vans. Mostly from not reading the plans closely enough or doing something stupid with a band saw or dremel. I used to post my mistakes, then I just decided to buy the part and move on.
The part will get to you in 3-5 business days.
__________________
Ken Stockman
Midland, MI
EAA Chapter 1093 member
FaceBook Page: Ken's RV-14
RV-14a (serial number 140073)
N73XP
Plane at hangar and the wings ON.
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08-11-2015, 04:25 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 130
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Well, the problem is that with the elevator, you need to match-drill and cleco every hole in the spar from the middle out as you go. Now that I've already dimpled every piece, I won't be able to order a new piece, reassemble everything and get anything close to precision when match drilling, since the skin dimples won't let the pieces lie flush. (I'm totally with you and have done this for a different piece in the horizontal stabilizer with a little bend.
At this point, I'm thinking that I'll probably just flatten the holes out, drill it out and add a rivet on either side. Really good advice from everyone - I'm just trying to figure out how to make it work without having to replace the ENTIRE elevator. (I'm happy to do that too, but it probably makes sense to try to salvage this, and only build an entirely new elevator down the road if I have to.
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08-11-2015, 04:32 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Livermore, CA
Posts: 6,797
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Every extra hole in a spar cap weakens it a bit. I'd run any plan past Vans engineering.
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08-11-2015, 04:48 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Shreveport, LA
Posts: 1,002
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I agree with stockmanreef. I bought new parts when I screwed up. I sleep so much better....even if Vans signed off on my proposed repair method.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stockmanreef
I bet that is only a $15 piece plus $5 shipping (since I had to buy the same piece for a -14, when I did something stupid), so just buy a new one that is what I do.
You are building a -10, which is at least $150K project. $20-25 for peace of mind.
I am not sure how many parts I have purchased from Vans. Mostly from not reading the plans closely enough or doing something stupid with a band saw or dremel. I used to post my mistakes, then I just decided to buy the part and move on.
The part will get to you in 3-5 business days.
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08-11-2015, 05:12 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 685
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Check with Van's but they have told me in the past that match-drilling in certain spots is not quite as critical as that. Just run it by them and see what they say.
__________________
---
RV-9A - started 01/2015, completed 07/19/2018, 500hrs 03/14/2020
RV-10 - started 04/2020
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08-11-2015, 07:59 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 130
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stockmanreef
I bet that is only a $15 piece plus $5 shipping (since I had to buy the same piece for a -14, when I did something stupid), so just buy a new one that is what I do.
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Yeah, I'm thinking that's what I'll do. When you bought the new rear spar, did you just drill all the holes out to their proper sizes, dimple and rivet without matching everything up? Or if you hadn't dimpled yet I guess you could just cleco everything back together and do a proper job of match drilling.
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08-11-2015, 11:12 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Gilbert AZ
Posts: 414
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If you have already dimpled the skin, I would just drill the spar to final size and dimple it. These pre-punched kits are extreamly accurate.
Like most others, I would replace the part; helps me sleep better at night for realitavly little money.
__________________
Jeremy
ATP, CFI, CFII
RV-7 N424JD KCHD
EAA Tech Counselor
2017 Bronze Lindy
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