Check those tails

[Bob Martin]

Originally Posted by tracy

Bob, I'm not that knowledgeable, but if you look at Vic's first picture, you will see that the end bolt either cuts or misses all together the longeron(where the #4 is) on the top side, which you can't see.

ok, I see it now.....took me awhile.
Plans call for 2 bolts each side, outermost bolt thru the longeron.
His top spar attach angle was not long enough so it had no edge distance for the bolt, so he removed top angle material to get a bolt into the longeron and thru bottom attach angle, then added a full piece spacer plate under the spar and an additional bolt.

So I can see the builder had a problem getting his parts to match the plans.
Then figured a way to compensate and carried on building.
I can see he had some logic to his plan. This logic may have been explained to his inspecting buddies to garner their approval or lack of intervention.
I am guessing the bottom line is there was most likely no engineering on this deviation from the plans and therefore unacceptable.

I am assuming the proper thing to have done was to somewhat disassemble the HS and remake the attach angle longer to get a proper fit. Then it would conform to plans and known engineering.

Knowing the build sequence and that this is a known close tolerance, seems like the plans would say to leave this part longer and maybe even notch the rib over it. Or maybe the plans do.....I need to check them today at the hangar. Thanks for posting this and making me continue to THINK.

[spatsch]

Originally Posted by az_gila

Start with #40 holes and work up in several increments.

Measure and carefully mark the edge distances on both parts.

A needle file can adjust the location of the holes as you slowly increase the holes for the AN3 bolts.

That, and the rear spar wing bolts. were the two hardest critical holes to get correct on the -6.

To add to Gil's information if the edge distances between the angle bracket and the longeron do not line up (they don't overlap enough to give you sufficient edge distance on both) contact Van's. They have recommendations of how to build the area up based on the details.

Oliver

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

If it were me, I'd pass on it. Who knows how many other things are hidden, and fixing cracks could be a real hassle... and hopefully you'd find them in time.

As for resale value...

Ed

[deene]

Ed, exactly what we decided...

[gmohr]

Originally Posted by vic syracuse

The pictures that Rob posted show a very common fix. It works and is approved by Van's. But don't hesitate to check with them for your particular situation.

Vic

Vic,

Just curious as to how YOU would fix this type of issue.

Would you:
A. drill out the top panel rivets and remake the attachment angles, redrill and
re-rivet the area or
B. perform the Vans approved fix.

Thanks for bringing this to light. I am facing this right now with my 6A.

[vic syracuse]

Originally Posted by gmohr

Vic,

Just curious as to how YOU would fix this type of issue.

Would you:
A. drill out the top panel rivets and remake the attachment angles, redrill and
re-rivet the area or
B. perform the Vans approved fix.

Thanks for bringing this to light. I am facing this right now with my 6A.

Either way works if you are carfeul. The problem with drilling out the rivets is that unless you are very careful and experienced, the holes could get wallowed out and may require the next size rivet. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to remove the tail and put it on a workbench to accomplish the task. It will make access much easier.

The trick to cleanly drilling out the rivets, especially in thicker material is to just drill off the head very carefully, and then use a punch ( a heavy duty center punch works real nicely) to "pound" out the shaft of the rivet. It will leave the hole intact, assuming it is a nice hole to begin with. Sometimes you will find that the reason for the crooked rivets is that the holes aren't drilled 90 degrees to the material or are already wallowed out.

Vic

[Iluke]

Originally Posted by wirejock

I will be doing this soon. Any tips for getting it perfect?

Larry;

I just did mine recently and it came out good.

The key was carefully marking the edge distance limits for all pieces right there clearly on top-most surface where you can see them when you drill. That takes some ingenuity because the edges of the underlying longerons are hidden.

I used several measuring schemes to make sure that I had lines drawn that reflected both inboard and outboard edges of the longeron and checked them several times before center punching and drilling a small pilot hole.

It helped to use a 12 inch bit for that first hole, too. Better able to precisely locate it.

I also have an inexpensive endoscope that lets me see on my ipad the view from underneath-- Much more handy that just using an inspection mirror.

Hope this helps.

-Ivan

[TeamFAS]

http://imgur.com/a/dVejP

I checked mine today, everything looks good to my untrained eye. Anybody see anything note worthy?

[jrs14855]

Originally Posted by TeamFAS

http://imgur.com/a/dVejP

I checked mine today, everything looks good to my untrained eye. Anybody see anything note worthy?

I'll take a pot shot at this: picture #1- notch for rivet in top of angle, likely not a problem.
#2 Right side angle at lower bolt MAY have a slight notch in angle. Left angle lower bolt edge distance appears to be less than others.
#3 Multiple mangled rivet heads but probably not unsafe. Some one didn't know how to hold the rivet gun OR did not have the proper gun.
Overall I give it a 7.0 as opposed to some zeros for some of the earlier posts.

[Bavafa]

The rivets on the elevator push rod is not what I have seen in the past. In a RV7, there are (I believe 8) that goes around and not in one row.