RV 14 riveting

[Allan Stern]

There are a lot of rivets in this project that need to be bucked! When I built my 8A I posed this same question to Van's and pose it to this forum. If you dimple all the rivet hole, why could you not use countersunk pulled rivets? Not the expensive cherry max ones but regular flush heads. Would they be as structurally sound as the 3.3-5?

Or like the 12 could you just use pulled rivets, how much parasitic drag would you generate to reduce you overall air speed?

Just thinking about it.

2018 dues paid

[ctennis]

I think you easily could structurally (MK-319-BS is as strong as if not stronger than a drive AN426 rivet). Bigger issue would be cost ($.30 a piece from Vans!) and the weight difference.

[Bavafa]

I am not a mechanical or aeronautical engineer but this is my understanding of pop rivet. Their main strength comes from the stem and unless there is a way to secure the SS stem in place so they cannot come out, they will not be considered structural. Cherry rivets have this little locking gadget that secure and lock the stem in place.

The strength of pounding rivet comes from the fact that it swells up and fills up the hole completely, without such properties, it is not considered structural.

RV14 is an acrobatic plane where as RV12 it is not, light sport category.

[n982sx]

Originally Posted by Bavafa

.... Their main strength comes from the stem and unless there is a way to secure the SS stem in place so they cannot come out, they will not be considered structural...

There are lots of different kinds of blind rivets. The ones used in my Sonex for instance do not depend on the stem for strength. The stem is not locked in place. The stems are loose. You can shake my Sonex and it will sound like a maraca with all the captured but loose stems.

That said, I don't think there is a good argument for using blind rivets on a 14.

[RV-14E]

I counted 20,509 rivets. Bucked and pulled.

http://rv-14a.blogspot.com/2016/02/f...-all-kits.html

On the right of the page here (when viewed on a desktop) is a section-by-section rivet count:

http://rv-14a.blogspot.com/#rivet_number