|
-
POSTING RULES

-
Donate yearly (please).
-
Advertise in here!
-
Today's Posts
|
Insert Pics
|

11-19-2018, 09:56 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Pocahontas MS
Posts: 3,884
|
|
Bill,
I did roughly the same thing with my -7 fuselage. I fit and aligned the leg fairings & wheel pants, too, before ever hanging the engine. I then removed the gear legs, and using stub pipe 'legs', returned the fuselage to a low dolly to ease continued work on/in the fuselage. I eventually hung the engine & did all its hookups with the fuselage still on the low dolly. Don't know if you can do that with a trike, but it worked out well for my taildragger -7.
Charlie
|

11-19-2018, 10:35 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Landing field "12VA"
Posts: 1,530
|
|
Good thoughts, Charlie.
The gear would come back off easily enough. As long as I don't chop up the low dolly for firewood (and a rear tie-down rolling tripod stand) in the mean time, I guess that's an option.
I'm not sure I could bear the suspense of seeing all that time and money dangling from a ratchet strap ever again.
Might be better off building a platform and steps for easier in-out and leaving her on tires, tires on caster dollies - easy peasy. It's how I did the final stages of the 6A so long ago.
__________________
Bill Boyd
Hop-Along Aerodrome (12VA)
RV-6A - N30YD - Built '98 / sold '20
RV-10 - N130YD reserved - under construction
donating monthly to the VAF - thanks, Doug
|

11-20-2018, 09:31 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: East, Coast
Posts: 8
|
|
Great progress.
I'd really like to see some more pics of your tool cart!
|

11-20-2018, 09:40 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Landing field "12VA"
Posts: 1,530
|
|
Thanks!
I'll see what I can do.
It's a Ron Schreck design. My copy of his idea. Would never build again without one to keep everything close at hand and semi-organized.
__________________
Bill Boyd
Hop-Along Aerodrome (12VA)
RV-6A - N30YD - Built '98 / sold '20
RV-10 - N130YD reserved - under construction
donating monthly to the VAF - thanks, Doug
|

12-10-2018, 06:45 PM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Landing field "12VA"
Posts: 1,530
|
|
Seat adjusters cobbled up
Read some descriptions of what others have done, so I thought I'd try my hand at rolling my own.
Hollowed out the underside of a length of 1/2" square aluminum bar stock from Spruce by multiple dado passes on a table saw. Bent where necessary in a vise, by hand. Holes drilled using That Looks About Right engineering and Mk. I eyeballs.
Bushings around the pivot bolt and an elongated hole let the lever arm move fore and aft a bit, so the seat adjuster plunger doesn't get pulled sideways into a bind in the barrel. Surplus wheel pant/axle nut spacers (Van's hex stock) repurposed into handles.
It works! Net added weight is 4.2oz per seat (minus the weight of the T-handles that are replaced.) Don't hate on my epoxy bench - the coating of microballoons shows it's well used - and that I'm too busy building to bother with housekeeping.
Ta-daa!

__________________
Bill Boyd
Hop-Along Aerodrome (12VA)
RV-6A - N30YD - Built '98 / sold '20
RV-10 - N130YD reserved - under construction
donating monthly to the VAF - thanks, Doug
Last edited by Bill Boyd : 12-10-2018 at 06:47 PM.
|

12-10-2018, 07:04 PM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Landing field "12VA"
Posts: 1,530
|
|
preview of coming attractions
Say hello to my little friend Bob. Plumb Bob.
Cutting and fitting to reference points in thin air. Don't. let. anything. shift. Drill through fiberglass into landmarks you can barely see - at an angle. This may be the part of the story where I jump off a bridge.
Not sure; those that have gone before say the cowling will also be... "interesting."

__________________
Bill Boyd
Hop-Along Aerodrome (12VA)
RV-6A - N30YD - Built '98 / sold '20
RV-10 - N130YD reserved - under construction
donating monthly to the VAF - thanks, Doug
|

12-11-2018, 07:30 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Posts: 1,230
|
|
Hi Bill....Bob here
Brings back memories.....not fond either.
At least you don't have wings in the way.
I remember taping Christmas tree lights inside the pant behind the brackets to help find the holes.....worked well.
Also used a 24" level....check, check, recheck....drill....
__________________
Bob Martin
RV-6, 0-360 Hartzell C/S, Tip up, 1200+TT
James extended cowl/plenum, induction, -8VS and Rudder. TSFlightline hoses. Oregon Aero leather seats.
D100-KMD150-660-TT ADI2- AS air/oil seperator. Vetterman exhaust with turndown tips.
Louisa, Virginia KLKU N94TB
|

12-11-2018, 07:38 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Landing field "12VA"
Posts: 1,530
|
|
Everyone at Van's Anonymous support group: "Hello, Bob."
The -10 plans take an interesting approach: drill mounting holes undersize, tap holes in brackets for small screws, try to insert screws, enlarge holes in pants with round file in whatever direction they need to "move," drill final size after filling any erroneous parts of the first hole attempt with flox.
Iterative.
And a veiled acknowledgement of how difficult it probably is to get the holes any kind of right on the first stab at it. I'm looking forward to the challenge, remembering that while I want to get this right, we're not building the Space Shuttle here. A little misalignment of the watermelons probably costs an unmeasurable fraction of a knot, the leg fairings being the more critical factor.
__________________
Bill Boyd
Hop-Along Aerodrome (12VA)
RV-6A - N30YD - Built '98 / sold '20
RV-10 - N130YD reserved - under construction
donating monthly to the VAF - thanks, Doug
|

12-11-2018, 08:29 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Pocahontas MS
Posts: 3,884
|
|
Forgive my flaky memory; has the use of a laser level been discussed for aligning the pants? I found that a cheap HF laser level was quite useful in aligning the pants. I set mine up to paint a stripe on the centerline of the tire tread, then put the pant in place, tweaking the angles to align it with the laser line.
Charlie
edit: should have said it was on a -7; not a -10
|

12-11-2018, 08:39 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Hubbard Oregon
Posts: 9,035
|
|
CLARIFICATION..........
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Boyd
The -10 plans take an interesting approach: drill mounting holes undersize, tap holes in brackets for small screws, try to insert screws, enlarge holes in pants with round file in whatever direction they need to "move," drill final size after filling any erroneous parts of the first hole attempt with flox.
Iterative.
And a veiled acknowledgement of how difficult it probably is to get the holes any kind of right on the first stab at it. I'm looking forward to the challenge, remembering that while I want to get this right, we're not building the Space Shuttle here. A little misalignment of the watermelons probably costs an unmeasurable fraction of a knot, the leg fairings being the more critical factor.
|
The process specified in the plans is for a very specific reason, and the reason is not to fix wallowed out holes that occurred during the fitting process.
It also gives extra adjustment options to allow for some level of precision. Alignment does matter. We are talking about way more than a fraction of a knot, depending on how much the alignment is off. It is likely one of the factors in play when an RV doesn't seem to have the same speed that most do.
- The fiberglass on the fairings is relatively thin. Durability would be poor if the screws were only bearing on the thickness of the fairing itself.
- A lot of strength is gained by having the flox fill, capture the perimeter of the bracket.
- The fairings are curved, but the bracket faces that they interface to are flat. If the flox is not used, the fairing will deform with flat spots where all the screws are located.
- The taped holes and screws are used because if you used clecos during the flox placement, they would suck the fairing flat to the bracket and defeat most of the benefit of adding the flox.
- Screws are also used because once the fairing is properly aligned, tolerance stack up usually causes the brackets to have differing amounts of gap at each screw location. With screws, you have some adjustment to account for the different gaps. Once again, if you where using clecos, accounting for this would not be possible and there would be no way to prevent the clecos from pulling the fairing out of alignment.
Bottom line... a lack of understanding of the purpose behind a procedure in the construction manual does not mean it isn't important......
__________________
Opinions, information and comments are my own unless stated otherwise. They do not necessarily represent the direction/opinions of my employer.
Scott McDaniels
Van's Aircraft Engineering Prototype Shop Manager
Hubbard, Oregon
RV-6A (aka "Junkyard Special ")
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:28 AM.
|