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Upper cowl retention plate

AlpineYoda

Well Known Member
Patron
Has anyone else had an issue with the RV-10 upper cowl retention plate (for the upper cowl hinge pins) spacing? The part is about 1 3/4 inches wide, yet the spacing between the hinges in the cowls is far less. I’ve double checked the plans and I am 99% that I did everything right on the upper cowl hinges. One rivet hole open at the top, hinges attached to the firewall on either side of that rivet, in the first rivet either side. Those are NOT leaving 1 3/4 inch spacing between them. I am going to modify the retention parts to fit as best I can (they aren’t structural, so no big worries here) but I’m a little confused why this fits so badly. Did Van’s drop the ball here with their design? Or did I really screw this up? Anyone else had the same issue? I searched a variety of keywords on this site and saw nothing about this. Thanks!
 
Mine fit without an significant modification. I did examine this spacing (you need to read ahead in the plans more) and insured it would be there when setting up the hinges for drilling, so can't say for sure if the plans are correct or not.

While step by step instructions are nice, I cut my teeth on a 6, where the plans are more drawings than instructions. It drives a greater discipline in understanding what you are building and forces a measure twice / cut once mentality.

You would be wise to study ahead and get a full picture of everything and how it fits together to before drilling/fitting.

Larry
 
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yep, mine is completely off, too.
I've had so much fun flying haven't had a chance to fix it yet! will probably get around to it when I paint - the hinge pins are so tight they don't move.

Phil
 
Mine is currently flying without the plate because while it fits fine, it is currently misplaced somewhere in the shop or the hangar. My chief concern with leaving it out longer term is not the pins ever going anywhere, but the chance of an oil mist covering the windscreen more easily in the event of a plumbing mishap in flight.
 
yep, mine is completely off, too.
I've had so much fun flying haven't had a chance to fix it yet! will probably get around to it when I paint - the hinge pins are so tight they don't move.

Phil

Thanks for the confirmation. Another site for RV-10 builders had some agreement that this is a pretty common issue, too.


I found that the gap between the hinges was 1.46 inches, while the plate is 1.75 inches wide. I was able to shave a little off both sides of the retention plate and then trimmed a little off the in-place ends of the hinges. Seems to fit now. I also added some tinnerman washers to increase the strength of the countersunk fiberglass.
 
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