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  #11  
Old 04-10-2010, 06:44 AM
Russ McCutcheon's Avatar
Russ McCutcheon Russ McCutcheon is offline
 
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Location: Vancouver, WA USA
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Default

We have not built these parts for years, mid 90s, in any case we never drilled/drill any holes in anything that matches to the airframe or the gear legs, they where drilled buy Van?s or a previous builder.

Welding the holes could pose a problem, the weld tends to be harder then the drill.
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  #12  
Old 04-10-2010, 08:14 AM
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az_gila az_gila is offline
 
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Location: 57AZ - NW Tucson area
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Unhappy I think that is the case...

Quote:
Originally Posted by noelf View Post
...now I see it. So, in the picture, if the wing is upside down, and the gear weldment is right side up, then I guess I would expect the holes to NOT align...
The wing appears to be upside down looking at the angle of the rivets of the vertical internal stiffeners in the spar web.

Since the other picture is correct, perhaps the wrong side weldment was held up for photo purposes in pic #1...


UPDATE -

I checked sheet 13 of the plans carefully, I think the wing is actually correct side up. The holes for the spar bolts are not spaced at the same distance top and bottom, making the stiffeners appear tilted.

Pic 1 is of the spar stub but the wing is correct side up. Ignore above portion...
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Half completed RV-10 QB purchased
RV-6A N61GX - finally flying
Grumman Tiger N12GA - flying
La Cholla Airpark (57AZ) Tucson AZ
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  #13  
Old 04-10-2010, 07:35 PM
koda2 koda2 is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: West Texas
Posts: 282
Default gear alignment

Sorry for the delay in answering the questions posed.
I have been busy stripping the weldments(ugh!) and today I drove them 150 miles so a fellow builder could TIG the holes shut so I can re-drill them.

The weldments (as far as I know) came with the 1996QB kit. The kit even has the original Van's built spar (not Phlogiston?). The weldments came rough red primed so I had them powder coated. I had no idea they wouldn't match the spar.

The pictures are all right side up. I positioned the plane up on tall supports to mount the weldments, gearlegs, wheels, pants etc. for the first fitting. When the weldments wouldn't fit fit, I took the wings back off and tried to see why the bolts wouldn't fit. It then became obvious that the weldments weren't the right ones.

To see if I could salvage the weldments, I put the wings back on and tried to recreate the positioning of the landing gear and weldments as the slow build 6 plans show, only here the plane is right side up. In the early slow builds all the holes were drilled by the builder but on the QBs the weldments were supposedly match drilled at the factory as the fuselage was being built.

In the last picture the gear legs are clamped to a long angle per plans with a 1/16th spacer for toe-in and 12/16s spacer under the heel for correct alignment. Once the whole assemblage is in correct position under the plane, the gear weldments were clamped to the spar. Of course, the holes still don't line up, but this is how I will have to match the landing gear to the plane. Apparently, at least one other builder has done this, so it can be done.

After removing the powdercoating I discovered several things. One, the weldments are extremely well made and the original welds are a work of art.
Two, there was some rust forming under the powdercoat and it looked just like filliform corrosion seen on aluminum parts. Three, the part numbers on the weldments were unusual, one side was 852 and the other 827. I can't find these on the current Van's list, so they must be an eariler designation.

I am hoping I can re-drill the holes, so the weldments will be matched to the spar, the fuselage, and the gear legs.
Dave A.
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  #14  
Old 04-12-2010, 02:47 PM
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az_gila az_gila is offline
 
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Location: 57AZ - NW Tucson area
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Smile The plans show...

Quote:
Originally Posted by koda2 View Post
.... Three, the part numbers on the weldments were unusual, one side was 852 and the other 827. I can't find these on the current Van's list, so they must be an eariler designation.
.....
...these as part number Wd-626.

Could the 852 and 827 numbers be connected with the match drilling?

Does your spar have either of these numbers?
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Half completed RV-10 QB purchased
RV-6A N61GX - finally flying
Grumman Tiger N12GA - flying
La Cholla Airpark (57AZ) Tucson AZ
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  #15  
Old 04-12-2010, 03:04 PM
koda2 koda2 is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: West Texas
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Default Numbers

The spars are correctly labeled right down to the laminations which have the original plane serial number. The gear legs are numbered with the correct part number engraved on the end.

I couldn't find any other numbers on the weldments so I don't know where they came from or where they were intended. They are obviously made for an -A model and in 1996, the 6 was it.

Perhaps the engraved numbers on the weldments belong to the manufacturer that Vans used at the time.
Dave A.
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  #16  
Old 04-17-2010, 09:58 AM
koda2 koda2 is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: West Texas
Posts: 282
Default Weldments-rust

Powdercoating has its own problems. Any break in the powdercoating allows moisture to get underneath and start rust without disrupting the paint coat so it is not apparent. Poor preparation can do the same.

I powdercoated my weldments several years ago, since they came primed. The shop had to sandblast or strip the primer to get to bare metal so the paint powder would stick to it. Either the conditions weren't right or the prep wasn't right cause rust was beginning.



Even steel can show "filiform corrosion"



I may just prime and paint this time.

Dave A.
6A
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  #17  
Old 04-21-2010, 09:17 AM
Bob Hoffman Bob Hoffman is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 206
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Ok! I need to reopen this thread to make shure I have this right.
I am rebuilding a RV6A and I had to replace the landing gears which came undrilled (early kit) ,I aligned the gears by clamping the legs to a long angle iron bar ,marked everything ,pulled the gears and weldments out ,stripped (now that was a job) weldments for new powder coating, when I read here that a "toe in" factor is needed by placing a "penny" between the angle bar and the threaded end of the landing gear.
So last evening I bolted the weldments and gear legs back in to allow for this adjustment,but I can't find this in any of my plans or instructions.
So before I really screw things up can someone tell me what I need to do so that I can do it right the first(or is it second?) time.
Thanks
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  #18  
Old 04-21-2010, 10:37 AM
koda2 koda2 is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: West Texas
Posts: 282
Default gear legs

Bob,
Depends on your time factor, if you want I can xerox and send you the illustrations from the plans that I have. I don't have a way to digitally scan them anymore. Send me a PM if you want them.

Dave A.
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  #19  
Old 04-21-2010, 12:47 PM
Bob Hoffman Bob Hoffman is offline
 
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Dave,
Sent you a P.M.
Thanks
Bob
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  #20  
Old 04-21-2010, 02:44 PM
noelf noelf is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Cary, N.C.
Posts: 1,216
Default Your "penny" idea is quite clever...

...now you get to look in several areas of the construction book. For my -6A, it is Section 8, FITTING THE RV-6A LANDING GEAR MOUNTS, paragraphs 4, 5, and 6.

Paragraph 6, points you to figure 8-7 (in the back of Section 8) which shows a rough sketch of the alignment detail. Also look at figures 8-8 and 8-9.

You are also directed to Drawing 59 for this work.

Good Luck with the gear attach...
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