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  #1  
Old 01-10-2011, 02:03 PM
datsclark datsclark is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Redwood City, CA
Posts: 80
Smile back at it!

After nearly a year of collecting dust, my -7A is finally back under construction. Thought i'd update VAF with the intentions of staying involved to keep motivated.

I took a few weeks off work over the holidays with the intention of building as much as possible. As I'm sure you all know, Christmas and family obligations ate a few days of building. But I was able to spend almost 10 days truckin along in the garage. And it feels great!

First step was to clean up the shop. Turns out a year of dust isn't too bad. It's figuring out what I needed to start working on took a while. I decided to start on something new, so I built some wing jigs out of cut off 4x4s and braced them (I didn't want to attach to the top) and so I needed to really make some space. Turned out pretty nice:

I remembered being extremely frustrated with the trim tab bends and elevator tab bends. For some reason bending aluminum is something I'm nearly incapable of. A few hours reading a bunch of VAF posts and looking at other builders logs, I came to the realization that I'm far from alone in this. Looks like many people have cut the tabs clean off. Feeling much better about my ugly cut off tabs on the elevator I cleaned those up and riveted the elevator. And thanks to my dad who is great at bending those tabs, I have a nice trim tab too.

The nicely bent tabs and how i riveted it together:


I also wrestled with rolling the leading edges of my elevators. The steel horn makes rolling the edge a real pain in the ***. I cut my rolling pipe in bits so I could roll each section without hitting the horn. We'll see how that goes -- I didn't quite get to finish this yet. For some reason (ie i misdrilled) the geometry on my trim tab hinge won't allow me to mount the tab in perfect alignment of the elevator's trailing edge. I have a replacement hinge clamped in place ready to be drilled. I will then need to learn how to attach and safety wire the hinge, and that's that!

Most of the rest of my time has been spent working on the wings. Nutplates, nutplates, and more nutplates. I'm getting the sense that everything about the wings will be a bit repetitve. I just put in an order for duckworks lights, the safe air 1 kit, and a bunch of other things.

jig:


and with the spars (look at that nice clean shop!):


The plane is back on track. I'm sure i'll be on VAF a whole lot more now!
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  #2  
Old 01-10-2011, 03:41 PM
rv9aviator rv9aviator is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Arkansas
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Wow it must be nice to have a shop and not have to insulate the walls. I knew you were someplace warm. I couldn't believe my sister would leave the front door wide open to let fresh air in when I visited her in Southern Ca. She just laughed and said there are no flies around here. Oh well glad to see you're back to building.
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  #3  
Old 01-11-2011, 09:23 AM
datsclark datsclark is offline
 
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Location: Redwood City, CA
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Heh, it was in the mid 50s recently in the bay area here. And I thought that was cold! Fortunately a 1500w space heater and some work gloves is all I really need to keep warm.
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  #4  
Old 01-12-2011, 08:52 AM
bkthomps bkthomps is offline
 
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Location: Destin
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those wing stands sure are close together....I placed mine 18" apart and it was just barely enough unless you plan on switching them around when necessary
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  #5  
Old 01-12-2011, 10:13 AM
datsclark datsclark is offline
 
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yea i thought about that. The posts are 24" apart, which means if i hang the brackets off the outside on both I'm able to have each wing a bit more than 24" apart--almost 30" really. Think that's ok?
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  #6  
Old 01-12-2011, 10:44 AM
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Bullseye Bullseye is offline
 
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Location: Wichita, KS
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Quote:
Originally Posted by datsclark View Post
Think that's ok?
I spaced mine at 24" and it's just right for me.

http://n999za.files.wordpress.com/20...-018-large.jpg
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Empennage...Done (except rebuilding the rudder.)
Wings...Halfway complete.
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  #7  
Old 01-15-2011, 06:34 PM
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Tilford Tilford is offline
 
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Location: KY
Posts: 102
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Would you happen to have a parts list and the dimensions for your wings jig? I'm an idiot with wood, I'd rather clip my fingernails with a pneumatic squeezer than attempt to create something from wood. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg
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  #8  
Old 01-15-2011, 08:11 PM
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Bullseye Bullseye is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tilford View Post
Would you happen to have a parts list and the dimensions for your wings jig?
I don't have a parts list or plans, per se (and I'm not even sure you were talking to me), but I took some pictures and added some commentary at two of my builders log posts.

Started here:
http://n999za...started-building-wing-stands/

Finished the next day:
http://n999za...finished-building-wing-stands/

Hope this helps, let me know if you need any more info.
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Andrew Z.
Engineering Flight Test Pilot/Engineer, CFI-A, CFII, ATP
RV-7 in work (See my build log.)
Empennage...Done (except rebuilding the rudder.)
Wings...Halfway complete.
2018 Dues Paid
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  #9  
Old 01-16-2011, 10:15 AM
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Tilford Tilford is offline
 
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Thanks!

The pictures are helpful. Gives me a good idea of where to start.
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  #10  
Old 01-16-2011, 10:27 PM
chriscencula chriscencula is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Northern California
Posts: 52
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Maybe others have had success with similar jigs... IMHO, I wouldn't count on the 'single' free-standing jigs shown to hold the wings... Too easy for them to tip over when riveting, drilling etc... Maybe they can be tied together at the base if you're really intent on having a freestanding jig?
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