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Things that take the wind out of your sails...but then end on a happy note!

tkatc

Well Known Member
There I was, cruising along, then BAM! A crucial mistake in a crucial part. As far as I can tell, there is no fix for this one. I'll have to order a new tail spring mount. As if the WD-409 isn't challenging enough...I screwed it up on the very last step! I had it clamped and was drilling the 1/4" hole for the attachment bolts. When I flipped it over....I found the misdrilled hole! :mad:

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This part is $50 from Van's!:eek:

The worst part is I'm dead in the water until I get this part!
 
If it's just the hole in the weldment, you can have that welded over and then re-drill it. Any welding shop that does 4130 can do this for you and it takes only 10-15 minutes.

Still, I know the feeling...uggh!
 
Having never built an 8, this is all speculation-------but can you just drill a new hole a bit closer to the center of the plate, and add another bolt in there??

Probably a question for the factory guys to answer, or maybe get hold of Jay Pratt???
 
Priority Mail is your friend for those of us that live east of the Mississippi. You can get the part in two days for much less than what UPS or Fedex chanrges.

As much as I hate to admit it, I've done that more than once myself. Its when the part doesn't fit in a small box that the shipping delay is really painful.

It gets even more interesting when it's the week before the FSDO inspection and every day you find an item that was misplaced or you can't find. If you can find it quickly, or source locally, then it's back to Van's. I think I did three priority mail shipments the last couple weeks before the pink slip. All for stuff that I could only find at Van's.
 
Yep, weld and redrill. Thats a 10 minute fix.

...and there is nothing magic about 4130 that the local welder needs to know about. I'd pull out the MIG and never look back.
 
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It looks to me like you have drilled right through the bulkhead as well. If this is the case then you are stuck with the hole position in the bulkhead unless you want to order that part as well.
If the bulkhead is drilled in the wrong location then you could consider getting a welding shop to weld a "large washer" over the hole to give you proper edge distance. I believe that this would work but I would run it by the folks at Van's
 
Hard to tell by the pictures, but it looks like the TW mount is clocked a little off. If so, then the hole in the bulkhead might be in the right spot.
 
You guys must be builders!! The hole in the bulkhead and spacers are correct but the weldment must have shifted while drilling. I called Van's and they told me I had 3 options.

1. I could re-drill and use the oblong hole as long as I added another fastener elsewhere.

2. I could order a new part and start over.

3. I could just weld the hole and re-drill.

I opted for #3. I had resolved the problem 1 hour after posting this. Very happy.

Here is the bad hole.
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Here is the repaired part!
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Now I just have to locate the correct position and re-drill.
 
Aww. That would have been an unfortunate but happy accident for me. Unfortunately I already did mine correctly the first time :). Great save. Fix and reuse parts. They don't know any better.
 
Aww. That would have been an unfortunate but happy accident for me. Unfortunately I already did mine correctly the first time :). Great save. Fix and reuse parts. They don't know any better.

Hitting the sauce a bit early? :D

BTW, the welder used a TIG welder. Good stuff!
 
Nice!!

I know that feeling of panic where you think you really arfed one up. Thank the properties of 4130 and all the good advice on this forum for saving your tail. Nice fix! Happy building!
 
The great thing is

The great thing is you are building your skill set.. As you saw from the responses, a number of us would have have the mig or the gas welding bottles out in minutes and never looked back.

For me, even though I am on the cusp of closing the deal to sell my airplane and am sad about that.. but I'm thrilled about the skills this thing has given me.. I can make, weld and paint just about about anything now.

For that skills I am forever grateful..:)

Frank
 
Drats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even after reading Tony's posts, I managed to make the exact same error on my project tonight. I spent an hour making a fixture to hold the bulkhead/tailwheel bracket assembly and the tailwheel bracket still moved. I missed Tony's comments which said "if I had it to do over again I would not drill them in assembly". Well needless to say, I agree :rolleyes:
 
Twenty

Robert, I don't have a welder nor the skills, but I had $20 to give a local welder! :D

Could you spot me a twenty? :D Just kidding. I probably should have just sent the stuff to you for drilling :rolleyes: These mistakes sure are frustrating. I spent a good part of the evening goofing this up. Oh well, probably won't be the last time.
 
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