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Holes around door opening on fuselage

togaflyer

Well Known Member
I have a quick built fuselage. While fitting the cabin top I just noticed a series of holes, not dimpled, but in the series of set flush rivets that follow the door section in the fuselage. There is a total of 14 per side, starting from above the rear vent, then following around the door and then up along the front door channel. Is this for something later? Or is it pay back from the workers in the Philippines.
 
Something for later :)

With the cabin top on, you will enlarge these to AN3 size holes for screw/bolts to bolt the cabin top to the body of the plane.
 
Didn't have a QB fuse, but if they are the same holes that are left open out of section 29, then those holes are the ones left open to locate the doors when you are fitting them to the fuse in section 45.
 
Door location

If the holes are on the fuselage skin side, they are for locating the doors. DO NOT enlarge them for an AN3 bolt as they are supposed to be riveted AFTER the doors are mounted...
 
If the holes are on the fuselage skin side, they are for locating the doors. DO NOT enlarge them for an AN3 bolt as they are supposed to be riveted AFTER the doors are mounted...


YEs, guess it depends on the holes you are talking about. Either way I assumed you would follow plans before enlarging any holes.:D
 
If on the skin, then door alignment.
If on the inside surfaces then for bolts to mount the top, done at end of fitting.

Either way they are probably not quickbuild mistakes.
 
Bringing this old thread back to life for a minute --

The holes on the sides of the fuselage that are used to hold the doors in place while fitting - what do we do with them when finished? I don't see anything else in the plans for these. Do we just fill them with body filler? Drill to #30 size and pull a rivet in them? Dimple and buck a rivet?

I've looked a couple of times through many sections, and I don't see any further info about these after the doors are fitted.

Thanks!
 
A while ago, but from memory I just treated them like the rest of the holes and dimpled them and countersunk the longeron.
Left the rivets out as per the callouts then when the cabin top went on for the 153rd and final time and the doors were trimmed I put rivets in them.
 
Thanks Kyle and Richard for the answers.

I have a small problem with riveting these holes, though. My fuselage was a QB and the holes are not dimpled. I also have no way of knowing if the longerons behind the holes are countersunk.

Dimpling the holes in place using a rivet puller and a pull die is not possible, since I can't dimple with a longeron or other thick piece in place, and trying to dimple two things at the same time for the other rivets likely requires more force than a pull dimple die will be able to administer.

So, how do you rivet these? I could drill them to #30 and pull LP4-3s in each hole, but I would have a few ugly bumps along the skin.
 
Thanks Kyle and Richard for the answers.

I have a small problem with riveting these holes, though. My fuselage was a QB and the holes are not dimpled. I also have no way of knowing if the longerons behind the holes are countersunk.

Dimpling the holes in place using a rivet puller and a pull die is not possible, since I can't dimple with a longeron or other thick piece in place, and trying to dimple two things at the same time for the other rivets likely requires more force than a pull dimple die will be able to administer.

So, how do you rivet these? I could drill them to #30 and pull LP4-3s in each hole, but I would have a few ugly bumps along the skin.

I think you’d be able to tell whether the longeron was countersunk under a non-dimpled hole by closely inspecting it.
Id say it’s unlikely that’s the case (but not impossible).
If this is the case then I’d get in touch with Vans for a solution.

Otherwise id leave the hole at #40 and machine countersink the 032 skin and put an AD3 rivet in there.
 
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