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New Service Bulletin 00053

Pictures 800 hrs. TT

Here are a few pictures of cracks found in the skin of a friends plane that I helped with Today, cracks were found in middle and forward ribs, rearmost rib area was ok, we installed kit and doubler plates as needed.
Stan
 

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Thanks for posting Stan.

Were these cracks visible from the exterior?

The cracks were not visible from the exterior as the skins are overlapped and it is the upper skin that had the cracks so you have to go inside to see, this plane is not a rental ot trainer.
Stan
 
JUst about ready to accomplish this task this weekend. I was told that Van's posted the dimensions for the plywood to go inside the tail cone. Where would I find this information?
 
Update on 2 more aircraft

Today we started and finished 1 more and started a second (mine), more cracks were found 120TT on first one 96TT on mine. Both these have rivets on rib half’s installed with shop head facing forward (much more challenging to drill), crack on both planes was forward rib area, middle and rear had no cracks, cracks were stop-drilled and doubler plates fabricated and installed, I will take picture of doubler installed tomorrow. Picture on left 120tt , right picture 96TT.

Stan
 

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Does anyone have dimensions for doubler plate if cracks are found? I'd like to pre-make some plates. Need thickness as well. Thanks in advance...
 
Does anyone have dimensions for doubler plate if cracks are found? I'd like to pre-make some plates. Need thickness as well. Thanks in advance...

Today we finished my plane including installing one doubler under the forward most set of clips, there is a formula for sizing the plate so all may not be the same, it is covered in the instructions that came with the kit. My crack was only 1/4” or so but I still stop drilled it and made a doubler, I am of the opinion that you should put a doubler under the front rib assembly regardless, I am not an engineer but even after putting just the clips on one of the planes I did there was still a lot of “oil canning” going on.
Stan
 

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Does anyone have dimensions for doubler plate if cracks are found? I'd like to pre-make some plates. Need thickness as well. Thanks in advance...


View attachment SB-00053 PATCH-B.pdf
The above pdf template is for a crack one rivet forwarded of the F-1208 bulkhead (800 hours.) This patch fits this location only, if the crack is any longer you will need a longer patch.
98E342C9-C40F-4C74-9C73-486A931C9EE0.jpg

I printed this 1:1 on a UPS shipping label and applied it to the plastic on the .032 2024-T3 sheet. The four lateral holes locations are less accurate because they were measured from a paper template of the bottom skin.
8F27EAA8-ADDE-4B4F-A8D4-96BE63947C01.jpg

I trimmed the patch to size and match drilled the three holes to the forward clip in the shop. I then clecoed the patch to the skin using those three predrilled holes and match drilled the remainder of the holes to the skin from inside the talecone.

Not a difficult project.
 
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Mike
Very good and helpful post, thanks. Van's could have included more on the doubler fabrication in the SB. Based on reports so far, it appears a lot of flying airplanes will need the doubler on at least that 1st frame.
 
We are starting to get serious about SB00053. Tonight, we took photos of the bulkheads using a cellphone taped to a long extension pole. Worked great. Cellphone was set to record video with the flash set to “on” for constant illumination. Video was “AirDropped” to MacBook and screen shots taken to view each bulkhead. Really worked a charm…

We have three RV-12’s that need this SB completed and this is the first airplane in line. Hours are ~ 300 TT. It appears that the only crack found is on the front side of the first bulkhead directly behind the baggage compartment.
-
 

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I have been installing SBs for 10 years now. I would say over 3/4 of them are fixing problems I don’t have when my airframe time is well above the aircraft that caused Vans to issue the SB. I have to wonder why some of these issues are occurring and whether they are due to harsh service conditions like unimproved fields and primary training. It would be interesting to know if others are experiencing the same situation. It would be nice if the mothership asked for the results of field inspections before putting out SB’s. Unless a universal design or material/fabrication issue exists it seems gathering field inspection results would be useful in the decision process to issue a new SB.
 
I have been installing SBs for 10 years now. I would say over 3/4 of them are fixing problems I don’t have when my airframe time is well above the aircraft that caused Vans to issue the SB.

I agree with the sentiment, that most of these SBs seem to address issues I haven't seen myself. However, several of them in recent years are in places I frankly don't manage to inspect very closely during the annual (ie, this one with cracks possibly appearing just on the interior overlapping skin in the tailcone....the potential cracks hiding under the brackets attached to the HS spar ...I could go on..)

Very much appreciate Vans and others finding the more vulnerable places on the aircraft that I may have overlooked...and then I can decide which ones need to be proactively addressed or just monitored. We signed up for this adventure when we decided to build, did we not?
 
Very much appreciate Vans and others finding the more vulnerable places on the aircraft that I may have overlooked...and then I can decide which ones need to be proactively addressed or just monitored. We signed up for this adventure when we decided to build, did we not?

I think this assessment is exactly correct. The benefit is that the fleet is large and all planes are built to spec (with some altered post AWC). Not very often do you find a manufacturer following a high-time factory demonstrator, and monitoring forum threads for anomalies...
 
Unless a universal design or material/fabrication issue exists it seems gathering field inspection results would be useful in the decision process to issue a new SB.

Since the majority of RV-12's that have been built were built as copies of the original (Exact copies in the case of E-LSA's), most of the fleet is of universal design, which means that most all RV-12's will likely experience an issue detailed in a service bulletin as age / fatigue related, at some point in time.

There is always variables involved that can have an influence on when it actually occurs, but if the knowledge we have as a result of FEA, data acquired from operators, etc., indicate it is likely to occur eventually at some point, an SB will be issued with a blanket recommendation.
 
It sure is easy when the tailcone is not attached.

Flight Youth Engineering students completed 2 x SB00053 in the last month.

The first was on the non-attached tail cone and with the help of some tall young students!

The tail cone was lowered vertically over one of our students where standing on a chair it was a breeze to access the rear bulkhead.
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The second aircraft was completed in the traditional way with lots of pillows and blankets.

The word has gotten out with one of our local RV-12 owners booking in one of our students to do the SB on his own aircraft:)
 
The word has gotten out with one of our local RV-12 owners booking in one of our students to do the SB on his own aircraft:)

Something tells me, most of your builders are < 200lbs .... evidently one of the major challenges RV-12 owners are dealing with in the US is either going on a crash diet, or finding a talented & light weight victim to crawl back there.
 
Scott,

Don’t get me wrong. I think Vans is a class act, and having built three other home builts I can say none of them comes anywhere close to the support Vans gives its builders. My frustration comes from the level of effort many of these SB’s require, and not finding any indication I have the issue the SB addressed when my airframe hours (about 1220 now) are high enough I would expect to see something. Every time I hear a problem showed up on a training aircraft I just shake my head. As a CFI I have seen firsthand the punishment those trainers take, and I still remember 54 years ago as a 16 year-old CAP cadet making a solo landing so hard a piece of the landing gear came off!

I’ll keep doing SB’s, but I’ll still keep whining about it! 😎

Rich
 
i have some fiberglass cloth that is made in a roll like tapes for covering cloth planes. maybe 11/4'' wide. i am thinking of covering a piece laid out flat on the bench with epoxy. after it cures i would glue it to the inside belly using proseal, having made it so it would fit over the flange of the bulkhead attached to the belly. run it for and aft, left and right of the center seam. after the proseal had set i would put a piece of 3/8'' rope down the length of the fiberglass cloth, cover it with cloth and epoxy making a more or less rigid strip. the object of all this would be to eliminate oil canning.
yes, maybe the sb is all that will be needed, maybe it won't .but i think there is a lot of flexing of the belly skin going on back there.
anybody thought of something like this? i am sure this basic idea could be refined and improved. any thoughts?
 
i have some fiberglass cloth that is made in a roll like tapes for covering cloth planes. maybe 11/4'' wide. i am thinking of covering a piece laid out flat on the bench with epoxy. after it cures i would glue it to the inside belly using proseal, having made it so it would fit over the flange of the bulkhead attached to the belly. run it for and aft, left and right of the center seam. after the proseal had set i would put a piece of 3/8'' rope down the length of the fiberglass cloth, cover it with cloth and epoxy making a more or less rigid strip. the object of all this would be to eliminate oil canning.
yes, maybe the sb is all that will be needed, maybe it won't .but i think there is a lot of flexing of the belly skin going on back there.
anybody thought of something like this? i am sure this basic idea could be refined and improved. any thoughts?

Fiberglass & proseal.....Extra work, Extra weight, and totally unnecessary.

My recommendation is... follow Van's instructions.
 
a little extra weight yes, for my cg i would like that. i didn't mean instead of the sb, i meant in addition . if extra work was a factor i would have bought a flying airplane. and how can you be so sure it is totally unnecessary? i have heard more than one comment about all the noise from the tailcone.
 
Light airplanes have been built with aluminum monocoque tail cones since the 40’s. Aircraft structural engineers understand the stresses and dynamic forces involved.

No need to re-invent...
 
well........i really didn't expect this to be a debate on whether or not it was needed. true, engineers have been making tailcones for years.....and service bulletins too. and i have seen certified tailcones with external reinforcement.
anyway, it was just a thought.
 
Just completed SB-00053 this afternoon. Took about 3 hours total (removing seats, opening bulkhead, cleaning up after). Now, this is my first time completing a service bulletin and I'm wondering how to write this up in the airframe log book.
 
Just completed SB-00053 this afternoon. Took about 3 hours total (removing seats, opening bulkhead, cleaning up after). Now, this is my first time completing a service bulletin and I'm wondering how to write this up in the airframe log book.

"Complied with SB-00053 in accordance with instructions from Van's Aircraft Inc."
 
I did the SB yesterday - 120 hours TT and found the same cracks at F1208 and fitted a repair patch.
 
I did the SB yesterday - 120 hours TT and found the same cracks at F1208 and fitted a repair patch.

89.0 hours TT and fortunately no cracks observed at any bulkhead. No patch/plate installed; just the stiffening brackets.

Were the cracks you observed inside only?
 
Thanks

Completed Service Bulletin 00053 without much weeping or gnashing of teeth. Many thanks to all who made this easier by sharing their experience in detail. Would have been more painful without the benefit of the trail blazers.
 
Completed Service Bulletin 00053 without much weeping or gnashing of teeth. Many thanks to all who made this easier by sharing their experience in detail. Would have been more painful without the benefit of the trail blazers.

In agreement 100%
A great big THANK YOU for all the tips!
 
Completed SB-00053 today. Took roughly 2.5-3 hours. Roughly 160 TT. Cracks were found forward of the F-1208 and F-1209 bulkheads.
 
BRAVO UNIFORM TANGO TANGO

Title of this post says it all...
-
 

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This is interesting…

As mentioned in Post #212 above, a group of us are working to implement this SB on three different RV-12’s. Last Sunday we did the first one that is Synergy-built five years ago. It had a crack in front of the first bulkhead that spanned two rivets. This plane has operated gently 300TT on hard surface.

Today I did cell phone photos inside my tail cone expecting extensive cracks. My plane is 750TT and operated exclusively from private grass strip (read frost-heave). I have very small start of a crack, again in front of first bulkhead. My plane sees some rough ground handling including pulling the plane back into the hanger by the tail tiedown hook when the ground is soft. Perhaps my early SN 120058 has aluminum from a different supplier? Maybe US Vs. China?
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We are starting to get serious about SB00053. Tonight, we took photos of the bulkheads using a cellphone taped to a long extension pole. Worked great. Cellphone was set to record video with the flash set to “on” for constant illumination. Video was “AirDropped” to MacBook and screen shots taken to view each bulkhead. Really worked a charm…

We have three RV-12’s that need this SB completed and this is the first airplane in line. Hours are ~ 300 TT. It appears that the only crack found is on the front side of the first bulkhead directly behind the baggage compartment.
-

Notice the difference of the finish of each cut, and where the crack is.....
 
I finished the SB yesterday using insulation foam on the skin and a TiteFit drill kit to get to the lowermost rivets. I did it alone but having a helper, just someone who could insert Clecos from below, would have been an enormous help. Naturally, when I built the tail cone I put the shop heads forward, necessitating the use of a mirror to drill out the aft most rivets. My head was too big to pass by the stabilator counterweight.

This truly was an unpleasant task, but if an elderly gimp like me could do this SB, anyone can.

Jerre
 
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I Joined The Crack Crowd

I'm 70 years old and needed help. Two generous friends and I would have had the entire job done in 2 hours. However, we found a crack on the forward side of the forward bulkhead. No cracks were visible externally. At least the other two went fine, and are the more difficult to reach and deal with.

147 tt, no turf landings


https://photos.app.goo.gl/6HiBhVWycG7cQ7rj8
 
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I trimmed the patch to size and match drilled the three holes to the forward clip in the shop. I then clecoed the patch to the skin using those three predrilled holes and match drilled the remainder of the holes to the skin from inside the talecone.

Not a difficult project.

Thanks for the tip!
 
Some feedback from my SB.

My plane is a 2009 kit recently completed with 42 hours now.

I used the suggestion of pool noodles cut to fit and duct taped together and laid down on the left side. On the right side I just used two old RV 9 bottom seat height adjustment cushions for the odd knee or elbow.

As my luck went all my bulkhead rivets had the factory heads on the aft side.
Tried to remove the mandrel of the first one but from the rear of the bulkhead and after about the tenth blow to my thumb I gave that up and just drilled them out. With an angle drill and patience and a mirror they all came out.

I did not see any cracks and installed the brackets.

When cleaning up and having another good look I found the start of a crack at the aft position of the middle bulkhead. Yes that's right where my newly installed bracket is. I do not have a picture but it's about 2 to 3 mm in length and in a similar position to the pic in the post a few above this one. Starts where the J stiffener ends.

I was surprised to see it here as others seem to start on the forward sides but then I do have a 18 pound lead weight in the tail.

I also can't drill it from the inside as its too close to the bulkhead so will have to drill from the bottom which is tricky as I can't see it from the bottom. And will have to drill out the bottom rivets and install the doubler.

Another strange thing is that I found a small circlip on the floor in the tailcone. It's about a quarter inch size and I have no idea where it comes from.
Other than wiring I only have the GMU 22 magnetometer in there which does not seem to have one.
 
Did mine solo today. No cracks fortunately, but if you're getting older and stiffer like me, a few yoga sessions might be handy before you try folding yourself into the baggage compartment and then unwinding and propelling yourself slowly with the elegance of a caterpillar after a heavy lunch along the fuselage to the back bulkhead. It's certainly doable, and if you're well organised you should only need to make the journey in and out once.

On the other hand, if you're like me you will forget to take half the clips with you on the first run, and then need to go back and get a second hammer to support the bulkhead while you hit the forward facing rivets (of course) with a pin punch and hammer from behind. Once you've experienced what it's like to hold a heavy drill with an angle attachment facing forward in a space that's ridiculously small and realised you've still got two more bulkheads to do, you start coming around to the idea that the challenge and novelty of the situation is starting to wear a bit thin.

At least once the clips are in place, and you've emerged and unfolded yourself into something approximating your original configuration, installing the rivets in the bottom of the tail cone is simple. Here's a tip: don't use strips of polystyrene foam to line the bottom of the fuselage. Those little beads break off and go everywhere so you will need to make a final foray inside with a vacuum cleaner hose.

I'm curious why there seems to be no apparent connection between time in service, runway surfaces used and the presence of cracks. I can only assume the degree of edge preparation/smoothness of the J-stiffener is a contributing factor. My plane has done 225 hours, mostly off bitumen surfaces, but also quite a few landings and take-offs on grass and gravel.
 
I'm curious why there seems to be no apparent connection between time in service, runway surfaces used and the presence of cracks. I can only assume the degree of edge preparation/smoothness of the J-stiffener is a contributing factor. My plane has done 225 hours, mostly off bitumen surfaces, but also quite a few landings and take-offs on grass and gravel.

I agree with your speculation. Some aircraft seem to have cracks every time a SB is issued to look for them. Others, never. Some builders are obsessive in deburring, filing, sanding etc... every single edge. (personally, I call that good craftsmanship) Others, not so much.
 
I agree and I also think the bending process & the angle at the end of the stiffener all have an effect on the problem.


I agree with your speculation. Some aircraft seem to have cracks every time a SB is issued to look for them. Others, never. Some builders are obsessive in deburring, filing, sanding etc... every single edge. (personally, I call that good craftsmanship) Others, not so much.
 
Sealant under exterior doubler plate

Hi all,

I have to add a doubler plate at the forward bulkhead since I found a crack on the forward side.

Is anyone using sealant under exterior doubler plates- if so, what specifically? or just clean everything up, paint the plates and rivet them in place per the SB?

The SB doesn't call for any, but as I read it, AC43.13-1B page 6-133(c) defines the need for sealing exterior doubler plates as a defense against further corrosion.
 
Flight Youth Engineering students completed 2 x SB00053 in the last month.

The first was on the non-attached tail cone and with the help of some tall young students!

The tail cone was lowered vertically over one of our students where standing on a chair it was a breeze to access the rear bulkhead.
AM-JKLXGIF7HGePRt6S977G47GL_ic_5-h6r-wWb7MWc4X7dj8Ec2z_e1acaxePVPOZDRMlGaMPwsIwowISry2bSQKb1EEGM97dYFAfjTwr3w4-WeB41W7RaTLj9rLlPApEaCh7m3AAzODnB6JUndY3qfgxKDg=w678-h903

Try finding a dropped screw on that shop floor.....:eek:
 
Hi all,

I have to add a doubler plate at the forward bulkhead since I found a crack on the forward side.

Is anyone using sealant under exterior doubler plates- if so, what specifically? or just clean everything up, paint the plates and rivet them in place per the SB?

The SB doesn't call for any, but as I read it, AC43.13-1B page 6-133(c) defines the need for sealing exterior doubler plates as a defense against further corrosion.

I contacted Van's, no sealant necessary, just a good primer coating and attach it.
 
46.2 hrs on the airframe. Private use, not flight school. No cracks. Took about 3 hrs to complete. I used the purple foam board insulation cut to shape using a previous posters dimensions and it worked well.

Recommend bringing the small aluminum wedge tool for the lowest rivet on the bulkhead. I also brought a file to adjust its size and wound up using it.

The 12 inch long #30 bit also ended up being more useful then my 90 degree drill chuck.

Also recommend bringing some sort of vacuum cleaner. Despite my best efforts i still had quite a lot of metal shavings and it was nice to get up any bits that would have otherwise been rattling around back there for eternity.
 
I am a little miffed why the web of the stiffeners are not on the same side as the "J" stiffener? I thought the load path would be better carried from the "J" stiffener in front of the bulkhead to the "J" stiffener on the aft side of the bulkhead if the webs of the stiffeners was closest to the "J" stiffener, not on the other side of the fore/aft rivet line. Maybe it would make it too stiff? It would certainly make it easier to install the bottom rivet on the bulkhead!
 
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For those builders who haven't yet attached the tail cone to the fuselage:

I recently performed SB-00053 on my tail cone that was built before the SB was issued but before I will attach the tail cone to the fuselage.

I put padded blankets on the floor of my shop under the tail cone and rolled up about 20 towels to put inside the floor of the tail cone to support my weight. I also added an outdoor chair cushion on top of the rolled towels. I did this without cutting plywood tail cone floor panels and didn't suffer any damage even though I'm well above the recommended 200 lb limit listed in the SB. To access the bottom rivets, I simply rolled the tail cone onto its side.

I'd installed the manufactured heads of my internal bulkhead facing aft and had to use a 12" #30 drill bit to drill those out.

The biggest problem I ran into was using about 10 of the LP4-3 rivets that were included with the SB kit. For whatever reason, the mandrils on 9 of those 10 rivets broke off about an inch from the manufactured head of the rivet. I then had to use a Dremel cutting wheel to cut off the ends of those mandrils. This scenario had never happened with any of the other rivets supplied for my Empennage and Wing kits. Once I switched to my supply of LP4-3 rivets, all the remaining rivets pulled fine. It could have just been a bad batch of the rivets I received with SB, but I wish I'd switched to my kit rivets after the first mandril broke off an inch from the manufactured head.

Overall the SB took me about 3.5 hours.
 
Brad, I’ve performed two of these installations and I had the same breakage of the mandrels as you did on two of the rivets - one on each installation. Naturally, both were the rivet at the bottom of the web against the floor of the tail cone. Like you, I never had this issue during my build. I thought it might have been something I did incorrectly, but upon hearing your experience, I’m leaning towards the defective product explanation &#55357;&#56898;
 
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