What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Flaperon Hinge Bracket Assembly

S

sam richards

Member
My first hinge bracket (with the embedded bearing) tended to bow out
at the top while being riveted. The results were unsatisfactory, so I drilled out
the rivets and re-checked the initial fit. The bearing was centered, but it appears as though the recess in one of the outer brackets may not have been milled deeply enough.That seems to have created a fulcrum effect during riveting.

Has anyone else experienced that or does anyone have any ideas
for correcting this before I give it a second shot?

Cheers,

Sam
 
Sam, try bending the outer brackets slightly inward at the tips where the bearing goes, like a lap joint. The question is, would the bearing separate from the bracket when you are done putting it together. Also you might be crushing the rivets to much when you install them. Check this link for a form discussion on all corrections that should be made in the directions: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=34767
Good luck, John
 
hinge bracket assemblies

John,

Thank you for your input. All good.

After adjusting the outer brackets, I re-set the rivets in the assmbly.
The ends adjacent to the bearings still bowed out.

I have disassembled them and have them on a surface plate. The
center section, W-1212-A, appears to be the culprit. The punches
or clipping tool used to produce the part appear to have distorted
it around the 5/8" hole, creating the fulcrum effect forward of the bearing.

As the material is quite thick in relation to bias around the bearing I am
finding it difficult to 'massage' to spec. I am using wooden 'gage blocks'
and a wooden punch to flatten the part. Trial and error, crayon used to
ID the high spots.

If all else fails, I'll buy some 1/8" plate, mill a bearing hole and cut out
the part manually.

Thanks again,

Sam
 
I am going to work on those tomorrow night so I hope to get good results and will keep a lookout for your problem.

One thing to try and do is to set the rivets in random patern at only 50% squeezing them on the first run. Then come back and complete them to 100% on the second random patern. I have found in the past that this process works good on "bow sensative" parts.

Good Luck.
Rudi
 
Flaperon Hinge Brackets

Hi Rudi,

That's the accepted approach. All else being right, you should come up
with good results. Let us know what you find.

Cheers,

Sam
 
Hinge Bracket

You might try drilling a hole at the end of the radius for a 426 rivet. Counter sink on both sides squeeze in the rivet and bow is gone also bearing is locked in. On alot of the bearing blocks the radius was flush riveted around the bearing. The drawings make a comment about the bowing problem, but it didn't work for me.
Gerry
 
flaperon hinge bracket

I've re-riveted (third time) the brackets after the various 'fixes' and I still get a .010" lift on at least one of the W-1212B brackets on each assembly.

Jim Cone, yours look properly seated. Would you please brief us on
your approach?

Many thanks to those who have given their input.

Sam
 
I got a little bow at the tip of one of my hinge assemblies, too. I took some photos and emailed Van's for input. The response was that a small gap was acceptable, so long as the bearing was secure. That was good enough for me, at this point, but I also understand the quest for the perfect fit.
 
OK I have one good and one bad, I am going to redo my bad one, so I need to drill out some rivets and try again. Regards, Rudi
 
Not enough space for bearings

It seems that the side-plate recesses have not been machined deep enough in almost every case where the COM-3-5 bearings are used on the RV-2. After riveting the bearing assemblies together, the bearings would not turn. I finally purchased a micrometer and measured the bearing thickness and the space available. The bearings are about 0.005" thicker than the space available. The side plates should have been milled 0.002" deeper in my opinion.
Joe
 
Hinge Plates

Seems you maybe right. I just received my tail section, kit 79 on Friday 12th and the hinge brackets for the rudder are back ordered. They are almost the same brackets as on the wing. They maybe changing them.
 
I had (am having) the same problem. One good and one bad one.
I tried bending as discussed. Removed all primer from the bore, de-burred edges of the hole, riveted random pattern...all with same result.
Worse, every time I re-rivet the bad it back together, the bearing becomes extremely tight. After the 3rd attempt, i gave up and ordered new parts and extra rivets.
It appears that all the parts have a bend as well as a twist as you move from the flange to the bearing counterbore. Going to be tough to straighten.
Will try again tomorrow night.
Please advise if anyone solves the puzzle.
Thanks,
Dave.
 
DaveWelch said:
I had (am having) the same problem. One good and one bad one.
I tried bending as discussed. Removed all primer from the bore, de-burred edges of the hole, riveted random pattern...all with same result.
Worse, every time I re-rivet the bad it back together, the bearing becomes extremely tight. After the 3rd attempt, i gave up and ordered new parts and extra rivets.
It appears that all the parts have a bend as well as a twist as you move from the flange to the bearing counterbore. Going to be tough to straighten.
Will try again tomorrow night.
Please advise if anyone solves the puzzle.
Thanks,
Dave.
Click to expand...

Have you contacted Van's tech. support about it? If not, it might be worth while.
 
Tight Bearings

Dave,
The solution is to remove 0.002" from each side plate counter bore. The bearings will not turn after riveting in place because they are being squashed. It does not matter how flat the parts are or how carefully you install the rivets, the end result is always the same because the bearings do not have enough space and are being squeezed so hard that they can not turn. You could ask Vans to give you new parts that are milled deeper. Or you could ask their permission (if you intend to register as E-LSA) to do it yourself with an endmill.
Joe
 
Thanks Joe,
I'll also check dimensions on the new parts to see if they milled the counterbores any deeper.
Dave.
 
tight bearing

Might the problem be an "off center" countersink of the rivet(s) holding the bearing in place? The squeezed rivet in the "off center" countersink could torq the assembly and cause the bearing to bind. Been there ... done that! I corrected the countersink, re-riveted and all was fine. Just a thought. :eek:
 
JerryG150 said:
Might the problem be an "off center" countersink of the rivet(s) holding the bearing in place? The squeezed rivet in the "off center" countersink could torq the assembly and cause the bearing to bind. Been there ... done that! I corrected the countersink, re-riveted and all was fine. Just a thought. :eek:
Click to expand...

Hmm...good thing to check, Jerry. I'd like to think that the countersink centers itself, but it could be a possibility.

BTW, I fit-checked my new parts last night after thoroughly de-burring them. All seem to sit snug where they are supposed to with the bearing in place. Wonder if my original part was not counter-bored deep enough and they corrected the problem on later parts?

Dave.
 
rvbuilder2002 said:
Have you contacted Van's tech. support about it? If not, it might be worth while.
Click to expand...

I spoke to them (can't recall which fellow, nice though) prior to ordering the new parts.

First thing he said was, in general, it's a bad idea to drill out rivets. Even an "ugly" one has plenty of strength and you're more likely to screw it up worse by drilling it out and re-riveting.

"But", I protested, "I can't move the bearing ball easily, in fact it's danged stiff". He said that if you put a bolt thru it and can wiggle and turn in with your fingers, it will be fine because there is a lot of leverage in the linkage such that the controls won't feel stiff.

I ordered all new parts and will build a new bracket anyway because after the 3rd redo (before I called them) the bearing is still way stiff and the rivet holes are the size of a soccer ball (which proves his first point).

Dave.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top