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RV7ForMe

RV7ForMe

Well Known Member
RV-7ForMe

Hello fellow builders,

This is my first post but I have been reading on here for the past few months.

I guess I should introduce myself. I am a kid from the 90’s and I have grown up around airplanes. I currently fly 172s and what can I say… I love them! They are good old birds.

I suppose that is what got me into this mess. I help out our A&P during annuals on the Cessna and I love it. There is so much to learn. I think it made me a better pilot. A few things I got quite early. Things always take about twice as long as expected and cost about three times as much.

I am pretty good with electronics and I do enjoy working with my hands. However, have no real skill set that applies to building airplanes. I guess the learning curve will be pretty steep :D

I made a few decisions thus far. I started looking at the RV-10. The perfect Travel Machine? Well, it is too expensive. I went back to VANS looking for some guidance.

I defined my mission: 2 seats, side-by-side, maybe a loop or two? Leaves me with the RV-7 and the RV-14. I like the plans of the -14 better but I can’t justify the added cost for better plans and a bit more room.

This WILL change, but I have a simple and cheap to operate RV7 in mind:
-O-320/O-360 with low compressions to use with unleaded fuel probably used.
-fixed pitch prop, I hear good things about Craig at Catto
-very simple VFR panel. 1 com, I like the look of steam gauges. Probably electric. whatever is a good bang for the buck at the time of finishing.
-some sort of engine monitor with 4 EGT/ CHT. I want to know if all are willing participants before take off
-2 axis AP
-TipUp

But this is all in the very distant future.


Looks like it is “RV7ForMe”
 
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Great choice and welcome to the best RV discussion tool in the world. The 7A will also be my choice when I get ready to build number 5.
 
Willkommen in der Gruppe!

The -7 is a great machine, and most of us here have had no airplane building experience prior to starting our kits. The skills are easy to learn, especially if you can find a mentor builder to show you some early tricks. Any EAA chapters in Germany? You can't find a better and more helpful group of people anywhere. If you can take one of the intro to riveting classes, that would be great. I'm pretty handy, generally, but had no metalworking experience. A weekend class taught me so much. In lieu of a class, get Van's practice kits (mini wing and toolbox) and find a mentor. In a weekend, you'll be good to go! My 10 year old daughter, in fact, built the mini wing for a school project. She did great (with a little help from dad) and her quality was fantastic.

... and, you will find as you build what many wise builders have said before: "If you're feeling bad about the quality of your rivets, just go an look at a Cessna on the flightline. You'll instantly feel better" Very true!

Have fun.
 
Welcome to the forum! May I ask you where in Germany you are located? I am originally from the Stuttgart area. :)

If you are concerned about whether you have the skills to build a RV, you might want to give the training kit and the practice toolbox a try:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...2-60-549&browse=misc&product=training-project

http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?ident=1443928262-60-549&browse=misc&product=toolbox

My wife and I visited the factory a few weeks ago, sat in the RV-7A and flew the RV-14A: Even though we aren't the biggest people, the 7 felt really tight inside. The 14 appeared to be much more comfortable and suitable for longer flights.

The factory tour and the quality of the kits were also really impressive.

We therefore decided to build the practice kits above and then a RV-14A. :D
 
#2

Thank you all for your kind words!

I do no think EAA chapters are available. However I am in no rush. I like to work on the 172 as much as I like to fly her. I am still relatively young so at the moment I do not care if this project takes 5 years. As long as I have fun along the way and did something more productive than hang out on FB or watch TV shows in my spare time I will call it a success.

I am currently doing a lot of research and trying to piecemeal a few used tools before I order both practice kits.

For now my apartment is going to be my shop until I outgrow the space available. I read the closer the project is to your bed the quicker things get done…
 
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[...] I do no think EAA chapters are available. [...]

The EAA's website lists two chapters in Germany, one in Wilhelmshaven and another one in Munich:
https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-chapters/find-an-eaa-chapter

I however couldn't find any information on the one in Wilhelmshaven and only an apparently abandoned website for the chapter in Munich.

The best starting point for home built aircraft in Germany is the 'Oscar Ursinus Vereinigung'. I believe that they are also involved in the certification process of home built aircraft and that the LBA relies on their judgement: http://www.ouv.de/fly/

I saw in your profile that you are still a student - if funds are a concern, a RV-9 might also be a great option, as it is one of the more modern kits with pre-punched holes, but which can also be combined with a smaller engine and a fixed pitch prop. A friend of ours has built one from a standard kit in 3 years and couldn't be happier with it.
 
#3

Hello Oliver,

Thank you! your lead about the OUV is spot on. I contacted them and the are sending me an Info pack.

Funds are an Issue. I did consider the -9. But I think I will rather accept a used 0-320 with a F/P and still build a very simple -7.
 
#4

Compressor stuff:

I ordered a belt driven oil compressor online. Turns out what I received was pretty much worthless. I took this particular model because it was advertised for 75 dB(A). This was actually sort of true. I measured 80 dB(A). The problem was it came with rust all over the place and was leaking a little air after the first run. After the 5th run it was leaking air so much I could hear it coming out. It was also pretty banged up before it came out of the box. The seller claimed that the scratches and dents are "normal" but the leaking air and rust is not. They left me with the choice of getting the same model in working condition or to reimburse me. I chose to get my money back and start looking elsewhere.

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In the meantime I am building a Compressor Box on wheels, so I can move it around if I have to. I think this is going to come in handy. The idea is to reduce the noise of the compressor.
I salvaged a some dissembled IKEA furniture when one of my neighbors moved out for this. I think there is enough material to work with.

I also bought some more stuff to read and watch:

Standard Aircraft Handbook 17th E.
Orndorff Sheet Metal Tool Video & RV-7 Empennage Video
 
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5 dB equal more than three times the noise... ;)
Then again, they might have taken the measurement from a greater distance.

Back in Germany I had good success in the 'cheap but good' category with G?de compressors.
 
#5

5 dB equal more than three times the noise... ;)
Then again, they might have taken the measurement from a greater distance.

Back in Germany I had good success in the 'cheap but good' category with G?de compressors.

Good point. I read the measurements are done at 1m distance... I tried to simulate that. But then again I was using a Phone app. Not sure how accurate that it is. I would assume manufactures always use "ideal" conditions.

Haven't found a G?de compressor that is rated for less than 96dB(A).

Wiki says the average TV is around 60dB(A). I figured I can lower the noise with the box by about 15dB(A). That should put me in a range that my neighbors wont be bothered by.

I will post results here once I have decided on a different compressor.
 
Compressors need lots of cooling air.

Be careful "boxing in" an air compressor. You can easily cause it to overheat.
 
Good point. I read the measurements are done at 1m distance... I tried to simulate that. But then again I was using a Phone app. Not sure how accurate that it is. I would assume manufactures always use "ideal" conditions.

Haven't found a G?de compressor that is rated for less than 96dB(A).

Wiki says the average TV is around 60dB(A). I figured I can lower the noise with the box by about 15dB(A). That should put me in a range that my neighbors wont be bothered by.

I will post results here once I have decided on a different compressor.

Db meter phone apps are notoriously inaccurate. I compared a couple to a SPL meter and they were off by 6-7 Db.

Stick with belt driven compressors to get the lowest noise.

Listen to Mel... putting one in a sealed box is a fast way to overheat it (kill it).

BTW, to the human ear, a 10 Db change is perceived as a sound level becoming twice as loud (or 1/2 as loud).
 
A way to quiet it down somewhat is to build a sound-deadening airbox, as a good portion of compressor noise is from induction. This way, the rest of the compressor is open to the air for cooling.
 
#6

Thanks again for all your help!

I have ordered a new air Compressor today. While I was doing some research I found one that has very good online reviews. It is a bit more expensive than the one I had to return but I hope it will be worth it.

I also finished my compressor box. I Started with a pallet. I put wheels underneath it and build a wooden frame around it. Everything used to build this box so far was "trash" except for the wheels and screws. Can't wait to try it out :eek:

This is what I started with...
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This is what it looks like now...
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---UPDATE---

I know most of you experienced builders already knew this...The noise I make while riveting is far worse than the compressor kicking in every now and then. I do not use a lot of air since I use and electric drill and squeeze rivets by hand. I took it out of the box and am now using the big box as a rolling "Tool Box". Kind of neat to have a place where everything can disappear into.
 
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If you're going to box it, at least rig up an electric fan & ductwork to circulate some cooling air. Ever touch the compressor's cylinder head after it's been running a few minutes?
 
#7

Quick update: New Compressor is here... Looks a lot better than the other one. No rust, no leaks so far. I haven't done much with it except for inflating my bicycle.

2 cylinder
oil driven
230 Volt
2,2 KW
100 Liter = 26,41 Gal
8 Bar = 116,03 Psi
320 l/min = 11.3 CFM
50,5 kg = 111lbs
85 dB(a)

---UPDATE---

1.Broke after 9 months of light use... I only used it to rivet. Send it back for repairs under warranty.
2.Broke after 3 months again with the same issue. They send me the parts and I repaired it.
3.Broke after 1 month again with the same issue.
Gave it back and am now fighting with them for about 2 months for full refund!
 
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#8

Hello 2016!

By now I fully understand when some of you say “life got in the way and I am still building..." But I am happy to say I have placed an order. I will soon be building a fancy tool box and a mini wing :D
I know this will be a very long time project but I am really looking forward to it all.

Here are a few of my latest acquisitions:

My new compressor did have one small problem: One of the feet is bend up a bit so it rocks back and forth. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a little bit of scrap wood but it did get me a bit of a discount so I guess I cannot complain.
It works really nice and actually isn’t to noisy so for now I have been running it with the box doors open rather than dealing with any possible overheating problems.
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I made this “organizer” for the small stuff.
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More tools. I also purchased the round 1.5 lbs tungsten bucking...Thus far the only one I have. Time will tell if I need more.
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I have been busy with a different project. I made a new laser cut and powder coated panel. I figured I will learn a few things for my RV panel in the very distant future... Turned out to be great fun and I think it turned out rather nice!

I started Tracing the panel with Plexiglas and a sharpie.
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Then I learned how to use a CAD program...
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I had it laser cut. I connected all the peaces with little “bridges” and cut them with a dremel.
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After powder coating and trial fitting some instruments...
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I also made a first attempt at upholstering. Took a while and all by hand but turned out better than I expected. I did't use glue or anything a like in case it didn't look good and needed to take it off again. The edge with the stitches is going to be hidden anyhow.
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Hope all of you made it safe and sound into the new year.

---UPDATE---

Here is the finished Panel cruising up at 6.5k ft at spam can speed.
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#10

I finished my Mini Wing a while back and felt quite a bit of newbie pain with it. You guys make it look to easy on the internet...I didn't like my quality of my work. Good thing this wing will never fly. Amazing how much a little bit of paint will hide!

I drilled out every rivet twice and put it back together. Good practice.

Here it is:
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#11

I DID IT!

I placed an order and received some big boxes!
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After Inventorying I put everything away. All the parts slide right under my sofa.
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The skins fit nicely on top of my furniture for now...
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All of the hardware is organized. (If you like the label file click here)
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Congratulations

Congratulations. Build on!
Just a tiny tip...
Before you roll the leading edge, use a tool to break the edge of the layer on top.
Vans manual has a home made tool or you can buy one.
Basically it bends the edge just a little so when the two parts are riveted, the top edge lays flat instead of lifting.
I also break edges on overlapping skins.
 
#12

Just a tiny tip...
Before you roll the leading edge, use a tool to break the edge of the layer on top.
Vans manual has a home made tool or you can buy one.
Basically it bends the edge just a little so when the two parts are riveted, the top edge lays flat instead of lifting.
I also break edges on overlapping skins.

Thanks Larry for all of your help.
I am starting with the VS. So no rolling edges there but I will keep that in mind once I get to that step.
 
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It's a good tip.

Thanks Larry for all of your help.
I am starting with the VS. So no rolling edges there but I will keep that in mind once I get to that step.

Larry is talking about breaking the edge of the aluminum sheet where 2 sheets come together. The "edge rolling" tool he is talking about puts a slight bend in the edge of one sheet, so that when you rivet the sheet down, the edge stays "down" and flush. Congrats on getting started! Build on..
 
#13

So....It?s been quite a while since I last posted an update. Well, that is because I made no progress at all. I had originally planned to work on the empennage in my apartment but for totally unrelated reasons I had to move out. My new place is not adequate for building airplanes in the living room. My neighbors would kill me.

So I put everything in storage and started looking for a new place to set up shop. I finally found a barn about 1 mile away with plenty of space to fit the whole airplane. For now, I will be sharing this space with a buddy of mine too keep the cost down plus I won?t need all of the space for the empennage anyway.

I have been setting up show for the past 2 weeks and today I FINALLY started working on the VS. Actually I spend the better part of 10 hours in the shop.

On a side note, my compressor I had bought about 9 months unfortunately is going back under warranty because of an electrical issue causing it to not start reliably. I really have no luck with compressors. (So MAD!)

Today I worked on the VS. I followed the plans with fluting, deburring, final size drilling, dimpling, countersinking... It took me a while to get the hang of the different deburring methods and the ScotchBrite wheel. I had to remove the second wheel because it was getting in the way the whole time. Much better now.
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I think I made good progress for the first day. I am now ready to prime. But I will have to wait for my compressor to come back. If I wasn?t priming I could start riveting the VS together tomorrow.
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While countersinking the VS-808-PP, I noticed that my countersink cage leaves marks on the aluminum.
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I didn?t like that so I used some tape to prevent that from happening. Like this. Works great, but I did have to fine tune my settings on the cage to account for the tape.
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I didn?t notice this until I was ready to go home and took of my gloves?First BLOOD!
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#15

Prime War !!!

I have been moving at snail speed... I am enjoying the process but I wish I was getting things done a little quicker.

"Don't be afraid of going slow, just be afraid of standing still"

I started with the VS, then moved to the HS and on to the Rudder. However I never set any rivets because I was busy "Almost done with my own little prime war" witch somehow landed me the front page :D How cool is that?

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I kind of posted that, in the hope I would figure out how well my chosen primer compares to AKZO or other products. I received a great list of alternative products and some good ideas how to apply them. But for now I have decided to put down my weapons and end my war.

After all of the time and money spend on this topic I can honestly say if I didn't feel this crazy need to prime, I must suggest to just skip it altogether. It comes up to be a significant increase in money spend and a ridiculous amount of time added to the build time. So in case you are still undecided. Do yourself a favor and just build it without fighting this war. In the end I was looking for a product that has been widely used by others with positive feedback. This is because as soon as you choose any of the local auto paints available your project becomes the test project and you wont find out how well it works until it is to late to change... I think that is why AKZO 486-12-8 is so popular. It also helps that Boeing is using it. I tried the rattle can by Dupi color and a water based primer by Stewart Systems. I decided against them.

The primer of my choice is green! I really wanted it to be green.
The primer of my choice contains chromates to act as corrosion protection.
The primer of my choice is a 2K Epoxy based product used by Airbus and the dutch military.
The primer of my choice is fluid resistant. The usual suspects such as AVGAS.
The primer of my choice unfortunately is not solvent resistant. Meaning Acetone and some rubbing will take it off.

The thing that convinced me is that I found it extremely easy to spray with good looking results.

I use a cheap small HVLP gun with a 1mm tip (Yes, I like it better than the 1.3mm I also have. Easier to clean as well)
I use a scale and mix 10:3 and 10% thinner by weight. I also created a spreadsheet to do the math for me. I just have to plug in what the total amount of paint that I want to mix is, and it does the rest for me. Download here.
I use glass cups that weight exactly 200g to do the mixing and a paint filter before it goes into the gun.

I also spend a significant amount of time reading up on protecting my health.
According to the MSDS of AKZO one would need a minimum of a A3P3 respirator mask. I couldn't even find that on the local hardware store or on amazon...This stuff is incredibly nasty. My primer only calls for a A1P1 mask even thought it does say it is carcinogenic. I decided to wear a full body anti static suit and a A2P3 mask for added protection made by 3M. I also did some test on a few glove types to see what will withstand these chemicals best. The hospital gloves we have at school are not good for this... They will break after a few drops of thinner or acetone.

All in all I happy with this product for now. I will use it until I run out and reconsider then. I have enough for the whole Empennage kit.

Here are some pictures.

I sprayed a tac coat to promote adheason
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After 5 minutes I sprayed one even coat of the primer. Goes on smooth. No runs. No fuzz.
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After it dried
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Now that I have this figured out things can finally move on. I really want to RIVET some parts together. Happy Holidays to all of you still reading. Hopefully I can get started on this over the holidays.
 
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#16

Well look at that... Finally my First rivet is set :)

I have to admit that I choose to use my hand squeezer on some reinforcement plates and nut plates of the rudder because I thought these would be the easiest. I found out that I suck with the squeezer. Almost all of them bend over a little bit. Later one I switches to some flush rivets on the skin of the VS. those went in very nicely I think. After setting 6 or so of those I called it a night. I wanted to end on a good note.

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I thought these would be very easy...They weren't...
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This was the setup I had going.
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These are officially my first two rivets of my RV!
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I stopped after that... I am not too pleased with the results but I have to investigate if these are "ok" and just cosmetic or if they have to come out.
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They look perfect from this side...
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These were much easier... Maybe I got lucky but I stopped after these.
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From the inside. I would like to see the skin closer to the spar but not sure what to do about it. Maybe paint or dust in between there...

- - -

I choose to drill those rivets out and do them again with the rivet gun.
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#17

This was New Years Eve. I spend about 2 hours in the shop just for fun. I like the rivet gun...

I have been labeling my parts on the sides that are going to lay against each other. So in theory no labels will be visible once I am done. I really like the look of the primed parts. Glad my prime war is over.
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I started riveting the rudder skeleton. I had to drill the first rivet out and then I realized that the R-904 bottom rib can be left out while riveting the rest on place and then slid back in. Much easier that way!
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I do have a bit of question here. The plans call for 4-7 rivets here. But according to my rivet checker 4-8 would be better. Unfortunately my kit only came with like 10 of the 4-8 ones. I used 2 on the nut plate since those were seriously short. I know the plans say that VANS sometimes uses shorter rivets and they are "Ok" but here it would have been fine to use the longer ones.
IisMNsfqnQPewB3


Good time to end the year on a few good looking rivets ;)
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#18

I did some head scratching over weather or not I should cut this now or wait till later and how much to cut. "measure twice, cut once" seems to be stuck in my head.

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It doesn't tell us any measurements and it is not mentioned in the plans until the attaching of the empenage to the fuselage later on. Thus I questioned if I needed to cut this now or later.

I decided to do it now, because of the note. It says to be careful not to cut into the HS-609PP. Once the rear spar is all riveted it is going to be more difficult to make a clean cut and with everything primed it is going to leave a mess.

I looked at DWG 27A to see how it all comes together. Here are the Up and Down stops but I decided to just cut all the way down to where the HS-609PP is.
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I temporarily attached part of the elevators to see what needed to be cut.
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Used this to mark my cut lines.
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I drilled a whole to make sure I wont get stress cracks here
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I decided to Cut with a Dremel. Easy!
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Final result
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Don't think it matter to much. But on my case the cut needed to be just a tiny bit shy of the end of the HS-411PP Hinge Bracket. So I would think one could just mark that and cut where the hinge bracket ends and be fine as well... YMMV
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#19

Hello again...

I have been reading, posting and asking questions about the RTV used on the rudder & elevators and how to use it... What I found out is that there are at least as many opinions as there are people.

As a last resort I asked the mothership and I intend to follow their lead on this. Maybe I should have asked them sooner but I always feel silly asking them question. They must get a million a day!

Question:
On the RV7 plans it doesn?t really call for it. However in section 5.7 it does mention it while talking about bending the TE of the elevators.
There are many opinions:
-This was only the case before because the material was thinner.
-Epoxy/proseal the whole stiffeners before back riveting.
-Putting a blob of RTV or proseal at the front end of the stiffners because cracking may occur there as well?

Could you specify the brand of RTV you use and found safe to use on Aluminum. Lots of opinions here as well.

Answer:
I would recommend you add the RTV as described in section 5.7 to stop the potential of cracking rivets at the trailing edges. Pro sealing the stiffeners to the skins however is optional and on a 7 wouldn?t make much difference. As far as the RTV goes we just use standard high temp RTV, yes it slightly corrosive and will etch the aluminum but we have yet to see any problems caused by it. If this is concerning to you I would recommend using tank sealant in the place of RTV.

So there we go... Al my problems gone all of a sudden... By the way I don't want to use pro seal because I would have to import it and it would be somewhere around 80$ and I wont need much of it. I just don't want to spend that kind of money. It will also go bad before I get to use it again.

However I found a product made by Sika that seems to be perfect. It is made for metal. It can be used on unprepared metal and primer and it is silicon free and non corrosive. I would call that a winner! It comes in 3 colors. Here is the Sikaflex 521 UV TDS

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#20

Riveting the VS:
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Here it is, in all of its glory.

After my epic prime war I had to lick my wounds...As I had mentioned I used a water based primer first and I made the mistake of using it on ALL my VS parts. YES ALL OF THEM! Unfortunately the quality of this product was not acceptable to me. So I added a good 15 hours of cleaning bad paint of every single rivet whole and all parts of the VS. That totally sucked!

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This was just with my nails...

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Aceton will do the trick but in the process it becomes glue a like and it just was a huge PIA to get all of it off. I had already dimpled the wholes so I used Q-tips to get those clean.

After the clean up I primed all the parts again with my new paint and it came out beautifully. Although nobody will ever see the inside it would have bothered me to have bad paint on some part of the plane.

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These were some of my first flush rivets on actual airplane parts. They are "ok"

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I label all parts but only in places that are later riveted to other parts. I used some tape here to hold the skin tight to the rib while riveting the top rivet there.

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Some more rivets...

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As you can see I am a bit of a "messy" but it works. One side of the VS is all done! I was so freaking excited! BTW this is the moment I realize polishing may look cool. Not sure if I already scratched to many of my parts.

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View from the top. I added a way to get a cable up there if I choose to. Not sure that I will, but I always thought a build in camera on top of the tail would make a neat view.

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The VS is the easiest part on the first kit. I stated with it and I don't know why VAN's doesn't have everyone start with it but this rivet is the intersection on the bottom rib...Gave me grief. Mainly because I think the plans call for a rivet that is a bit short. I over drive it and it then choose to drill it. Drilling rivets at this point wasn't the problem. But I made the mistake of using a hammer to get the back part out and I didn't use anything to back it up with. So what happened is that that rivet is on a single tap of the rib and I bend it inward while hammering the rivet out. Now bending it back was next to impossible because the skin was in the way since the rest was already riveted together...So yea this is the worst rivet on my VS and it's just going to have to stay this way. I used the longer size rivet on the other side and worked much better on first attempt. I send this picture to VANS and they said to leave it be.
 
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#21

Building the HS:

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First thing the plans has you do is this: I choose to follow what other people have done with a piece of wood and then drilling the wholes.

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I marked these to line up in order to get them back together correctly after priming.

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I chose to prime everything so I also primed this.

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The back of this was hard to buck without scratching things. I cannot get any good rivets with the Tatco hand squeezer so I just use the gun on everything.

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"Satin finish" on the left...
 
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#23

Front Spar of the HS:

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First thing to do is to modify the front spar HS-702 because it is designed for the RV-8 this came out "ok" but I didn't fully understand the plans until I was done.

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Enlarged the wholes and take of the extra material

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Next thing is the 6? bend.

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The HS-710/714 also need the bend. I used the cardboard template like the plans say

The front spar has the Service bulletin and is kind of tricky. I read of a lot people having problems with edge distance on the HS-00001. I must have drawn and measured 10 times before drilling. One of the wholes is close but they are all within limits of 2xD of the 1/8 rivets. Success.

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Manual trim line whole on the left side only

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Unibit taped to the correct size

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First real mistake. Don't know why I did this but I did make the cut on both sides. So yea there we go.

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Since ED is always a problem I cut this quite conservatively. But after realizing what the reason for this cut is anyhow I could now fix this.

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I drilled these with the long drill bits. 3 out of 4 were perfect. 1 walked away from me a bit. At the time I didn't see it but this was very close to having to start over the whole front spar because of ED. I measured this 3 times and while again really close I am still within limits. Consulted VANS on this and they said it is fine as long as its within limits.
 
#24

Drilling the Skin of the HS:

This is the first time Vans has given me parts without punched wholes. I think this is becuase this part is used on the RV-8 as well and this way they can use it on both.

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After straightening I marked center lines on all of them.


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Now I could make sure I hit the center of the ribs by aligning the wholes with the lines. But I didn't dill just yet. I just used a different color to mark the whole. An X so to speak and took it out again to flute it. Now with knowing where the X is I knew were it was safe for me to flute. You really dont want to flute where a rivet needs to go. So flute and back in for final drilling of the whole.

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Skin all drilled on

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Ups. I dimpled one of the wholes I wasn't supposed to. No big deal double flush set in the squeezer and it is fixed
 
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#25

Riveting the HS together:

Rear Spar:
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After drilling the rear spar and priming and taping the wholes that need to be left open for the ribs I riveted the rear spar together. I used 4-7 rivets on all of these instead of 4-6 because they are just a better fit in my opinion. The rivets on the brackets could be 4-8 but I didn't have any of those.

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Finished product. All done :)

Front Spar:
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First thing I had to do is find out what wholes are left open and tape them.

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First smiley...I was just thinking "this is going great" Whenever that goes through your mind: STOP AND WALK AWAY!

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Luckily the drilling rivets is no longer a big deal. So I just do it and move on

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This one I had to drill twice. Not sure why there is always that one rivet that doesn't want to go the way it should. I'm starting to believe it has a lot to do with the prep work. Maybe something doesn't line up or the whole isn't 100% and that must be the difficult rivet.

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All done!
 
#26

Riveting the HS-707 nose rib:

I had to think about what the plans say here for a while. Especially why they tell you to optionally use the pop rivets on the bottom side. That is because I did it differently than the plans tell you and then pop rivets on one side only no longer make sense. If any then on both sides.

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I clevoed the HS-707 and the HS-708 together and clecoed them to the skin while it was standing. This worked much better than on the table. On the VS on this part I got a little dent in the skin because I did it on the table. So that was the reason for my deviation.

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One side first. When I pulled the skin in I just had to be quick because there is a lot of tension on the first clecoe holding the skin.

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I used another jig type mount to hold everything while I started to rivet. I also put my hoody in there in case I drop something like the bucking bar in there and ruin my day!

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On the front rivets of the ribs I had a hard time making sure the rib and skin are sitting tight on top of each other. So I put a little wood in there to help with the pressure. This worked out really good!

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These guys were just hanging out there being proud ;) yea I drilled them also

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DONE!

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Next was to put the front spar back in. I also deviated a bit here because I riveted the HS-706 in before putting the spar into the skin. I didn't see a reason why doing it later would be beneficial. It was just about 11pm while I was putting in the first pop rivets on this airplane. Simple enough! I called it a night after that. All the rivets on the HS left side were done in one long afternoon! I do enjoy riveting.

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Just for fun after cleaning up the shop a bit I layed the rear spar onto my HS. Kind of cool to see it like that.
 
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#27

Today I spend about 2 hours in the shop. The first thing I did was inspect my work I did the other day. I also wanted to see what the pop rivets looked like from the other side.

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I stuck my cell phone in there with a flash light.

Next I moved on to the flush rivets of the left HS skin. I actually managed to get all of them without drilling a single one! and I did it in just about 2 hours. So this was a first! I called it a night after that.

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Well I supposed I left the 2 top one on each side of the HS-00005.
 
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Looks like you're making good progress, and adapting well to figuring things out. Your pictures and commentary remind me of many of the mini-milestones I saw while on my RV7 building journey. It just gets better and and fun as the pieces get bigger and more interesting. Soon you won't have to imagine how it's going to look. You're gonna love building and flying that plane.

Bevan
 
Looks like you're making good progress, and adapting well to figuring things out. Your pictures and commentary remind me of many of the mini-milestones I saw while on my RV7 building journey. It just gets better and and fun as the pieces get bigger and more interesting. Soon you won't have to imagine how it's going to look. You're gonna love building and flying that plane.
Bevan

Thanks for the kind words. Yes I am still having a blast with this... But looks like It will be a very slow build... good thing I am not counting hours.
 
#28

Today I had another very good riveting session. Spend about 4 hours in the shop. Called it a night at midnight. I picked up things where i left off. So the right side of the HS was on the schedule.

Again I started by riveting the nose rib to the skin like I did on the left side. Much quicker this time around. Looks good to me.
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I feel like I always manage to screw up one rivet so that I alway have to drill one out. This is pretty much a non event as long as things are accessible at this point.

Drilled this one with a smaller metric size drill bit...
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Then give it a few turns with the actual size drill bit of the whole and pop of the head. usually they come right off.
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This is from the inside. This is how I like them to come out. Dead center on the punch!
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By the way. This is how I make sure I do everything. I mark everything I have completely done with the a highlighter on the plans. In theory only things that I didn't do would be not marked and easy to spot.
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I first put the front spar back in and riveted the line of rivets of the going up, then I riveted left and right alternating one by one.
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Here are the rivets all done from the outside
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On the outside ribs HS-706 I used this self made bucking bar for the last 2 rivets where things get real tight. This worked out "ok" I do not own a no whole yoke for the Tatco. They are like 75$ and by the time they get to me they are around 150$. For now I am going to try to get away without it.
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This is pretty much what I get for being a little cheap... A little dent on the outside
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For now I will consider the HS done because I still need to get somebody to check out my work before I close her up but there are only a few rivets left. Everything accessible from the outside
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***PS*** (Day after) I feel like I had one heck of a work out. May have to cancel gym membership...
 
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You will not see that little dent and it may have been caused by the end of the rib, not the bucking bar.
Excellent technique on rivet removal.
Your work looks good.
 
You will not see that little dent and it may have been caused by the end of the rib, not the bucking bar.
Excellent technique on rivet removal.
Your work looks good.

Thanks. Yea I figure if I do paint up there the fiberglass and filler will cover that all up. Still It bugged me quite a bit. Getting over it now ;) But good point. I didn't think about the possibility that that might have just been caused by the rib itself. Poor prep then...

Really gives me confidence that you say that it looks good. Nobody but me has actually seen my work in person thus far.
 
#29

Today I cleaned up the shop a bit from the HS work and started fresh with a clean table.

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Yap. Back riveting the stiffeners of the rudder skins.
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A bit of tape helps to prevent marks on my parts
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One skin done, one to go!
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The counterbalance rib R-912 riveted to the R-902 spar. Honestly I couldn't find the rivet call out on the plans... but I just used what I felt was the correct length. I think a 4-5
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Counterbalance skin R-913 riveted to the R-912 but not to the spar
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The counterbalance led didn't clear the rivets so I needed take some led off
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Here we go. Hope Vans took this into account...
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Mistake of the day...I let the rivet set walk of the edge... New dent!
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This is it for today...
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Counterbalance

Too late but next time (elevators), just use a flat punch or a 3/8" extension and hammer to pound the relief area into the lead. It re-shapes pretty easy and no weight is lost.
 
Too late but next time (elevators), just use a flat punch or a 3/8" extension and hammer to pound the relief area into the lead. It re-shapes pretty easy and no weight is lost.

Shoot! That's a good call Larry. Didn't even think about it. Thank you for pointing it out.
 
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