Leading Edge to Spar rivets

[rsr3]

Yes, I do, thank you. I don’t consider myself anywhere competent enough to post my personal opinion on anything structural, which is why my post inferred that if the original poster wanted to hear from the horse’s mouth he may wish to contact Vans directly.

“ Hi Vans,

I've read online that in the past you have approved the use of LP4-3 blind rivets to rivet the leading edge rib rear flange to the main spar web - as you know the technique for bucking solid rivets is a little tricky! I wanted to check that this was an accurate reflection and that using an LP4-3 was strong enough?”

“ Yes, it’s been done many times – you will need some LP4—4 as well in some locations
Vans”

[Jonnyb]

I asked Vans and this is the reply I got:

The use of the LP4 rivet has not effectively been tested in this area by Van engineers. The attachment using LP4 rivets is obviously not as strong as using solid rivets but the extent to which the structure will be weakened is probably quite small. This method is used in the RV14 but in that case there are more rivets being used. (6 on the inboard and 8 on the three outboard ribs).

On a balance of probabilities it is likely that using LP4 rivets will be fine but this is still a decision that will ultimately rest with you.

Now we play by slightly different rules in the UK, and this reply means I probably wouldn’t get approval to use the LP4 rivets in this situation. So solid rivets as per the plans was my only option.

[David Z]

Fantastic news, thanks for backing that up.