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Things I learned doing the SB

W

woodsideraff

Well Known Member
1. Standard saw horses are slightly longer than the space between the steps. I removed one of the steps and the saw horse fitted fine. pull down on the tail and place the froward sawhorse in place. Lift the tail and place the rear one in place. Two people, less than 2 minutes.

2. I removed the F-1275G covers. This makes the work on the gear MUCH easier.

3. Spent the $9.00 for the countersink tool with the 1/4" pilot. Proceed slowly and you'll get a perfect countersink.

4. Was unable to tap the spar bushings out of the way. However, a couple of 2x4s placed in the channel allows for a third piece of wood inserted between them and used as a lever, the bushings yielded without undue violence.

5. Spent the money for the G-27 puller. It made pulling the channel rivets easier. However, if I had to do it again, cheaper versions would also work. The trick was to maintain constant pressure while keeping the head perpendicular to the surface. The skin doubler rivets were easily pulled with my Avery pneumatic puller.

6. With the F-1275G covers our of the way, I was able to drill the 1/8" holes from the bottom using an angle drill. I kept the template in place and the drill came through right on target. The 1/4'' enlargement was also done from the bottom.

Cheers,

Rafael
 
woodsideraff said:
1. Standard saw horses are slightly longer than the space between the steps. I removed one of the steps and the saw horse fitted fine. pull down on the tail and place the froward sawhorse in place. Lift the tail and place the rear one in place. Two people, less than 2 minutes.

The Harbor Freight saw horses (heavy duty ones) are exactly the length to fit between the steps, in fact the steps actually serve as a stop to prevent the plane from sliding off sideways. Hotsaw off a few inches of the legs and you have a perfect RV12 tool. They also fold up when not in use to take up less work space.
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Bar the brake system bleeding, we completed the SB on G-TWLV over the weekend.

The process is very well detailed (as per the original build manual) and everything worked out fine.

I would definitely agree with Rafael that removing the F-1275G covers makes life a whole lot easier. We struggled for 20 minutes or so trying to get the first leg back on and then removed the covers.

The aircraft was remarkably stable on the saw horses (we say tresles...). Good to have it back on its wheels though. :)
 
woodsideraff said:
5. Spent the money for the G-27 puller. It made pulling the channel rivets easier. However, if I had to do it again, cheaper versions would also work. The trick was to maintain constant pressure while keeping the head perpendicular to the surface. The skin doubler rivets were easily pulled with my Avery pneumatic puller.
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Rafael... I messed up one of the ten Cherry Max rivets that came with the SB fuselage kit. Do I need all ten rivets or did Van's send us two extras?

Also, since I am still building my fuselage, I was able to reach all eight Cherry Max rivets using a Marson HP2 rivet puller. My close quarters rivet puller could not get a grip on the Cherry Max rivets.

Jeff

Edit: There is an addendum to the SB that describes proper technique for placement of the Cherry Max rivets. http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/service-rv12.htm The stem needs to break off almost flush with the rivet head. Three of my first attempts did not break flush. I found the best technique to use was downward vertical pressure with my left thumb on the rivet gun and multiple slow gentle mini pulls with my right hand, slowly advancing the rivet gun until it was fully set on the first pass. On the second pass the mandrels would break off clean.
 
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Gandalf said:
Rafael... I messed up one of the ten Cherry Max rivets that came with the SB fuselage kit. Do I need all ten rivets or did Van's send us two extras?

Jeff
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Only 8 are required so there are 2 spare, which was fortunate because I needed them both.
 
The end result is a notably quieter and a more solid feeling when landing and taxing. May be my imagination, but it sure seems more solid.
 
Your right Larry.

when I first completed mine I noticed a more solid feeling and less airframe rumble on rollout.(grass strip)

I thought about posting my thoughts earlier ,but I thought people would think it was my imagination.

After several takeoffs/landings I am sure of it.


Brad Stiefvater
Salem SD 426 hours 124BJ
 
rgmwa said:
Only 8 are required so there are 2 spare, which was fortunate because I needed them both.
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Well you beat me :). I ended up ordering more Cherry rivets until I was able to get the mandrels to break flush with the rivet head. See my edit of my previous post.

Jeff
 
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