Please let me know if this isn't the right section to post this question...
Background
I bought an already built rv9 and have been going through fixing little odds and ends since purchasing. I have all the docs from vans and have spent a lot of time learning everything I can about how it's put together and enjoying every minute of it. In fact, I now want to build one myself...
To my question. The co-pilot side wingtip is WAY off in alignment with the ailerons and flaps. I've pulled the wingtip and verified that the ailerons and flaps are in the correct position using the wing rib tooling holes. The tip is not only 1/2 lower where the tip meets the ailerons but it also bends downward, meaning the far outside of the wingtip is signifacantly lower than the inside at the trailing edge. This discovery started when trying to diagnose a heavy left wing...
I've pulled the tip off which is attached using the vans method of small screws through the aluminum wing skin to nut plates attached to the inside of the wingtip on what looks like an aluminum strip. In order to straighten out the alignment I'll need to rotate the tip clockwise and remove some of the wing tip material on the top portion to fix downward bend. In order to do this I need to remove the aluminum strip with the nut plates attached and re-attach in the correct location after trimming the tip. It looks like the nut plates are riveted to the aluminum strip and not all the way through the wingtip so theoretically I could heat the aluminum strip and pull it away from the wingtip to remove.
I've gone back and forth on if I should just buy a new tip and start from scratch or try to heat and pull the nut plate strip off the existing one. Any advice would be very much appreciated.
FYI.. I've read a ton on the hinge attach method and decided I'll stick with the current method as it isn't that difficult to remove and attach.
Scott
Background
I bought an already built rv9 and have been going through fixing little odds and ends since purchasing. I have all the docs from vans and have spent a lot of time learning everything I can about how it's put together and enjoying every minute of it. In fact, I now want to build one myself...
To my question. The co-pilot side wingtip is WAY off in alignment with the ailerons and flaps. I've pulled the wingtip and verified that the ailerons and flaps are in the correct position using the wing rib tooling holes. The tip is not only 1/2 lower where the tip meets the ailerons but it also bends downward, meaning the far outside of the wingtip is signifacantly lower than the inside at the trailing edge. This discovery started when trying to diagnose a heavy left wing...
I've pulled the tip off which is attached using the vans method of small screws through the aluminum wing skin to nut plates attached to the inside of the wingtip on what looks like an aluminum strip. In order to straighten out the alignment I'll need to rotate the tip clockwise and remove some of the wing tip material on the top portion to fix downward bend. In order to do this I need to remove the aluminum strip with the nut plates attached and re-attach in the correct location after trimming the tip. It looks like the nut plates are riveted to the aluminum strip and not all the way through the wingtip so theoretically I could heat the aluminum strip and pull it away from the wingtip to remove.
I've gone back and forth on if I should just buy a new tip and start from scratch or try to heat and pull the nut plate strip off the existing one. Any advice would be very much appreciated.
FYI.. I've read a ton on the hinge attach method and decided I'll stick with the current method as it isn't that difficult to remove and attach.
Scott