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Aluminum angle material substitute?

Coaltowngarage

Active Member
Building this early 90s kit. Was passed around a bit over the years. As you can imagine...theres stuff missing. On my plans, it calls for an aluminum angle 1 inch by 1 1/4 by 1/8 that runs from the lower corner of the firewall to the wing spar bulkhead 604. I see on vans website they do not carry a 1 x 1.25 x. 125 angle. I appears that vans no longer offers this size angle. Does anyone know of an acceptable replacement material for this section? It appears to be the only place on the plane that this dimension material is called for.
 
Building this early 90s kit. Was passed around a bit over the years. As you can imagine...theres stuff missing. On my plans, it calls for an aluminum angle 1 inch by 1 1/4 by 1/8 that runs from the lower corner of the firewall to the wing spar bulkhead 604. I see on vans website they do not carry a 1 x 1.25 x. 125 angle. I appears that vans no longer offers this size angle. Does anyone know of an acceptable replacement material for this section? It appears to be the only place on the plane that this dimension material is called for.

Order the AA6-125X1 1/2X2X10 (10" or 30") and fabricate the required piece. This is a structural piece with a radius at the interior vertex. Don't sub it with a piece from the local metal shop.
https://shop.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/shop.cgi?ident=1208292765-260-312&browse=hardware&product=angle
 
Get the next size larger and trim it to size using the band saw. IIRC back in the 90s we had to trim one side of an angle a time or two as we moved through he build.
 
...was hoping that wouldn't be the answer, that sucker is 27 inches long. Oh well, moving right along:)
Tip: mark the line, lube it well, cut just outside it with the bandsaw, dress it in with a file and scotchbrite wheel as required. If the leg is just a hair wide it's not an issue.

I had to "rip" a lot of angles like that when I was working on a Sonex build a while back and got pretty good at it. One of these days I may get back to it again, after the RV is done...
 
Aircraft Spruce

Aircraft Spruce online catalog shows 6061T6 in 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 x 1/8 for $6.85 per foot, which is another option. The 1 1/2 x 2 is actually cheaper which is probably why Vans supplies this size, though it does not account for the builder effort to cut it down!
 
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Check the store again...

Yes they do...


Search for

AA6-125X1X1 1/4

5 inch for $3.20
5 feet for $13.60

Cheers.

B
 
cutting aluminum

As an aside. You can cut aluminum flat and angle stock on your table saw and a high tooth count carbide blade. I used to work where we cut thousands of cuts on aluminum as such. Cuts like butter and throws chips everywhere. I would even "machine" bar/flat stock up to two inches thick on the table saws. All safety precautions are a given.
Oh ya clean up of the cut is a breeze, file sander etc.
Art
 
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