"Rivetless" Construction?

dicel87 · #1 07-12-2005, 05:03 PM

I was reading through the Tiger (Yankee) web site and noticed they refer to their construction technique aluminum bonded. I know its a metal plane and that they must use rivets, but what is this method that makes it appear that there are no rivets used?

Here is the link
http://www.tigeraircraft.com/1.html

mlw450802 · #2 07-12-2005, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dicel87

I was reading through the Tiger (Yankee) web site and noticed they refer to their construction technique aluminum bonded. I know its a metal plane and that they must use rivets, but what is this method that makes it appear that there are no rivets used?

Here is the link
http://www.tigeraircraft.com/1.html

For the most part, there are no rivets. It's glued together.
-mike

cobra · #3 07-12-2005, 10:35 PM

Looks like it is bonded aluminum panels over a honeycomb core- similiar to composite construction, same system also used to make rotor blades.

cjensen · #4 07-13-2005, 08:15 AM

Mike is right, it is glued together. ALL surfaces are bonded to a honeycomb structure with a special glue-type bonding agent. It's really strong, but there is an issue called delamination that can occur as the airframe ages. If this happens, it's mucho dinero to fix it. The later models are much less prone to this, but it's still a bonded structure.

Highflight · #5 07-13-2005, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjensen

It's really strong, but there is an issue called delamination that can occur as the airframe ages. If this happens, it's mucho dinero to fix it.

Maybe adding a few rivets wouldn't hurt

They could even do what Van did and use lot's of rivets.. like around 10 billion! as used in the typical RV.

Mel · #6 07-13-2005, 11:54 AM

Actually the typical RV uses approximately 15,000 rivets. Someone with too much time on his hands suposedly counted them.
Mel...DAR

1911pilot · #7 07-13-2005, 12:37 PM

From the inventory of my emp kit last night it seemed like it could be 10 Billion Rivets.
Jeff

alpinelakespilot2000 · #8 07-13-2005, 12:38 PM

Actually, this response probably just shows that I have way too much time on MY hands (it's summer and I'm a teacher), but the number of rivets would probably be pretty easy to figure out. Just use Van's inventory lists--one would have to estimate the number of rivets per pound for all but the pulled rivets, but a pretty close estimate could be obtained.

That said, count rivets or go work on my tanks??? I'll take Mel's number as good and go work on my tanks some more.

Somebody else want to count?

Steve

txaviator · #9 07-13-2005, 12:44 PM

Jeff,

Just an FYI that even though you saw "billions of rivets", I was still short, (believe it or not) on many different sizes/rivets during the empennage. I ordered a few here and there, until I just decided to make a mass order of ALL sizes, so I would not run short again during future sections of the plane.

This was a shortage that was not due to losing rivets, drilling out bad rivets, etc. Just simply a shortage from the factory for whatever reasons. They sell rivets by weight, and I guess that during the packing process, the scales were off just a little bit?

The good news? You can buy extra rivets REALLY cheap, and have a good quantity built up. Now, the POP-style rivets get a little pricey (and I was short about a dozen of the LP-3's) but the regular aluminum rivets are very inexpensive. Just some food for thought. There's nothing more frustrating than being slowed down during a good buidling weekend by a shortage of rivets! Keep an eye on your quantities.

jhallrv4 · #10 07-22-2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel

Actually the typical RV uses approximately 15,000 rivets. Someone with too much time on his hands suposedly counted them.
Mel...DAR

C'mon, Mel! When you FINALLY finish building, and you're sitting around in the hangar twiddling your thumbs with nuthin' but time...oh, yeah! Go FLYING!!!

Jeff
Gone flying----------