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08-10-2008, 07:53 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 937
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All 4 Engine Mount Brackets Cracked!
Help! I just noticed that all four of my engine mount brackets P/Ns WD-602 & WD-603 are cracked!  They have been installed for maybe a year and a half and they all look like this:
Haven't hung the engine yet, fuse is on rotisserie stand. I noted that the drawing for at least one pair of these allows grinding of the welds to allow for nesting inside the longeron.
This doesn't look right to me!
Comments please??
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Highest Regards,
Noah F, RV-7A
All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men? for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. -T.E. Lawrence
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08-10-2008, 07:55 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Broomfield, CO
Posts: 639
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Have no fear. These are NOT cracks. Ask me how I know. Don't worry. Call Van's tomorrow if you don't believe me, but you are fine.
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RV-7 Flying since 2004
1,100 hrs+
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08-10-2008, 08:05 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Garden City, Tx
Posts: 5,122
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Looks to me like only the powder coating is cracked, not the metal beneath it. Not unusual on a piece of metal that flexes to any degree.
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Greg Niehues - SEL, IFR, Repairman Cert.
Garden City, TX VAF 2020 dues paid 
N16GN flying 700 hrs and counting; IO360, SDS, WWRV200, Dynon HDX, 430W
Built an off-plan RV9A with too much fuel and too much HP. Should drop dead any minute now. 
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08-10-2008, 08:08 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: SC
Posts: 12,887
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Noah,
Check with Van's but if I remember correctly, those are supposed to be split like that so the tabs of that weldment can follow the angle aluminum.
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Bill R.
RV-9 (Yes, it's a dragon tail)
O-360 w/ dual P-mags
Build the plane you want, not the plane others want you to build!
SC86 - Easley, SC
www.repucci.com/bill/baf.html
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08-10-2008, 08:20 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Dallas area
Posts: 10,762
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That is 2 separate pieces of steel that are each welded to the triangular piece. They are not welded together so they can follow the contour of the longeron as Bill stated.
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Mel Asberry, DAR since the last century.
EAA Flight Advisor/Tech Counselor, Friend of the RV-1
Recipient of Tony Bingelis Award and Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award
USAF Vet, High School E-LSA Project Mentor.
RV-6 Flying since 1993 (sold)
<rvmel(at)icloud.com>
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08-10-2008, 08:24 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 937
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I can sleep now
OK, Thanks for the quick responses guys! I thought this might be the case but didn't remember seeing these cracks before. I searched the web and VAF but found no similar posts. Your input has saved me a night without sleep!
__________________
Highest Regards,
Noah F, RV-7A
All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men? for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. -T.E. Lawrence
Last edited by Noah : 08-10-2008 at 08:34 PM.
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09-10-2008, 05:24 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 75
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I had the same scare recently, thinking all 4 engine mount brackets were cracked. I felt sure I had trashed my RV-7A! So I'm glad I found this post.
Just to confirm, I called Vans tech support and he told me that the bracket along the longerons is in fact 2 pieces. When this bracket is initially powder coated, the powder can fill and hide and separation between the 2 pieces. After some flight hours, the powder coat will crack leading to the illusion that the whole piece has cracked!
What a relief!
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09-11-2008, 06:48 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Cary, N.C.
Posts: 1,216
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Dang!! I wish my steel brackets had come powder coated. Oh well, I guess my time spent cleaning and priming these steel firewall-to-engine mount-to-airframe weldments allowed me to become intimately familiar with their "split" nature. You may find a detail drawing for the fabrication of these weldments in the preview plans set. I think I recall seeing them in the 6 preview set that I have.
I believe what you have is normal. My only concern now would be how to provide corrosion protection for the steel that is now exposed to the atmosphere. A crack in the powder coat is an opening for the moisture to get in and attack the steel.
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