Emp Tips

[jimbo]

I have finished closing off the emp tips but have a few questions from here.

1. The tips came with some gel coat chipping along the edge (will not be exposed). Is it necessary to seal the exposed resin or fill in?

2. Some of the indent edges of the gel coat where the alum buts up are little jagged but not sure how best to improve of it.

3. Is it wise to go ahead and pop rivit the tips in place now and be done with it or wait until later sometime? Not sure if by installing now would make hard to adjusting lead weight later, also if you get a better paint job by painting before installed.

Maybe these questions are on the anal side but I hate drilling those pop rivits out.

Jim
RV9a

[JonJay]

Originally Posted by jimbo

I have finished closing off the emp tips but have a few questions from here.

1. The tips came with some gel coat chipping along the edge (will not be exposed). Is it necessary to seal the exposed resin or fill in?

2. Some of the indent edges of the gel coat where the alum buts up are little jagged but not sure how best to improve of it.

3. Is it wise to go ahead and pop rivit the tips in place now and be done with it or wait until later sometime? Not sure if by installing now would make hard to adjusting lead weight later, also if you get a better paint job by painting before installed.

Maybe these questions are on the anal side but I hate drilling those pop rivits out.

Jim
RV9a

You dont need to worry about the non-exposed chips. Wrap some sand paper around a sharp edge of a block of wood and you can clean up the jagged edges of the indents just be careful that you keep a straight and square maiting line. You may find the indents to be inconsistantly filled with gell coat anyway so a quick sanding will expose the high spots. They will fit better if you do this.
You can rivet them on at any time. You balance after paint.

[jimbo]

Thanks Jon for your feedback.

Jim

[Finley Atherton]

Originally Posted by jimbo

3. Is it wise to go ahead and pop rivit the tips in place now and be done with it or wait until later sometime? Not sure if by installing now would make hard to adjusting lead weight later, also if you get a better paint job by painting before installed.

Maybe these questions are on the anal side but I hate drilling those pop rivits out.

Jim
RV9a

Jim,

You might consider using screws and nut plates for both the HS tip and the counter weight arm. This will allow you to remove the tips for painting, altering the balance weight or tip repair in the future. IMHO the screws look better than pop rivets.

Fin
9A

[Bob Axsom]

I used platenuts and screws for the vertical stabilizer cap because I mounted the Nav antenna under it and I did the same for the lower rudder cap to facilitate maintenance of the tail strobe and white Nav light and the wiring. The rest of the empenage tips I riveted in place and did all of the cleanup (fill, fiberglass etc.) after assembly to the main structure.

Bob Axsom