J

Jim Wright

Well Known Member
Just finished the condition inspection on the RV-8A and all went well but...... we found that the underside of the foot step was cracked. Has anyone experienced this problem before?
Would appreciate your suggestons and comments.
Thanks,
Jim
 
Jim Wright said:
Just finished the condition inspection on the RV-8A and all went well but...... we found that the underside of the foot step was cracked. Has anyone experienced this problem before?
Would appreciate your suggestons and comments.
Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...

Yes this is a common crack location. The only fix is to TIG weld in place. Or if your very ambitious you can remove the step weldement and repair on the bench. Usually if your already painted, this in not an attractive solution. Many have been repaired in place with very little paint burning. Use a **** wet cloth to absorb heat. A good TIG welder will know what to do.

If you search for step crack you will see other threads where this has already been discussed.

Best,
 
When mine cracked other RV pilots stated that it was because I am a porker. I removed the step, welded it and welded reinforcing plates on the inside and outside.
 
Mine haven't cracked but ...

I did remove my steps by drilling out the rivets and removing the torsion bolt. It did not damage the paint. I installed nut plates with platenuts attached inside the skin where the original rivets were located. I drilled out and countersunk the original rivet holes for #8 flathead screw and remounted the steps with stainless steel screws and the torsion bolt under the baggage floor. For access to the torsion bolts I had to cut a holes in the bagage floor and make up access plates to cover them. I also drilled three holes in the bagage floor and the access cover plate for each bolt dimpled them for #8 flathead screws and completed the assembly with dimpled platenuts riveted to the baggage floor. My plane is an RV-6A but I doubt that it would be any more difficult in an RV-8A. I did it to gain a 0.5 kt but it does allow you to service your steps off the plane. When I took mine off for the first time after ~3 yrs I found rust on the steel mounting plate where it faces the side of the fuselage. It wasn't bad but I was glad I could clean them up and reprime the area.

Bob Axsom
 
Mine are drilled and fitted, but not yet riveted. Is there any kind or preventative action I can take BEFORE I rivet them on? Would it help to take them to a TIG welder at this point and have them reinforced?
 
Yup ... Been there, done that.

Jim Wright said:
Just finished the condition inspection on the RV-8A and all went well but...... we found that the underside of the foot step was cracked. Has anyone experienced this problem before?
Would appreciate your suggestons and comments.
Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...

Yes. A friend of mine discovered this on a 9A. We noted the crack and its growth (faster than you might think) and replaced it at the next available "down time".

Be careful!!! Even with what appears to be a SMALL crack, that step is a lot weaker than you might think. At a point where it would still hold my weight, once it bumped it with my shins and it BENT UP!! :-o ... I immediately reached down and pulled it off.

With careful work, you can drill a new step to fit the old holes and get it replaced over the weekend (assuming you pre-painted the new step).

James
 
Cause?

When one of my first passengers go out of the plane, he faces backwards on the wing, and hopped on the step! That can't be good for the step.

All my passengers now get a good briefing on proper way to egress from the wing (i.e. backwards, with one hand holding the slider rail). Minimal stress on the step. Only time will tell if the welds will hold.
 
Thanks guys! Will talk to my A&E and see what he thinks is the best route to go. I appreciate your replys and suggestions.
Jim
 
how are repaired welds holding up?

I've got a crack in my passenger side step in same place others have reported. Not sure if I'll have it weld repaired while installed or remove it for repair but I'm curious about how the repairs are holding up for those that have just rewelded without adding support plates or something. I hate to go through the work to fix and end up with the same thing a short time later (found first crack at around the 100 hour point, and on the passenger side only which of course is the step that gets much less use, especially in the first 100 hrs that included my 40+ hr test period).

Anybody done the repair and had it hold up long term?

Any recommended welders in CA Bay area (or reasonably short RV flying distance from KRHV) that I could hire to do the repair on the plane? Any that have done same repair on other RVs?

My -6A isn't painted yet but I'd like to do that soon so want to fix this first. In mean time, I've gone to a lightweight folding stool for Young Eagles and heavier passengers. Young Eagles are usually fairly lightweight (not always!) but even with coaching/direction ahead of time, they get excited and sometimes "jump" down onto the step so I work harder to slow them down now and wait for me and/or the stool to get to that side of the plane.
 
If I were building again, I would have the steps annealed. TIG welding builds up stresses in the metal and can cause some brittleness. I think this is an area where it shows up. In the old acetylene days a larger area was heated, and if the welder knew what he was doing, cooling was slower and could be controlled. While I am no expert, my father was an aircraft welder and taught me a little about this problem. Any welders/engineers care to comment?

My steps are held on with screws and if I ever have a crack, they will be annealed before they go back on.

Bob Kelly
 
the one on the pilots side ..............

was cut off a few years ago. it was cracked beyond belief. if i need to lift something heavy i use the right side. it helps keep my knees strong by stepping up without the step. end of story. :D
 
cracked step weld repair

I finally removed and repaired my cracked step so thought I'd post a few pictures in this thread rather than start a new one on same subject. There are more pictures with descriptions on my web site at these pages:

http://rv6aproject.ckhand.com/Fuselage/FuselagePage37.htm

and

http://rv6aproject.ckhand.com/Fuselage/FuselagePage38.htm

My baggage compartment floor is pop riveted in place per plans and I could never seem to drill pop rivets out without spinning them so I bought a pop rivet removal drilling tool from Avery's ($75), which made the job quite easy. As it turns out, that tool also made drilling out the AN470 rivets on the step itself a much quicker operation than what I usually can do "freehand".

I might be sorry later, but I just had the step weld repaired and didn't reinforce with gusset plates as some have done. See the first web page link above for my logic on that, but summary is my pilot side step is holding up just fine and I'm taking other steps for heavier or less mobile passengers and to better "train/coach" passengers on making use of the step (i.e. reduce shock loading by not letting people "drop" or jump onto step).
I did intall nutplates on the side panel and installed access plates in the baggage compartment floor, so removing/reinstalling the step if needed in the future will be a little easier if I have to repair again (although with my RV finally in the paint shop after about 200 hrs flying time, paint damage will be a concern if it needs to be repaired again in the future).

Another option if needed in the future is that the welder that did the repair for me has done these repairs without removing the step; just costs significantly more for the trouble of hauling his gear to the airport and working in the more awkward position.

Photos of cracked step after removal from plane:

StepRepair004.JPG


StepRepair002.JPG



And repaired step:

StepRepair011.JPG



And reinstalled in my RV:

StepRepair030.JPG
 
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