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plennon1

I'm New Here
I just started my tail kit last night after completing the practice project. The practice project was fun although I did make some mistakes...So figuring I was good to go I started the H Stab.
I purchased the Orndorff videos for the tail kit and watched it a few times to get familier with the order. In the video George matchdrills and dimples the rear H Stab. spars (H603s). Well I was moving right along, clecoed everything up and matched drilled just fine. Then I disassembled and began to dimple the 603s with my pneumatic squeezer( that thing works great). I was cruising right along and by the time I got to the second 603 the squeezer was getting heavy in my hand...but since i only had about a dozen holes left...i just moved right along. THAT was my first mistake...should have took a break and not rushed it. Anyhow...I get to one of the holes and right when I squeezed the trigger the male die slipped outa the hole and the squeezer made a new hole for me just below...and part of the original one. DAMN!!! I shoulda known better than to rush it.

So now I have an elongated hole in one of the rear HS spars. What should I do at this point? Will it be ok? Should I call Vans and buy a new 603?

Thanks

Pat Lennon
RV7 Empanage
 
Is it an elongated hole or two holes?
If it is two holes, you can probably just put a rivet in it. If it's an elongated hole, you can most likely move to the next size larger rivet. Some folks have even used a machine screw and nut in a case like this, which is ok.
Depending where on the spar it is, it shouldn't be a problem, but it never hurts to either call or email VAN's for advice, since they engineered it.
Assuming that this is the only problem you have on this piece, I doubt that you will need a new part.
 
Not a big deal!

Pat,

If the problem hole is a few holes away from a rib, there's an easy repair for this. Get a piece of aluminum same thickness as the spar flange and trim it down to the width of the flange (or a little wider). Trim the length so that it spans three rivet holes (the bad one and one to each side). Match drill and dimple this repair strap and put it on the spar flange opposite the skin. You can glue it to the flange until you rivet the skin on. Remember to dimple the correct (original) part of the discrepant hole.

This is one of the oldest repairs in the book for production aircraft. It can even work in cases where the repair strap has to extend under a rib or other part. In such a case, you make it out of really thin stainless steel. Hopefully you won't have to do that. Quick fix, and keep building!

Ben R.
RV-9A #90217
Working on fuselage aft section
 
those options will definately work...however, if it is going to bother you (like it did me when i made a similar mistake on one of my elevator spars), just order a new one. the elevator spar was only $16 to replace, and that provided better peace of mind for me. just me though! there's nothing wrong with fixing it. ;)
 
Thanks everyone...Just sent an email off to Vans asking their oppinion. Looking at their site at the cost of a replacement it's $18.05 for a new one..+ shipping.
Not sure if I will feel good about repairing it even though the repair strap seems like a very simple and safe way to do it.

Thanks for the help!

Pat
 
I went with new

plennon1 said:
Not sure if I will feel good about repairing it even though the repair strap seems like a very simple and safe way to do it.
Click to expand...
I did the same with the HS skin, though it was a new hole rather than an elongated hole. Coulda just put a rivet in (didn't know that at the time). I also had a slightly elongated hole in the spar due to a small misalignment. I ordered the new parts since they were cheap enough. Feel much happier about it. Not only that, but in this case the hole was bang in the middle of the r/h top skin. I can just imagine the questions now ... "What's that rivet for?". That would just annoy me soooo much and every time I saw it I'd feel bad about it. Of course, I didn't account for the massive shipping costs to NZ so those two parts cost me NZ $280!! I still feel happy with my decision. I don't any small niggles at the back of my mind when I'm eventually flying this thing. YMMV. Thanks :)
 
plennon1 said:
Thanks everyone...Just sent an email off to Vans asking their oppinion. Looking at their site at the cost of a replacement it's $18.05 for a new one..+ shipping.
Not sure if I will feel good about repairing it even though the repair strap seems like a very simple and safe way to do it.

Thanks for the help!

Pat
Click to expand...

Like some of the others above, I too ordered a bunch of new HS parts (about $250 worth, because I replaced a skin). In retrospect, I didn't need to, but it was a piece of mind thing at that stage of my experience. I don't think I've bought more than $50 of replacement parts since then, however, and I'm well into my aft fuselage. Part of it is that you will make far fewer mistakes as you go, and part of it will be you realizing that there are simple but effective fixes to most errors short of replacement. After hearing Van's say "don't worry about it" and "build on" and learning that they call out far more rivets than are necessary for structural strength, you begin to relax a little. Good luck.
 
This is common enough that there's actually a term to describe it...it's called a "dimple 8" (cause it looks like a figure 8, of course) :D

You're doing the right thing calling Vans. I'll bet dollars to donuts they just tell you to put an "oops" rivet in there and move on. Not a big deal even if you need to replace it, though...I've built up a nice collection of scrap empennage parts trying to figure out this airplane building stuff. Man, if I had it to do over again, the first thing I'd do is take one of the builders workshops!
 
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