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New Eight Guy

Member
Greetings RV Gents: I'm looking for some direction from Canadian RV builders with respect to mdra inspection requests/requirements. In speaking to an inspector lately, I was informed that I would have to leave certain portions of the project ( RV8 tail kit at this point) open or unfinished so it could be easily inspected or be prepared to drill out rivets to allow access.I just finished riveting the rear spar of the horizontal stab and am ready to rivet in the ribs and fwd spar as per plan direction. The inspector says leave the rear spar out (unrivited-maybe clecoed) of the assembly so he can easily look inside as well as the large center end rib and then finish riveting after inspection. This is not the way Vans calls out the sequence of events but in speaking to them they say its doable. I'm new to metal planes (I've restored a Champ) but I thought the idea was to follow the manufacturers instructions. I know on my previous project I had to show the inspector that the manufacturer had proven and used some of my incorporated updates--then there was no problem.Can any of you fellows who built in Canada help me out. What did you do to help keep mdra happy on your inspections---mainly the tail kit(for now). I'm also not comfortable leaving stuff half finished and starting something else..thats a recipe for mistakes. This post is not meant to knock the inspector...I've met him and he's seems OK.
Sincerely Mark.s.--Ontario flyer.
 
What I did was leave the HS spar unriveted, and one skin unriveted or partially riveted on the elevators and rudder. They stayed that way until I called for a pre-close inspection on the wings and fuselage, so they were stored a long time partially completed.

Remember not to rivet in the fuselage floorboards until after final inspection.

Use your common sense-- if you can't inspect all of the rivets and fasteners, then the MDRA rep can't either. Once they assess your handiwork, they trust you to do more good riveting to finish up.

BTW, I just heard a horror story of an RV-10 imported into Canada missing spar bolts, fuel tank bolts and rivets. The fuel tanks leak and there are many rivets not squeezed and some folded over like nails. Totally unairworthy, but flew for 200 hours in the USA.

It happens!

Vern
 
Mark,
we have finished our Tail Section on a 9 and had the inspection in the summer. no issues but of course we left sections open for inspection. you can have pretty much the entire piece ready and just leave open the trailing edge or spar and one side.
 
I left aft corners of the skins on the bottom side unriveted, so the corners could be peeled up to allow visual inspection by the MD-RA guy. This worked fine.

I kept a log of all items that would need any later rework, so I could be sure not to miss any of them. I crossed them out and dated them when I finally closed those items out.
 
Mark
You are fortunate in Sarnia to have one of the best builders in North America as a neighbour. His name is Rick West, 519-383-8588. He has been building and flying for years and he can put you in touch with other local builders. I live in St.Thomas and feel free to contact me any time 519-631-1369. I have been involved in many projects and can give you some pointers with the MDRA. We are very fortunate to have this organization.
 
common sense

as has been said, the inspector needs to be able to see what you have done, so, that means leaving either an upper or lower skin, or a rib, or a spar clecoed until after the preclose inspection - whatever is necessary to let the inspector see inside the structure. After the inspection, you will get a document mentioning anything that needs to be fixed, like a bad rivet, and that will authorize you to close the structure up.
So, for example, my preclose inspection report for the stabilizer noted a few mis-set rivets to be redone, and "after completing above, component can be closed - next inspection is final".
For the wings, I left the bottom skin clecoed. For the fuselage (on a 6) the only areas that the inspector wanted left open for the preclose were the floors (of course), the side panels in the baggage compartment and the caps that are blind riveted to complete the vertical box on each side of the F-604 spar assembly.I found the inspector reasonable and helpful.
Bill Brooks
Ottawa, Canada
RV-6A finishing
 
MDRA

Glad you are making progress. I found the MDRA thing pretty easy. On advice of other builders and due to there being a pretty good drive with mileage charges for inspections..I did the following. Entire emp done except for edge or one skin if no holes to inspect, and completed fues except for floors. I did my entire pre close tail and fuel in one visit. Keeps cost low. The inspector did peak all over to ensure no short cuts. I do believe they are simply ensuring you didnt do anything dumb, and that you learned to set properly, not scratch the heck out of stuff etc. They will give you stickers and a piece of paper. Stickers go into all finished components, you close them up and rivet down the floors and then wait for the final. Pretty painless. I did have a long list of questions for the inspector and he was very reasonable and helpful. Lots to learn and not the type of project I want to cut corners on. Good luck. If you ever head Windsor way, drop me a line.

Rick
 
Canadian Inspection Reply.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I think you've given me the info I need to keep moving ahead and still keep the inspector happy. Mark.
 
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