AntiGravity

AntiGravity

Well Known Member
May seem like a dumb question: but do I need to do anything to the inside of the NACA vent before assembling it to the wing skin? (i.e. the bit you can see once it is all assembled) Like sand it or prime it or anything? Or will that all get done prior to final painting? I just received the NACA vent from Vans for the right wing air vent and I want to fit it tomorrow night and was wondering if I need to do anything to it first, or just leave it until the ship gets painted.
Cheers,
 
I did two things to mine. First, I sanded it to rough it up a bit so I would get good paint adhesion. Second, I bent up a little piece of spare screen into a rectangle, and glued it to the inside of the inlet. This will prevent bugs from getting inside.
 
That's a good question Jeff. I've been wondering the same thing. I was thinking about hitting it with some primer, but wondered if that would make it more difficult to final paint later. Seems like it would be difficult to sand and paint after it's installed.
 
Yeppers!

Davepar said:
I was thinking about hitting it with some primer, but wondered if that would make it more difficult to final paint later. Seems like it would be difficult to sand and paint after it's installed.
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They were my thoughts too. I wasn't sure I ought to leave them blank, but wondered about the ease of painting. Not just from an adhesion point of view, but also looks; will the painter be able to get paint right in there? I suppose anything you can see you can paint, but that would leave some surfaces un-treated in any way. I'm still thinking priming would therefore be a good idea and hoping someone can say yep go ahead, or don't for whatever reason.

Randy, I like the screen idea; I think I may look into that too. Thanks.
 
AntiGravity said:
May seem like a dumb question: but do I need to do anything to the inside of the NACA vent before assembling it to the wing skin? (i.e. the bit you can see once it is all assembled) Like sand it or prime it or anything? Or will that all get done prior to final painting? I just received the NACA vent from Vans for the right wing air vent and I want to fit it tomorrow night and was wondering if I need to do anything to it first, or just leave it until the ship gets painted.
Cheers,
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Jeff:

I mounted mine on the side of my RV-6 using only proseal and did NO prep other than sand the faying surface before putting the proseal on. Everything else for paint was done when the airplane was painted. This has worked well for the past eight years eleven months and 1,933.3 hours of flying.
 
Sweet!

Cheers that's good enough for me! I'm also going to back it up with a reinforcing stip of .020 and some rivets. I'm sure the proseal alone is good enough, but I don't ever want that thing coming off when I don't want it to!! :)
Thanks,
 
Perfect.

Here's how I did the screen on mine. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the screen material is in a dome shape and secured with RTV. Been working great on my work bench for the last year. :)
IMG_4548.jpg
 
Davepar said:
Perfect.

Here's how I did the screen on mine. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the screen material is in a dome shape and secured with RTV. Been working great on my work bench for the last year. :)
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The only thing I notice with this approach is that you have to be careful to check for blockage since the screen is so deep into the vent. From the outside, it will be more difficult to check. I don't think that's a major problem with your approach and your's has the advantage to not being able to see the screen. On mine, you can see the screen from the outside. Since blockage is not a significant problem, it is probably moot anyway. Good picture, here's mine.
Rigging162.jpg
 
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Scouring pads

We have used stainless steel scouring pads like the wife scrubs pots with. They can be stuffed into the holes to keep bugs out and also removed with a piece of safety wire with a hook bent on the retrieving end.
 
I did not glue my screen in place, rather I cut it larger than needed, placed it over the end, slid the vent tube over the screen and NACA vent, and then clamped it in place.

My reasoning was that this will allow me to change the screen, should it get clogged with bugs or some such.

Click on the picture to blow it up.
 
Screen decisions

I fitted the NACA vent to the skin last night (pictures in my kitlog). I was thinking of sandwiching a piece of mesh between the vent and the skin, so it covered the entire opening. Easy to install, but I was concerned about painting later on since if it didn't stick to the inside of the vent there would be nothing that could be done. But Bill, you win!! I like your idea; simple to install, replaceable, non-permanent. Excellent. That's what I'm going to do. Thanks for posting. :)

Cheers,
 
Jeff,

I'm not trying to win, just help. Tell you what, you can send me some Foster's Bitter if you want. I was able to find some up here once but not again. Man, that stuff was GOOD!

BTW, I simply pro-sealed those vents on. No rivets, just the black goop of death.

In addition, I did not use the vet tubes supplied with the kit. I ran out and bought some automotive AC tubing because the wires worked better with the little wire clamp I had to use on my air vents. Here' the picture:
 
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Tubing

Thanks to everyone that posted here. I value all your opinions. Its good to see the different ways people achieve the same goal.

Bill, I'll check out auto tubing locally and see what there is. I note from your picture that the stuff you bought is designed for "R.V.s" ;)

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Darn it. Bill wins again. He's going to have the coolest vents, panel labels, and empennage tips on the block. At least I can copy 2 of his ideas. :D
 
now why didn't I think of that. note to self - Install screen at annual.

I have primed my vent under the wing, and had no problem roughing it up with scotchbrite after it was installed.
 
AntiGravity said:
Bill, I'll check out auto tubing locally and see what there is. I note from your picture that the stuff you bought is designed for "R.V.s" ;)

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I noted that RV thing when I got the tubing home and almost fell of my chair laughing. :D

The screen was easy enough to come by. Get a 54 lb Bull Dog named Torque, play with him on the deck, with the sliding glass door open and screen closed. Watch said Bull Dog run right through the screen, turn around, and sit down like nothing happened. Like magic, lots of extra screen to plug RV vents.



PS. As for those very cool vents, they were a gift from a buddy and I've been sworn to secrecy as to their origin. I will say this; they have flown before and on one VERY cool airplane.

PPS. I'm still hearing any of you offering to send me some beer for all those tips.

PPS. Fosters is an Australian beer, not New Zealand. However Jeff, you can still send me some of your local brew. Sorry about that.
 
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N941WR said:
PPS. Fosters is an Australian beer, not New Zealand. However Jeff, you can still send me some of your local brew. Sorry about that.
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Now that would require an address, which I don't see. Guess you're out of luck. Sorry. Next time you're over here though, I'd gladly shout :)
 
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