riseric

riseric

Well Known Member
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Hi all,

I'm just about ready to order the wing kit (slow build).

I would appreciate any suggestions on options.

Down the road, my wish is to have a glass panel including engine monitors so I presume I should go for the Capacitive Fuel Sending Units?

Do I still need to install the Float Fuel Sending Units as back up???

I plan on having strobes and nav lights, any up front ideas concerning this?

And also a landing and a taxi light, do I need to worry about this or they will be installed later?

About the gas tanks, how much Pro-Seal is needed and if I want locking caps, do they have to be fitted during the build?

Any other ideas I might be missing??

Thanks for your help as always, and have a great day!!!
 
I had the same questions when I ordered my wings. Check out this thread. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=88330

Now that I have my kit, I would add a piece of 2'x3' aluminum, each thickness and an extra piece of angle used for the longerons. It is part # AA6-06 3/4"X3/4"X12'. I think it is about $60 but if you screw it up, could cost $150 to ship. Im guessing you could use it on the fuselage for braces or other things, so not all waste if you don't need it.

The other thing I would do is build a shelf hanging from the roof about 4'x8' to store all the skins and fiberglass parts. The wingtips look like small kayaks and take lots of room.

I thought there would be more hardware, but I was able to fit all the rivets and small bolts, screws, pnuts in two cases from HF. They are only $8 each. http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/tool-storage/19-bin-portable-parts-storage-case-93928.html

I didn't order any of the light options and maybe should have, but I can add them later. Getting the boxes off the truck was easy and moving them around by yourself isn't too bad. Good luck with your build.
 
Thanks rockwood for your inputs, they are very useful !!!

I will definately order extra aluminium sheets and the angle you suggested.

And your idea of a hanging shelf is great also, I am challenged in the available space for my build.

After searching around, I think I got most of wishes and ordering figured out.

This will include:
Duckworks leading edge landing/taxi lights.
Aero Pulsar strobes/Nav lights.
Electric aileron trim
Swapping the standard gas caps for the locking Deluxe ones.
Fuel tank test kit.
Flop tube.
Non-skid wing walk.
Andair fuel valve.


But I still need advice on a few things:

Tank sealant, 1 or 2 ???
It says that "normally" 1 quart is enough but most bubilders use more. What's the story on this? I don't mind the extra expense, but would hate to be short of the stuff OR have an unused can in the shop...

Vertical Power Electrical System and it's harness.
I think I understand that the harness will provide me with the needed wiring in the wings, is this correct??

Considering installing an autopilot, how will this be connected to the ailerons and elevator?

If work is done on the main spar, would zinc chromate in spray be the recommended primer for it ??

Any suggestions on where to buy a heated Pitot tube? I don't see any in Van's catalog.

Sorry for the painful questions, I know lots of people here went through this process and I would really appreciate your inputs/knowledge/suggestions.

Many thanks in advance !!!
 
Eric,
I hope you won't mind if I piggyback on this thread, but I have a very similar/related question. I'm ordering my Empennage and Wing kits for my RV-8A next month! And the wing kit options are giving me a headache. I had initially been considering a QB wing (somehow I knew the wing was going to be the hard part), but I've since been talked out of it in favor of installing additional items while building the wing as opposed to once it's complete, especially after hearing about some of the QB quality issues. I pretty much have all the same list of things to install on the wing you guys have listed, including the electric aileron trim, but that's what's really confusing me.

When you order the Empennage kit the electric elevator trim is an option for that kit. Why then is the electric aileron trim an option for the fuselage kit? Does the servo not install in the wing? Should you order that particular fuselage kit option with the wing instead? I really want to make sure about this since going on most of the advice on the forum which seems to be to get the wing as complete as possible while building it not once everything's finished, it seemed like it made sense to install the A/P roll servo in the wing at the same time, as well. I'd hate to go back to install the trim servo with the fuselage kit and find out that now it's all wrong. Lol, I didn't think I'd be worrying about any wiring or avionics components at this point!
 
wastintime said:
...When you order the Empennage kit the electric elevator trim is an option for that kit. Why then is the electric aileron trim an option for the fuselage kit? Does the servo not install in the wing? Should you order that particular fuselage kit option with the wing instead? I really want to make sure about this since going on most of the advice on the forum which seems to be to get the wing as complete as possible while building it not once everything's finished, it seemed like it made sense to install the A/P roll servo in the wing at the same time, as well. I'd hate to go back to install the trim servo with the fuselage kit and find out that now it's all wrong. Lol, I didn't think I'd be worrying about any wiring or avionics components at this point!
Click to expand...

This confused me as well!

From the Vans webstore:
EA-8 KIT & EA-7/9 KIT
The RV-7/7A,8/8A,9/9A, use a different style of electric aileron trim. The servo is mounted below the seating areas of the airframe. It is a spring bias system and applies trim forces directly to the control column and can be retrofit or installed during fuselage manufacture. No external tabs are required.

The autopilot servo can mount in the wing or in the fuse. I placed mine in the wing to save space in the fuse.
 
mill2978 said:
This confused me as well!

From the Vans webstore:
EA-8 KIT & EA-7/9 KIT
The RV-7/7A,8/8A,9/9A, use a different style of electric aileron trim. The servo is mounted below the seating areas of the airframe. It is a spring bias system and applies trim forces directly to the control column and can be retrofit or installed during fuselage manufacture. No external tabs are required.

The autopilot servo can mount in the wing or in the fuse. I placed mine in the wing to save space in the fuse.
Click to expand...

Ah, I figured it would be something like that or why else would it be part of the fuselage kit? Alright, well at least that's one less thing to worry about with the wing build. I think I will go ahead and install the A/P servo in the wing during construction though.
 
Just spreading the information for fellow builders searching the threads.

I just ordered my wing kit today and found your list very helpful. Some additional detail for future searchers: The part number for the 15 ft RV-7 logeron is E-718 and is located on Drawing 18 and it is ordered as AA6-125X3/4X3/4X15'2". Also, it and the AA6-063 angle is WAY cheap, so buy an extra one (or two) and have it shipped with the wing kit as this thread and others have suggested.
 
I would order the conduit for running your wires through wing while you are at it. I'm going with Dynon avionics so I also installed the Dynon autopilot servo bracket in the wing; bought it from Dynon and I installed the Dynon heated pitot tube as well. You have to buy a separate bracket for the pitot tube, I think I bought the Gretz from Aircraft Spruce. Now is a good time to decide if you want the Van's stall warning kit to.
 
BonitaRV8 said:
I would order the conduit for running your wires through wing while you are at it. I'm going with Dynon avionics so I also installed the Dynon autopilot servo bracket in the wing; bought it from Dynon and I installed the Dynon heated pitot tube as well. You have to buy a separate bracket for the pitot tube, I think I bought the Gretz from Aircraft Spruce. Now is a good time to decide if you want the Van's stall warning kit to.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't even aware there was a stall warning kit until I ran across it while unpacking the wings. If I'd known it was included, I would have deleted and saved a little money. (I'm going to install an AoA system of some kind)

EDIT: Oh, another thing...tiedown rings don't come with the kit. The instructions say you can just use plain eye bolts and weld them shut, but if you want the nice ones Van's sells, might be worth including in the order.

https://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bi...-104-198&browse=airframe&product=tiedown-ring
 
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I bought the forged tie down eye bolts from Vans and I wouldn't buy them again, poor made in China quality. I'm sure they would work fine but they don't look so good. Try McMaster-Carr or go to your local Ace hardware store.
 
I bought the Van's tie downs.
They're not really sexy looking but the quality seems up to par.
Remember that these will only be installed when the plane is tied down.

For other prettier models, see here
 
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