Read the SB and saw the reference to difficulty to access with wings installed.
I am not near my fuselage or plans but can I assume on a canoe with no wings attached yet that the inspection and installation of the missing hardware while possibly aggravating would be possible without opening holes in the skin or upper flange?
Yes, particularly if the control column is not yet installed so that you have full access through the pass through hole.
For this SB, is there a serial number range or perhaps a a kit "vintage" date? I checked my -8QB this morning, bolts were factory installed. Which is good I guess... 2004 QB fuselage, been flying for 10 years.
The earlier (pre-2006, pre-punched) 8's came with factory rivets installed in these holes. I called vans and they said this was ok.
The SB does not mention RV-8A but it also does not say that it does not apply. My guess is that it does not apply (NA) since these holes are used to attach the main gear weld-mounts.
I want to confirm so that I don't make a needless compliance entry into my aircraft records.
Cheers
The earlier (pre-2006, pre-punched) 8's came with factory rivets installed in these holes. I called vans and they said this was ok.
Ciao Luca! Thanks for the writeup. I've been traveling since the SB came out so I have not been able to look at my QB to see if it applies....Was time for acting. Not so happy to drill big holes into my upper flange, I applied my strategy. ...
Ciao Luca! Thanks for the writeup. I've been traveling since the SB came out so I have not been able to look at my QB to see if it applies.
So, it seems that you did not need to drill the big holes to apply the SB? If so, that's going to be a big relief to a lot of -8 owners!
I should have my -8QB Fuse delivered from the mothership sometime in the next week or two..
Can I assume this would have been rectified at Vans before delivery???
Well apparently I'm an idiot because I missed the bolts. Didn't track down whether the plans or instructions were clear so I would have an excuse as that just doesn't matter. The bolt holes were empty.
Yesterday, Ron Moring made the trip via automobile to lend a hand. I worked at it for probably an hour before he got there taking out the interior, floor plans and such then Ron and I probably were after it for 6.5 hours before all 12 bolts were in, then it was time for pizza and beer! I still have to put the innards back together so you can add that time.
We drilled the holes in the top of the box. The service bulletin shows one on each side, top and bottom towards the outer holes, and I assume the idea would be to remove the control column or have really tiny hands to work through the hole in the spar carry through where column goes through. That wasn't going to get it so we drilled 2 additional holes in the top of the box to facilitate that. Didn't want to drill holes through the bottom skin.
We fished the nuts through the holes with a heavy piece of copper wire wrapped around the nut and being hot glued together with the washer. Ron's idea and it worked well, even for the bottom bolts. Then, with a variety of wrenches and a ground down crow's foot we were able to hold the inside nuts while the bolts were torqued. McGuyver would have been proud.
Some of you will no doubt be convinced that the additional holes in the top of the box will cause a catastrophic failure that will find me in a ball of fire in the middle of a corn field, so please, don't ride with me.
My kit was one of the last QB's built before the -1 (serial 82898)and even though the -1 was available, i took it as Van's offered me a $500 discount to get it off their inventory. A decision I've regretted quite a number of times.
My thanks to Ron for his help and enginuity.
Jesse, my QB is serial number 81592 shipped in 2001 and Vans says that my wing is a -1. Are you sure yours is not?
Jesse, my QB is serial number 81592 shipped in 2001 and Vans says that my wing is a -1. Are you sure yours is not?
On an RV-8 (or A), the designation of -1 means different things for the fuselage and wings.
There are a lot of 8's and 8A's that were built with a -1 wing but not a -1 fuselage.
A -1 wing means it is a wing kit after the date which 7 and 8 wing kits were being delivered with many parts common between them. The wing spars are basically the same, with the only significant difference being in the bolt hole pattern for attachment to the fuselage (so the wing kits are not interchangeable to a 7 or 8 fuselage). because of some minor changes in the wing spar at this point, an RV-8 with -1 wing got a 50 lb increase in approved aerobatic gross weight but the max. gross weight stayed the same.
A -1 fuselage means it is a fully match hole/prepunched fuselage kit (introduced sometime around 2005), vs a non match hole kit where for the most part only the skins were prepunched.
Builder 80977 looks like no holes just rivets.
I'm not sure why they won't link? Uploaded them to my photobucket account, copied the link, click the insert image icon, paste the link, click ok to embed the image???????????
http://s776.photobucket.com/user/kevinfas/library/RV8/SL 16-12-16
OK...let's REALLY open up a can of worms, and ask for opinions on these puppies!
http://www.peerlessaerospace.com/Productimages/MG_VISULOK.pdf