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ditch

Well Known Member
I'm almost at the point of closing up the left wing and just would like to know (from someone who has had their plane inspected) what the FAA looks for as a standard in the riveting. I have some that are probably a little over bucked and some that are layed over just slightly. I've tried to get someone from the FAA and EAA group over to look them over but no one has called back. I can fix now while wing is open if they need be. To me they are fine but it would still be nice for peace of mind. I don't want to do drill out any rivets that may appear to be bad but the FAA says their fine. More damage can be done by fixing something that is not broken if you know what I mean. Any DARS care to answer this for me? Thanks
 
From the inspection that the FAA did on my plane the standard they look for is that you filled out the paperwork correctly saying that you performed the riveting whether it looks good or bad. They also looked at a couple of photos and then moved their attention to the plane. One of them told me that I needed the fuel capacities placarded and the baggage compartment placarded. There were two inspectors and they were both wearing suits and there was no chance they were going to get them dirty. I had somebody else inspect it when they were finished and we found a couple of more serious problems that needed attention. The time they did spend was on FWF where they didn't like the crimps as a way of connecting the coils to the coax on my Lightspeed ignition but agreed it was by design and let it go, and they spent some time on the tail since the word is out that we start there when building. One of them told me that if the tail is okay the rest of the airframe most likely will be.

Take this with a grain of salt, but HIRE A DAR! He or she has an interest in helping you to be safe and a lot more knowledge than the FAA inspectors. My two cents.

Best of luck on your inspection and first flight. Oh yeah, pictures of the grin.

Best,
 
Specs...

No specific FAA specification, but maximum and minimum heights and widths of driven rivet heads can be found here....

http://home.earthlink.net/~gilalex/rivet_spec/rivet_a.htm

This Mil-Spec. specification goes along with the Mil-Handbook that gives the strength of joints that the designers use in their calculations. The FAA does refer to the Mil-Handbook in their literature.

gil A
 
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