LettersFromFlyoverCountry

LettersFromFlyoverCountry

Well Known Member
We're going to try to mate the wings on the 7A to the fuselage on Saturday (if I can find some help. Hey, anyone in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area want to stop by?).

I'm going to build a couple of sawhorses to use as support for the wings (yeah, I'm familiar with the old chair approach but I don't have one and I'm trying to have junk LEAVE the garage, not arrive).

Could any of you who currently have wings attached do me a favor and take a tape measure and measure the distance between the wing at the center scarf joint (measured at the main spar) and the point at which it is level with the fuselage bottom skin?
 
Oh, one other thing. It's virtually impossible with most of the navigation structures on builder Web sites to find pages dedicated to the wing mating process. I know they're there, but they're often not clearly marked, especially given that people seem to do this step at varying times in the process and it's hard to figure out in what section the page might be located.

Since I'm reading as much as I can this week, if you've got a page on a builder site that documented this process, can you post the URL here?

Thanks
 
wing mating

Hi Bob,

Not sure what good that will do in the process or why you need it. Here are a couple of tips that will help.

1) Make sure your "fake" bolts are nice and smooth
2) File a slight bevel in the end of the spar so they will mate with the spar channel easier
3) Lightly oil the spar
4) Insure the rear spar is cut per the plans
5) When the wing has been mated don't try to wiggle the wing fore and aft to get it all the way in the channel, move it up and down while pushing.
6) Don't get too much help. 3 people is more than adequate to get it done.
7) Have a hammer and some sort of extension to assist in pounding in the bolts
8) Don't pound the bolts all the way in. You'll have a helluva time getting them back out.
9) Only put in two big bolts and two little bolts per side.

Hope this helps. Honestly, it is a non-event. We did my neighbors (Greg CAmeron) start to finish in about 3 hours, mine in about 2, including drilling the rear bolt hole.

Darwin N. Barrie
Chandler AZ
 
I'll add my $.02 to Darwin's good advice. I helped my son do this task - just the two of us did OK, but a third person would have been useful at times, primarily to stabilize the fuselage for the person getting inside.

We couldn't find 7/16" bolts anywhere and had to use the real ones. We had a problem with a store-bought 1/4" bolts because they are mild steel and tend to mushroom when you drive them out. I plan to use only the big bolts when I do mine, I don't think the small ones add anything to this task. Maybe just check to see that you can start them OK...

If you find commercial 7/16" bolts - be sure they are a fairly easy slip fit, and taper them. I'd assume they will mushroom if you have to pound on them very hard to remove them :eek:

Let us know how it goes :cool:

Dennis Glaeser
7A - Wings done, fuselage coming...
 
Well everyone post pics and procedures here. Im installing my wings this Saturday as well and hope all the info will make it go smoothly.

Scott-
I think its time for you to visit Round Rock.

-Jeff
 
Good luck Bob. You won't find any advice on my site, as I haven't mated the wings yet!! I was planning on leaving it until I move to the airport, but lately I've been thinking about giving it a try. Let us know how it goes.
 
Read Van's Instructions in FAQ's

Print out the "Wing Incidence Drilling" PDF file in Van's construction FAQs.
Very useful info that's NOT in the manual.

BTW, I rounded the ends of my hardware store bolts & then polished them on a scotchbrite wheel. I used som 600 paper if they were feeling "too" tight.

Sam
7A
 
Piece of cake!

When I installed/fitted my wings I had just a single helper. He supported the wing(s) on the outboard end(we used a wheel dolly built up to the appropriate height a foot or two out from the root ind as a safety) while I worked it in from the root end. He wiggled it up and down as I pushed the spar into the carry-thru spars and when it looked about right I got into the cockpit from the other side, took a pair of Ace Aviation 7/16" X 4" bolts(which turned out to be approx. .002-.003" smaller in diameter than the close-tolerance bolts and with my partner gently wiggling the wing up and down from the tip I was able to push the bolts in by hand! I had to start the nuts on the forward side before the bolts were seated due to the obstruction of the "A" landing gear weldments but they pretty much slipped right in with almost no effort. Getting them back out after the rear spars were drilled took just a slight tap with a soft hammer again while my partner added some oscillation to the outboard end. I also had to file off about 3/32" from the end of both rear spars because during initial fit-up the spars bottomed out against the fuselage and I had a slight forward sweep(about 1/4" at the tips) and Vans confirmed that you do need a slight gap where the rear spar mates with the fuselage so no fretting occurs if/when the wing flexes slightly up and down during those heavy aerobatic sessions. Like so many other operations during the building process I found this one to be a non-event in which the stress of anticipation was worse than the execution. Hope this helps. BTW, after the wings were plugged in the angle of incidence fell in at 0.1* or less measuring at multiple stations of both wings without having to shift them around at all! Perfect enough!

--hawk
 
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May seem obvious, but test all the bolts in the holes before you put anything together. Mine had a bit of primer overspray in them which would have been a real drag to deal with once the wings were on. I mounted them with only one helper and no stands of any kind. It really was no big thing. The only thing that was a surprise was that the amount of dihedral was more than I had anticipated, causing us to have the tips too low while trying to shove the wings home. I also used a mason string attached to jackstands for alignment instead of a line on the floor, since my driveway surface is quite uneven. Also, being able to move the line rather than the plane is a big plus.

Steve Zicree
RV4
 
szicree said:
I also used a mason string attached to jackstands for alignment instead of a line on the floor, since my driveway surface is quite uneven. Also, being able to move the line rather than the plane is a big plus.
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Great idea. I've been considering how I was going to snap a reliable chalk line on my very uneven driveway. I like your string alignment line idea.
 
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