-6A gear weldments

[ChiefPilot]

So today I fit one of the wings to my -6A project and was dismayed to find that the gear weldments provided by Van's are apparently not drilled correctly. The holes for the bolts that hold the weldments to the fuselage sides match up with the fuselage ok, but the holes that are supposed to match up with the wing spar are all off by almost 1/2".

The only fixes I can think of involve drilling new holes after either obtaining new weldments or having the holes in the existing ones welded closed. Either way, it looks like undoing a lot of progress (removing the tail, control column, etc. and flipping the fuselage, then removing the bottom skin. I don't see how I can match drill the holes to the spar any other way - there just isn't enough clearance for a drill between the bottom row of holes in the spar and the bottom skin. On top of that, it seems like I'd need to set the gear angle this way as well.

I've already e-mail Van's on this, but given their turnaround time I'm hoping to get some ideas (and perhaps encouragement here....

Thanks!

 

[flion]

Maybe things have changed, but the gear weldments I got in 2004 were not pre-drilled. Also, the procedure to align them required both wings in place and the gear carefully jigged at the same time to insure that the plane would sit level and have the correct camber and toe-in. After aligning the gear I had to back-drill through the weldments using a special drill bit and then ream to final size. Definitely check with Van's; something sounds wrong.

Was your kit a QB? If so, then ignore my remarks; I have no idea how that is managed. But on the slow build, you do the gear and wing alignment before doing the skins forward and aft of the spar (and, yes, upside down). You also make the cutouts in the forward bottom skin before you rivet them on.

I've got a web page on the process: http://www.flion.com/rv6a/chap43.htm

 

[ChiefPilot]

Yep, this is a QB - hence the concern about having to undo a whole bunch of stuff to align the gear correctly. Since the tail cone is done, flipping the fuse upside down seems like an ... "interesting" ... exercise.

 

[az_gila]

Nah....

Yep, this is a QB - hence the concern about having to undo a whole bunch of stuff to align the gear correctly. Since the tail cone is done, flipping the fuse upside down seems like an ... "interesting" ... exercise.

...it's quite easy.
If the tail surfaces are off, it can be turned over and placed on a strong, wide saw horse at the cockpit rails and a regular one at the tail "deck".
Slide the wings in and put in the center plates and some hardware store bolts.
Use extra padded saw horses under the wings.

Just get a few EAA buddies over and buy beer and pizza.

I assume you don't have the engine mounted yet....