LettersFromFlyoverCountry
Well Known Member
Just curious. Do people actually get LP pop rivets into the drilled skin on RV-12 projects without drilling holes to a #30, which apparently they already are?
I'm still getting use to the "it's-pretty-much-all-done-for-you-already" nature of the RV-12 and while working on the trim assembly in the emp kit, noticed that the only holes the builder is asked to drill to full size are the 8 holes on the trailing edge of ribs. They're obviously undersized to begin with.
The other 12 holes (each side) are already drilled proper size. Cool.
Just for kicks, I tried inserting the pop rivet in just the alredy-drilled-to-size holes and it's certainly a struggle if it goes in at all. I assume a regular old 426 or 470 rivet would slip in fine.
I'm sure the company knows way more about this than I do, but it just feels to me that forcing those pop rivets in there is doing more damage to a very thin skin than drilling it out to a #30.
Now, it's true, I suppose, that drilling to a #30 would make the hole larger than it should be, which presumably presents its own set of problems.
And I also presume this is a much more vexing for people who've built older Van's kits and are transitioning to the more simplified versions.
I'm still getting use to the "it's-pretty-much-all-done-for-you-already" nature of the RV-12 and while working on the trim assembly in the emp kit, noticed that the only holes the builder is asked to drill to full size are the 8 holes on the trailing edge of ribs. They're obviously undersized to begin with.
The other 12 holes (each side) are already drilled proper size. Cool.
Just for kicks, I tried inserting the pop rivet in just the alredy-drilled-to-size holes and it's certainly a struggle if it goes in at all. I assume a regular old 426 or 470 rivet would slip in fine.
I'm sure the company knows way more about this than I do, but it just feels to me that forcing those pop rivets in there is doing more damage to a very thin skin than drilling it out to a #30.
Now, it's true, I suppose, that drilling to a #30 would make the hole larger than it should be, which presumably presents its own set of problems.
And I also presume this is a much more vexing for people who've built older Van's kits and are transitioning to the more simplified versions.