f-799 wing root seal

[Jonathan Cude]

Hey all,

Anyone know whats the trick with the f-799 wing/fuselage gap seal? It curves tightly around the leading edge, doesn't sit loose anywhere, but I can't pull it far enough to reach the last hole for the last screw on the bottom.

Is my fairing too short? Is my wing to big? Am I just not pulling and cussing enough?

Any advice appreciated,

Jonathan

 

[kcpgm]

I have built two rv-7 they fit tight i find that if you start at the bottom first it will work better if you have not already drilled any holes you should be able to align the two screw holes top and bottom of the tank skin then drill the others

good luck

 

[robertahegy]

Make sure you are starting with #40 holes and clecoing small before going to 30 and on to # 8 screws. It is a very tight pull. You actually shoehorn it on, then drill the holes to size once clecoed in place. I put mine on the wings before they were attached to the plane. I trimmed them to fit the fuselage after the wings were on. You need a 3/8" gap for the seal to fit correctly.

 

[Jonathan Cude]

fairing

Thanks for the replies... drilling, dimpling, and attaching the bottom screw hole on the tank really helped. I was able to then pull tightly on the piece from the top, insert clecoes barely and pull it all in place... looks great now! What a pain last night at 3 am!

Thanks again...

Jonathan

 

[Pmerems]

3/8 gap? Seems a bit to large?

Make sure you are starting with #40 holes and clecoing small before going to 30 and on to # 8 screws. It is a very tight pull. You actually shoehorn it on, then drill the holes to size once clecoed in place. I put mine on the wings before they were attached to the plane. I trimmed them to fit the fuselage after the wings were on. You need a 3/8" gap for the seal to fit correctly.

Fellow builders,

What gap do you recommend between the f-799 root gap strip and the fuselage so that the rubber channel fits well?

In addition, the aft hole that attaches the gap strip to the bottom skin (not the hole that attaches the fuel tank) is about 1/32" forward of the intersecting hole on the bottom skin. Additionally the edge distance between this prepunched hole and the aft edge of the gap strip is only 1/4". It would have been nice if Van's had left at least 5/16" or more edge distance. After moving the hole that will leave about 7/32" edge distance. Dimpling will look a little ugly at this edge distance for a #8 screw. Thank goodness this is on the bottom so it won't be seen.

Also it appears that with the gap strip in proper position the screw holes through strip and into the inboard tank skin come very close to the inboard tank rib flange. Looks like I will have to modify my dimple dies more then I have already.

I am I alone or have others experienced this?

Thanks,