Gary Baker
Well Known Member
The following is a copy of my email to Van's Support. I am posting this to see if anyone else has had this problem with their RV-6QB fuselage. Any suggestions? Thanks for any suggestions!
Van's responded and their answer is at the bottom, #7.
"I am attempting to finish my RV-6 and hope to not be the last one completed! I started in ’96 and am working on the fuselage QB right now. I am attempting to attach the horizontal stab to the fuselage and have run into a snag. Per Drawing 34, I drilled a pilot hole, #40, thru the HS-610, 1/8” spacer, F-614 aft top deck, longeron and, I thought, thru the 1x1x1/8” 6061-T6 bracket which lies underneath the aft top deck.
"I checked my pilot hole and found that the 6061-T6 bracket was trimmed improperly and does not nest against the longeron. There is a gap of at least 5/32” between the longeron and the edge of the bracket. This gap, if left untouched, will result in the outboard bolt on each side not going through the 6061-T6 bracket underneath the top deck. I believe that this is unacceptable, based upon the forces applied to the horizontal stab in flight.
"I received my QB fuselage in November, 2003, so I know that the -6 fuselage option is probably no longer in production. If any are still being produced, however, I would like someone to check this area so that there is not a repeat of my problem.
"I have taken photos of this area and attached a few. More photos are available on my photo web site at: http://picasaweb.google.com/bakerfamilyenator/EmpennageAttachedToFuselage#
"As of right now, I believe that the correct fix is to remove the aft top deck and replace the 6061-T6 bracket with a properly trimmed bracket."
Van's responded and their answer is at the bottom, #7.
"I am attempting to finish my RV-6 and hope to not be the last one completed! I started in ’96 and am working on the fuselage QB right now. I am attempting to attach the horizontal stab to the fuselage and have run into a snag. Per Drawing 34, I drilled a pilot hole, #40, thru the HS-610, 1/8” spacer, F-614 aft top deck, longeron and, I thought, thru the 1x1x1/8” 6061-T6 bracket which lies underneath the aft top deck.
"I checked my pilot hole and found that the 6061-T6 bracket was trimmed improperly and does not nest against the longeron. There is a gap of at least 5/32” between the longeron and the edge of the bracket. This gap, if left untouched, will result in the outboard bolt on each side not going through the 6061-T6 bracket underneath the top deck. I believe that this is unacceptable, based upon the forces applied to the horizontal stab in flight.
"I received my QB fuselage in November, 2003, so I know that the -6 fuselage option is probably no longer in production. If any are still being produced, however, I would like someone to check this area so that there is not a repeat of my problem.
"I have taken photos of this area and attached a few. More photos are available on my photo web site at: http://picasaweb.google.com/bakerfamilyenator/EmpennageAttachedToFuselage#
"As of right now, I believe that the correct fix is to remove the aft top deck and replace the 6061-T6 bracket with a properly trimmed bracket."
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