Hi fellow RV'ers,
I'm in the midst of final assembly of the RV-7 project I took over from a previous builder. I'm mounting the empennage right now.
Like many of the sub-assemblies that I thought were finished and ready to bolt together, upon closer look it appears that the VS to fuselage assembly may not be quite to the level of accuracy that I would like.
1. I have the HS mounted. I temporarily installed the VS and measured the distance from the top tip of the VS to the tip of each end of the HS. Naturally, these measurements should be equal to indicate a truly vertical VS. Here's what I'm reading:
Left HS tip to VS = 66 5/8 inches
Right HS tip to VS = 67 1/8 inches
Total delta is 1/2 in. So my question is how far off can this be without a dramatic effect to the flight characteristic? I know perfect is ideal but that's going to take some real re-work. The rear VS spar is well centered in the rear bulkhead. If I take out all but the bottom bolt in the rear spar, I need to push the VS rear spar all the way until it's hitting the right side before I get equal measurements.
2. The hinge line is not perfect. The top hinge bracket is aft almost a 1/16". Ideas on how to fix this?
Thanks!
Matt
I'm in the midst of final assembly of the RV-7 project I took over from a previous builder. I'm mounting the empennage right now.
Like many of the sub-assemblies that I thought were finished and ready to bolt together, upon closer look it appears that the VS to fuselage assembly may not be quite to the level of accuracy that I would like.
1. I have the HS mounted. I temporarily installed the VS and measured the distance from the top tip of the VS to the tip of each end of the HS. Naturally, these measurements should be equal to indicate a truly vertical VS. Here's what I'm reading:
Left HS tip to VS = 66 5/8 inches
Right HS tip to VS = 67 1/8 inches
Total delta is 1/2 in. So my question is how far off can this be without a dramatic effect to the flight characteristic? I know perfect is ideal but that's going to take some real re-work. The rear VS spar is well centered in the rear bulkhead. If I take out all but the bottom bolt in the rear spar, I need to push the VS rear spar all the way until it's hitting the right side before I get equal measurements.
2. The hinge line is not perfect. The top hinge bracket is aft almost a 1/16". Ideas on how to fix this?
Thanks!
Matt