Interchangeable?

[N131RV]

It was my impression that since van switched to CNC production, you could in theory, take the wings from one airframe and put them on a different fuselage.

I am getting conflicting answers. I have personally seen it done on a 9A that was wrecked. They ordered a new wing kit and it slid right in and the holes lined up perfectly in the old fuselage.

Have not had a chance to ask Vans tech support yet.

It makes a big difference in how much it's going to cost to rebuild my 7A. If the center section of a different QB fuselage won't match my wings, I will have a real dilemma. I'll either have to pop for new wings (which I don't need) or spring to have my center section installed into the new fuselage, or something else will have to be done.

Yow!

If anyone has the scoop on this, please feel free to post it!

 

[Jekyll]

Aft spars are match drilled in assembly. Finding a wing that matches yours will be a **** shoot. Using a wing from another fuselge may alter your wing alignment. I can't comment on the main spar.

Jekyll
7A

 

[N131RV]

Ahem

Aft spars are match drilled in assembly. Finding a wing that matches yours will be a **** shoot. Using a wing from another fuselge may alter your wing alignment. I can't comment on the main spar.

Jekyll
7A

My wings aft spar is drilled, but the new fuselage will not be. While it will be a bit of fun to find the proper place to drill for proper incidence, it will not be impossible. I could easily make a jig that would allow match drilling to a new fuselage.

And to clarify, yes, I am asking about the main spar center section.

To wit:

If I bought a quick build (or other fuselage) from a fellow builder, would my wings main spar match up to the center section.

 

[DarylT]

Joe

When I bought my QB wings they took out the center section and shipped it with my fuse kit. It has my builder number etched on the center channel and my wing spars. I have been told this center section is riveted together at the time the wing spars are built. This would say they are match built for each other and should not be used with other planes center section.

I wouldn't think the close tollerance bolts would match up.

 

[N131RV]

Maybe

Joe

When I bought my QB wings they took out the center section and shipped it with my fuse kit. It has my builder number etched on the center channel and my wing spars. I have been told this center section is riveted together at the time the wing spars are built. This would say they are match built for each other and should not be used with other planes center section.

I wouldn't think the close tollerance bolts would match up.

I have personally seen a second pair of wings fit perfectly into a 9A center section, the bolts went right in.

The CNC machines that create these parts have precision capabilities on the order of less than one 10,000th of an inch (some are even better).

While they may be jigged together as a matter of procedure and to "ensure" a perfect fit, if they are in fact done using CNC machines with good indexing, the parts should be, to all intents and purposes, identical.

I'll be talking to vans tech support tomorrow to see what they have to say.

 

[mick]

My QB 7a fuselage was damaged during shipping and eventually written off.
I had it first hand from Vans that if I ordered a new fuselage that my wings would fit the new fuselage due to the fact that all the wings are drilled from the same jig.

Mick

 

[N131RV]

Thanks

My QB 7a fuselage was damaged during shipping and eventually written off.
I had it first hand from Vans that if I ordered a new fuselage that my wings would fit the new fuselage due to the fact that all the wings are drilled from the same jig.

Mick

Thanks. Just wanted some more confirmation before I pop 12K for a QB fuselage!
I'll still be contacting Vans ASAP, just to get their take on it.

Thanks,

 

[CE196]

I am building a slow build fus, with the fastback mod, then going to order QB wings. The tech people at Van's said all the new stuff will match from airframe to airframe. Did not sound like older fus and new wings would though.
You do need to confirm this with Van's. Hope it will work for you, will save a lot of work!

Good luck

 

[Guy Prevost]

The latest versions of the wing spars and center sections are not match drilled, just very accurately machined, and are interchangeable. In fact my matched hole (-1) RV8 fuselage came with a wing center section. Van's told me not to use the match drilled center section that came with my wings. The wings fit perfectly first try, even though the wings and center section have vastly different serial numbers.

Guy

 

[N131RV]

Vans tech support gives the thumbs up

I called today and spoke with Tom at Vans.

He stated that my wings would just "slide right in" and bolt right up.

Woo hoo!

Now, I just have to find someone that has a QB fuselage for sale!

 

[kcpgm]

two year ago i built a new wing for a 6 that wrecked the right wing hit a tree what a mess but no fuse damaged being that vintage(can't remember year of -6) i call the people that make the spars for vans and gave them the build number of the plane and they told me that is not matched and is standard to there specs they don't need the old spar and the new one will fit just fine and it did

ken

 

[rvbuilder2002]

I called today and spoke with Tom at Vans.

He stated that my wings would just "slide right in" and bolt right up.

Woo hoo!

Now, I just have to find someone that has a QB fuselage for sale!

Joe,
You will have no problem with the main spar fitting the centersection just as Tom said, but I would highly recommend that while rebuilding the airplane, you remove the two 1/8" plates from the rear spars for the rear attach bolt so that you can drill new holes in assembly with your new fuselage. This is an important one bolt single point connection that must have a accurate close fitting hole. Accurately drilling the fuselage to match the hole in the wing will be extremely difficult if not impossible. Remember, the tab on the wing rear spar inserts inside the clevis portion of the fuselage...the hole is not visible from the front or the back side when the wing is installed.

 

[N131RV]

Easily solved puzzle.

It appears easy enough to create a "location matching" jig that will attach to the spar and allow me to locate the hole accurately in the fuselage clevis.

Joe,
Accurately drilling the fuselage to match the hole in the wing will be extremely difficult if not impossible. Remember, the tab on the wing rear spar inserts inside the clevis portion of the fuselage...the hole is not visible from the front or the back side when the wing is installed.

 

[rvbuilder2002]

It appears easy enough to create a "location matching" jig that will attach to the spar and allow me to locate the hole accurately in the fuselage clevis.

Suite yourself... your the builder.

This hole needs to be drilled with a pretty close tolerance of precision, a couple thousandths slop is not acceptable. Mess it up and you will be replacing the parts I mentioned and the related parts in the fuselage (much more difficult than the parts on the wings).

 

[mick]

easy fix

Suite yourself... your the builder.

This hole needs to be drilled with a pretty close tolerance of precision, a couple thousandths slop is not acceptable. Mess it up and you will be replacing the parts I mentioned and the related parts in the fuselage (much more difficult than the parts on the wings).

If there is a small amount of misalignment after drilling you can oversize the fastener hole and install a larger diameter bolt. Just make sure you maintain 2D edge distance on the rear spar and fuselage structure.

Mick

 

[cytoxin]

are you certain of this

Suite yourself... your the builder.

, a couple thousandths slop is not acceptable. .

i mean, vans tells you to use a regular twist drill (as opposed to a reamer)and drill by hand
a 5/16 drill bit makes a pretty sloppy hole.

]added [ for this reason i would however reccommend to drill slighty under 5/16 and ream to .311 with a reamer and guide. but this is not the method outlined in the plans. Vans only says to use a long bit as to not get it crooked.

 

[rvbuilder2002]

i mean, vans tells you to use a regular twist drill (as opposed to a reamer)and drill by hand
a 5/16 drill bit makes a pretty sloppy hole.

]added [ for this reason i would however reccommend to drill slighty under 5/16 and ream to .311 with a reamer and guide. but this is not the method outlined in the plans. Vans only says to use a long bit as to not get it crooked.

So, how does Joe drill an undersized hole, aligned with an already drilled hole (that is not visible) and then ream up to .311 and have it exactly align with the hole that was already there?
I am not arguing your point of drilling under sized and reaming to .311. The reason that this is a good idea is that for some reason, all AN5 bolts measure at between .310 - .311, instead of the nominal .3125.
(by the way, this is well within the spec. tolerance for a non close tolerance bolt, but for some reason AN3,4 and 6's generally always measure right on the net size but AN5 is always slightly under, go figure)

A properly drilled (meaning drill an undersized pilot hole, then enlarge to 5/16")hole using a 5/16 drill bit has been found to be acceptable in this location. Which is the reason the use of a reamer is not specified.

I was cautioning Joe about attempting to drill a hole using a drill guide because of the small amount of clearance that already exists even with a properly drilled new hole. If he botches the hole at all, the clearance will be getting excessive.

I have been building and repairing RV's for 20 years...there is no way I would attempt to match an existing hole in this location (you must exactly match the hole center and the angle it was originally drilled at) when in a couple of hours I could have brand new fully prepunched / matched hole parts installed on the wings.

 

[cytoxin]

thats how i did one of mine

after the 5/16 drill bit with guide block left the hole sloppy as you said a couple thousandths was.
my point is its not a close tolerance fit. and a couple of thousandths is not unacceptable.

the added info was for someone not in this predicament.


that said, if he had acces to a lathe he could accuarately machine a bushing from 2" bar stock 2" tall with a 1/8 -3/16 nipple on it (to pilot in the existing hole.)drilled a size or two under the 5/16. then drill through the rear spar. from here he could use a 5/16 dowel to posistion a 5/16 guide block and final size the hole....no doubt this is risky but the rear spar carry through replacement is not without risk.mine were not pre punched....this would not be advisable if the original holes were not drilled using a guide

maybe he could simply put a dowel in the two holes with the wing removed and bond a guide onto that. then insert wings and clamp and drill. it can be done and i feel fairly easily. TEHO YMMV