Hi all- I'm finally starting the tail build of my RV-14A. A few hours in and I already have a question for the VAF hive mind!
I'm having issues fitting the VS-705 nose rib inside the skin. It's the front part of the rib (past the notch in the flange) that's causing problems. It looks like this isn't an uncommon issue. Per some other posts on the topic I tried fluting the front of the rib to bring the front flanges in, but it's not enough.
I did manage to get everything clecoed together but I sort of had to manhandle things into place and ended up scratching up the inside of the skin quite a bit. I'm not too worried about that- I'm planning on priming and will make sure I sand/scotchbrite those scratches out. I'm primarily concerned about stresses on the skin where it wraps around the end of the rib if I build as-is.
So a couple of questions- should I build on? Or modify the rib? I'm leaning towards modifying it since I don't want to feel like I'm taking shortcuts this early in the build... Does anyone know a source for long reach fluting pliers? I think the fluting will work but my Avery pliers don't reach very far (the flutes are a bit short of the tooling hole in the rib). Or if anyone else can recommend a way to bring the thickness of the web in at the front of the rib I'm open to ideas.
Thanks in advance.
I'm having issues fitting the VS-705 nose rib inside the skin. It's the front part of the rib (past the notch in the flange) that's causing problems. It looks like this isn't an uncommon issue. Per some other posts on the topic I tried fluting the front of the rib to bring the front flanges in, but it's not enough.
I did manage to get everything clecoed together but I sort of had to manhandle things into place and ended up scratching up the inside of the skin quite a bit. I'm not too worried about that- I'm planning on priming and will make sure I sand/scotchbrite those scratches out. I'm primarily concerned about stresses on the skin where it wraps around the end of the rib if I build as-is.
So a couple of questions- should I build on? Or modify the rib? I'm leaning towards modifying it since I don't want to feel like I'm taking shortcuts this early in the build... Does anyone know a source for long reach fluting pliers? I think the fluting will work but my Avery pliers don't reach very far (the flutes are a bit short of the tooling hole in the rib). Or if anyone else can recommend a way to bring the thickness of the web in at the front of the rib I'm open to ideas.
Thanks in advance.