lucaperazzolli
Well Known Member
RV-4 restoration : replacing tanks, two times
This is the story of an old RV-4 #1504. This RV was well-built in USA in 2001 (N90402), probably she did an heavy life and the worst fact is a wing-tail dismantle for overseas shipping to Europe (Germany) where she was bought from a friend of mine under Holland registration.
To become a legal italian Experimental aircraft their (buyer and plane) need to spend some time to restore in physical (plane) and mind (Experimental plane buyer here have to prove to our FAA official that he has the acknowledge to built an airplane); in this process I have an official role as DAR&Tech Couselor so I have a story that I like to share.
The plane was unpainted, metal surfaces worn but regular in shape, control tubes were loose, electrical system was ?low?, and tanks were leaking.
The tanks were adjusted (in Germany) in some manner just to sell the aircraft? so Enrico (the name of the buyer) had a problem : building new tanks.
First mistake :
Simply filling an order list of all the tanks parts coming from the preview dwg (the original drawing were missed) and building a couple of brand new tanks was not a good idea : Enrico did that without knowing that there are 3 different generations of RV-4 tanks (I didn?t know it too). It is important to get the appropriate parts as the tanks are not interchangable. When the tanks were finished and tested they were ? too short in depth (front/rear)!
After a call to my friend Gus @ MotherShip (april, 2015) we understood the problem and there was no other option than rebuilding another two tanks with an oversized skin to match the original length of the first generation RV-4 ribs.
Enrico was exhausted with his building tanks process so he chose to call Evan Johnson from Evan?s Aviation Products. All the right stuff were shipped to Evan with the oversized skins too.
Second mistake :
Last week, yes in december-2015, Enrico received the tanks built with an outstanding workmanship from Evan but they were ? too short in width (fuse/tip) side; unfortunately Evan trimmed the skin too much. [bad words here]
I?ll meet Enrico next Tuesday (yes we?ll spend all day in hangar) to try to solve the problem (side screws edge distance) ? probably we?ll change the W-423 JOINT PLATE to obtain a right edge distance.
I?ll keep you updated : stay tuned !
PS: Enrico is selling a couple of brand new RV-4 tanks, last generation, leak tested
This is the story of an old RV-4 #1504. This RV was well-built in USA in 2001 (N90402), probably she did an heavy life and the worst fact is a wing-tail dismantle for overseas shipping to Europe (Germany) where she was bought from a friend of mine under Holland registration.
To become a legal italian Experimental aircraft their (buyer and plane) need to spend some time to restore in physical (plane) and mind (Experimental plane buyer here have to prove to our FAA official that he has the acknowledge to built an airplane); in this process I have an official role as DAR&Tech Couselor so I have a story that I like to share.
The plane was unpainted, metal surfaces worn but regular in shape, control tubes were loose, electrical system was ?low?, and tanks were leaking.
The tanks were adjusted (in Germany) in some manner just to sell the aircraft? so Enrico (the name of the buyer) had a problem : building new tanks.
First mistake :
Simply filling an order list of all the tanks parts coming from the preview dwg (the original drawing were missed) and building a couple of brand new tanks was not a good idea : Enrico did that without knowing that there are 3 different generations of RV-4 tanks (I didn?t know it too). It is important to get the appropriate parts as the tanks are not interchangable. When the tanks were finished and tested they were ? too short in depth (front/rear)!
After a call to my friend Gus @ MotherShip (april, 2015) we understood the problem and there was no other option than rebuilding another two tanks with an oversized skin to match the original length of the first generation RV-4 ribs.
Enrico was exhausted with his building tanks process so he chose to call Evan Johnson from Evan?s Aviation Products. All the right stuff were shipped to Evan with the oversized skins too.
Second mistake :
Last week, yes in december-2015, Enrico received the tanks built with an outstanding workmanship from Evan but they were ? too short in width (fuse/tip) side; unfortunately Evan trimmed the skin too much. [bad words here]
I?ll meet Enrico next Tuesday (yes we?ll spend all day in hangar) to try to solve the problem (side screws edge distance) ? probably we?ll change the W-423 JOINT PLATE to obtain a right edge distance.
I?ll keep you updated : stay tuned !
PS: Enrico is selling a couple of brand new RV-4 tanks, last generation, leak tested
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