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Seatback Hinge mistake in plans

M

Mich48041

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Seatback Hinge mistake in plans

Page 21-06 Step 7 says to cut a 20 inch piece of hinge. What it doesn't tell you is that you have to cut a half inch off from the 6-foot hinge before measuring and cutting the 20 inch piece. If you measure from the very end of the 6-foot piece and cut 20 inches off and then cut that in half as instructed, the end result will NOT look like figure 4. The tabs will be on the left end instead of the right end as shown. It does not help to cut from the other end of the 6-foot hinge. Both ends are the same. My friend, Ren, had the same problem with his kit. When I called Van's to tell them about the mistake in the plans, their attitude is that it was my mistake for measuring from the end. The builder's-assistance man said that I should have cut a piece out of the middle of the 6-foot hinge instead of measuring from the end. :D My advice is to cut a piece of hinge 20.5 inches long and remove the hinge pin. Then lay half of the 20.5" hinge on the plans and study it carefully before making any more cuts. By the way, figure 4 shows the flat side of the hinge down, with the line that you draw on the back side (represented by a dashed line, not solid)
Joe Gores
 
thanks for the tip ...

Joe ... thanks for the tip. I'll be on 21-06 as of tomorrow morning! I'll follow your tip of 20.5" cut & I'll be sure to try and think it through all the way before I make any cut. Your heads up is certainly appreciated.

thanks again, Jerry
 
I always try to make my parts look as much like what's shown in the drawing. I noticed when I finished out my horizontal stabilizer that the profile of the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer looked exactly like that shown on the drawings. All things considered I think the plans (written and drawn) are way ahead of what they might be.
 
THIS IS THE LEARNING CURVE that Van wants you to get into. Any time you cut a hinge, you need to think how you want the ends to end up. There is always and end tooth that you need to think about. A few years back he would say, rivet part A to part B, and you would have to measure end distance and figure rivet pitch, rivet length etc etc etc. There is no error in the instructions that you have.

As far as the dashed line, that means that it is on the back side. A dashed line is a hidden line.
 
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We chased the hinge issue today with the seat hinges. Thanks for this post as it helped us out! I wonder why they don't amend the plans to alleviate this problem.

Thanks!!
 
Why should they change the plans? Selling hinges is a major part of their income. :D Just kidding.
Actually, if the seat hinges are not installed exactly like the plans, it is not a major mistake. Many builders have noticed that when built exactly according to the plans, the passenger seat is 1/2" closer to the flap handle than the pilot seat is. A half inch might not seem like much until you try to lower the flaps and the overweight passenger's thigh is overlapping the seat, making it difficult to grasp the flap handle.
Joe Gores
 
I still have not changed mine to what appears to be correct, will just have to have light weight passengers I guess. At that time of build I was trying to keep it ELSA.
 
Someone posted a list of notes from their build, that I printed out, that helped my avoid that pitfall. Perhaps someone has some better search skills or memory than me and can include a link.

I'm on the road and the printout is at home.

This is closely related to the offset problem, which I will fix after ELSA certification.
 
Similar question

On page 23-08, if you cut the hinges per Figure 1, you can't assemble them per Figure 3. The parts in Fig 1 are mirror images of the parts in Fig 3.

Which is correct? Or can I do it either way as long as I'm careful when making the mating parts?
 
Thanks Joe. I thought it was your links I printed out, but I was thrown off by not realizing that this was an old thread re-awakened.

I had no problem matching the diagrams by cutting the hinges 1/2 inch too long.

I was tempted to make the related centerline correction for the right seat (discussed in other threads), but don't want any problems with ESLA certification (Thanks Mel!). I also think the correction might need to be made on the seatback bottom and not on this step.

One tip I would add is to ensure the hinge holes are drilled exactly as specified. Any deviation towards the hinge pivot side can result in a conflict with the LP4-3 rivets just aft of the aft set of hinges.
 
Hi RV12 builders. I am resurrecting this thread as I have some questions.

I am at the point of cutting the AN257-P3 hinge on P21-06. What I have is two 18 inch pieces of hinge marked M820237-2. Looking at the requirements from 21-06, 23-08, 26-02 and 29-02 I do not see how I have enough hinge material. So

1) Is the M82... the AN257-P3 hinge?
2) Am I missing some hinge from my kit?

Finally

3) Is the hinge material al-clad?

Thanks,
JAL

Addendum: I was missing the AN257-P3 hinge in my kit. The MS20257-2 is NOT the AN257-P3. (MS20257-2 --> AN257-P2) (MS20257-3 --> AN257-P3)
 
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Perhaps the part number that you have is actually MS20257 ?
For some reason, the powers to be changed the aircraft parts nomenclature from AN to MS. It is confusing when the plans show the old part number, but parts are marked with the new part number.
Hinge is relatively inexpensive. I would delay installing the hinge and order some more when you order other parts. When built according to the plans, the left seat comes out in the correct location, but the right seat is 1/2" closer to the center of the aircraft. You might not think that will matter. But it will when your passenger's thigh overlaps the seat and you have to operate the flap lever. I recommend NOT installing the hinges on the right seat floor when told to. Wait until making the seat-backs. Then study the right seat-back and hinge to determine for yourself how best to install the seat-back hinge onto the floor and seat-back.
Joe Gores
 
Hi Joe... OK. I will order some more of hinge material and hold installing the right seat hinge. Do you think that the hinge material is alclad?

Thanks,
Jeff
 
This will work, don't agonize over it! You can install the hinges on the seat floors per the plan pictures. When it comes to the seatbacks which are very easy to handle, you can adjust the seatback mounted hinge by just one notch to get them centered. Easy, no fuss at all. I know because I got a a seat floor hinge 1/2 inch off but both my seats are now centered by adjusting the one on the seat back. Don't cut the seatback hinge pieces until you build them.
 
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