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Wing Spar Cap Double holes misaligned?
- Thread starter BillL
- Start date
Would go through…… or wouldn’t go through?
Edited for NOT go through. He said on one end of the doubler holes matched, but the other end did not match. Not clear if it is progressively offset along the length. I suggested using a drill bit solid end to roughly quantify the offset. The second spar was just fine. L/R not specified.
I just checked both of my spars. I can't get an LP4-3 rivet through any of the holes where the doubler is installed. On the shorter piece of the spar, it looks like the holes are visibly smaller than a regular size 30 hole. I can get a size #30 drill bit through the longer spar piece, but the shorter piece(the one with the doubler), I have to step down to a #31 drill bit to get through. I'm calling Van's in the morning, but has anyone reamed the spar to get rivets installed on the -15? If nobody else has done this, I don't plan on being the first.
wiktor256
I'm New Here
I checked my spars, and I have the same problem. It almost seems to me that the doubler didn't have clecos on one side during riveting. The misalignment on one of my spars is small, and I can pry the holes with some difficulty to be able to put LP4-3 rivets in them. But the misalignment on the second spar is much bigger and I can't pry it into place. The holes seem to be the correct diameter though.
I suspect that in the worst case, I could drill out all rivets from the doubler and re-rivet it. But I am definitely not going to do such a nice job like Van's did.
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To answer questions about whether anyone has reamed the rivet holes on these 15 spars: Yes I have.
This is the 8th RV I have built. There have always been instances on every one when I had to ream a rivet hole to get a rivet to fit. What exactly does anyone think will happen to those rivet holes if you do have to ream them to get a rivet to fit? You should absolutely get advice from Vans on this concern, but I pretty much know what they will say.
This is the 8th RV I have built. There have always been instances on every one when I had to ream a rivet hole to get a rivet to fit. What exactly does anyone think will happen to those rivet holes if you do have to ream them to get a rivet to fit? You should absolutely get advice from Vans on this concern, but I pretty much know what they will say.
I consider reaming holes to be acceptable when the fastener will be a standard aluminum rivet because it does a fairly good job of entirely filling an irregular shaped hole.
I am not in favor of reaming when an LP4-3 or similar blind rivet will be used.
If you insert a cleco into every hole can you get the rivets to fit?
Also how long is the spar cap?
Reason I ask is that I have a spare RV10 HS rear spar in my garage roof.
The reason being - it was too long to punch in one operation so they move it in between punches. If the jigging isn’t right then you can have what I had which is 3/4 of the holes lining up but the second punched 1/4 don’t. Not by much - but enough to need a new part.
Also how long is the spar cap?
Reason I ask is that I have a spare RV10 HS rear spar in my garage roof.
The reason being - it was too long to punch in one operation so they move it in between punches. If the jigging isn’t right then you can have what I had which is 3/4 of the holes lining up but the second punched 1/4 don’t. Not by much - but enough to need a new part.
Seems pretty clear in the KAI…
Update on the OP - testing with the smooth end of a drill bit. #31 fits in the spar holes that get "reamed" but starting inboard on the doubler, a #34 fits vertically ending with a #47 on the outboard end. Just so you don't have to look it up, that is .0415" centerline offset.
It will be interesting to hear Vans recommendation.
It will be interesting to hear Vans recommendation.
My spar was measured - a #31 fit all doubler holes in one, but not a #30. Second spar was 34-33-32 with all holes offset perpendicular to the spar main axis. It appears that the bend angle of the cap varies on the length, and in the direction that would result in the shift. The greater bend the smaller the drill bit that passed. The photo illustrates the bend. I wonder if the bend spring back varies along the length due to the open areas in the center web and/or stiffness of the tooling. I thought Vans used long press brakes for this so, that seems unlikely.
A straight edge on the remainder of the spar length resulted in no gaps over both sides (fore/aft) of the caps. You can see the offset in the near fuzzy hole.
A straight edge on the remainder of the spar length resulted in no gaps over both sides (fore/aft) of the caps. You can see the offset in the near fuzzy hole.
