Author: "rp10294648" <rpflanze2@...> Time: Wed Jan 2, 2002 5:46 am PST Link
Just a word of warning to all of you still working on your empennage.
I was in the garage yesterday finishing up some details on the
empennage like mounting the rod-end bearings and the like. I was
having difficulty in mounting one of the bearings in my left
elevator. I thought that maybe, the clearance hole in the spar was
interferring with the threads so they wouldn't engage in the
nutplate. Upon closer inspection, I was horrified to find that the
nutplate was a "BLANK" without any threads cut into it.
Now I was NOT going to drill out the rivets in the thin skin of the
elevator so I could replace the nutplate. After some head scratching
and a trip to the hardware store, I was able to run a tap down
through the nutplate. It took some time to do it because I had
visions of breaking off the tap in the nutplate. Eventually, I got
it done and everything is okay now.
Be sure to double check your nutplates before you rivet them on. I
hope my situation was an isolated case but you never know.
Randy Pflanzer
RV-6 (Sold)
RV-7A (Waiting for wings)