Author: "Jeff " <jeff.conner@...> Time: Tue Feb 10, 2004 3:22 am PST Link
Hello group,
I'm fitting up my wings for incidence drilling and have noticed that
the center spar box bolt holes are not perfectly aligned with the
laminate aluminum layers over the holes. Specifically the laminate
sheets are interferring slightly over the 7/16" holes to one side.
Has anyone else dealt with this? have you reamed? dremel sanded?
lightly filed? used the torch i.e. blue wrench (just kidding) I'm a
bit paranoid to remove any aluminum in this area even if it is just
the thin laminate sheets riveted over the spar bars.
I still can't believe that anyone can get these close tolerance bolts
through these holes when they do the final mating. what's the
process again...freeze the bolts in liquid nitrogen and then use a
big hammer?
Jeff - Findlay, OH - ice capital of the midwest at present
Author: "Joseph F. Giallo, II" <jgiallo@...> Time: Tue Feb 10, 2004 7:08 am PST Link
Jeff,
I had the same problem. Per Van's it is ok to use a machinists scraper or
similar tool to remove the interfering material from the doubler sheets. Be
careful not to remove material from the heavy aluminum bars comprising the
spar however. Pretty much every single hole in my case required clearing,
all 32 (fore and aft * 8 holes per side). My initial inquiries to the help
desk were rebuffed as "this can't be happening, we match drill all the
components". After further investigation it became clear to me what is
happening. Yes, they do match drill the components, but BEFORE assembly.
This is not the same as match drilling the assembly and clearly things are
moving around in the process of riveting, albeit not much. However, it
doesn't take much in this situation to keep a bolt from going through.
Then I found out that the forward portion of the spar didn't align with the
rear portion of the spar. Ultimately this required unriveting the forward
half of F705, plugging in the wings and bolting them, then re-riveting F705.
I was fortunate to have a couple of RV experts accomplish this for me (one
of whom is a consultant for Van's).
Needless to say I found this very disappointing in a QB kit. I don't think I
ever made an impression on anyone at Van's that a) I bought the QB to have
the critical things done by pros and b) they didn't deliver what I paid for.
On the up side, I made a new friend fixing the problem and I learned a bit
more about aircraft building. I know that my consultant friend has fixed at
least one more of these situations and that one was worse than mine. I
recommend that anyone with a QB check out the alignment issue asap. What you
don't want to have happen, for example, is to put the wings on for the last
time, pound those precision bolts in and then begin torquing - only to break
off the head of one of the bottom 1/4" bolts because of a hole alignment
issue. That is a real bad news scenario in a 7A because you'll never get a
broken bolt out on the bottom of the spar due to the landing gear weldments.
Of course, the foregoing is only my experience - if you haven't already I
suggest that you call Van's and get their recommendations for your specific
situation.
Regards,
Joe
7A QB
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff [mailto:jeff.conner@h...]
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 11:11 PM
To: RV7and7A@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [RV7Yahoo] Center spar box bolt holes
Hello group,
I'm fitting up my wings for incidence drilling and have noticed that
the center spar box bolt holes are not perfectly aligned with the
laminate aluminum layers over the holes. Specifically the laminate
sheets are interferring slightly over the 7/16" holes to one side.
Has anyone else dealt with this? have you reamed? dremel sanded?
lightly filed? used the torch i.e. blue wrench (just kidding) I'm a
bit paranoid to remove any aluminum in this area even if it is just
the thin laminate sheets riveted over the spar bars.
I still can't believe that anyone can get these close tolerance bolts
through these holes when they do the final mating. what's the
process again...freeze the bolts in liquid nitrogen and then use a
big hammer?
Jeff - Findlay, OH - ice capital of the midwest at present
Van's Air Force - World Wide Wing
www.vansaircraft.net
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Author: "Ross P. Hauck" <ross@...> Time: Tue Feb 10, 2004 7:58 am PST Link
This is not uncommon. I actually had interference from the gear leg
weldment (-7A). I made a special reamer from a standard .4375 dia.
Reamer and ground a hex on the shank so I could turn it with my ¼” air
ratchet. I then reamed all the way through with the wings assembled to
the fuse, put in the close tolerance bolt, and moved to the next hole.
Of course, you need a good initial alignment for this to work. In your
case, I would clear out the laminated sheet on the rear of the spar to
give the reamer a good start, assemble as much as possible with hardware
store bolts with a taper ground on the end, and then ream. I’d be happy
to lend you my reamer, if it would help.
Ross/N2SU 22.5 hrs
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff [mailto:jeff.conner@h...]
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 8:11 PM
To: RV7and7A@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [RV7Yahoo] Center spar box bolt holes
* Hello group,
I'm fitting up my wings for incidence drilling and have noticed that
the center spar box bolt holes are not perfectly aligned with the
laminate aluminum layers over the holes. Specifically the laminate
sheets are interferring slightly over the 7/16" holes to one side.
Has anyone else dealt with this? have you reamed? dremel sanded?
lightly filed? used the torch i.e. blue wrench (just kidding) I'm a
bit paranoid to remove any aluminum in this area even if it is just
the thin laminate sheets riveted over the spar bars.
I still can't believe that anyone can get these close tolerance bolts
through these holes when they do the final mating. what's the
process again...freeze the bolts in liquid nitrogen and then use a
big hammer?
Jeff - Findlay, OH - ice capital of the midwest at present
.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Author: "John" <jadams@...> Time: Tue Feb 10, 2004 10:54 am PST Link
When I received my QB fuselage 2 years ago there was a single page
note attached to it that said to install the wing bolts you use a
bottle jack! Yes, it said to put the bottle jack and some 2x4s on the
front side of the spar and spread the forward longerons a bit to take
off compression forces that build up on the front side of the spar.
I'm not there yet so I have not tried this. Has anyone done this
with success?
John Adams
Soon to attach the wings.
p.s. sorry about the previous blank post, hit the wrong button.