02 October 2013

Wings: Flaps. Spar-nose-rib rivets.

First, Van's reordered the section numbers in the plans as of 25-Sep-13, so I'll cease using the numbers to avoid confusion. (I've updated page references in the blog prior to the above date to reflect the new ordering.  Hopefully I got them all.  13-Jul-14.)

Now, the AN426AD3-4.5 rivets that hold the flap skin, nose skin and main ribs together are nestled in there pretty good.  I couldn't find a good way to buck them (other than the squeezable inboard- and outboard-most ones).  The challenge is to get a bar in there that doesn't damage the factory head of the AN470AD4-4 spar-rib rivets and provides a good angle to make a nice shop head.


So, I..."buckled" and...bought a tungsten (wolfram) bucking bar that was narrow enough to fit in the space near the spar flange.  I decided to splurge on this bar since I wanted something small and heavy.  More weight means less control of the bar is necessary on the part of the holder.  Very important, especially when going solo.  I was surprised at the density of this material.  Don't think I've held something this dense before.  Denser than lead.


Placing some properly sized Popsicle sticks (thank you band saw) that are just slightly higher than the factory heads on the AN470AD4-4 spar-rib rivets, the bar can hit the AN426AD3-4.5 rivet that I want to buck and float above those AN470AD4-4 guys without damaging them.


And here's a nicely bucked rivet in the space of concern.  No part of the flap body or other rivets have been touched.


I think I'll be able to use this bar when bucking the few buckable rivets on the bottom skins.

No comments:

Post a Comment