Wings: Bottom skins. ADAHRS mount.

I have to redo the ADAHRS mount.  Looks like the mount slipped when I was match drilling to the J-stiffener, so it didn't fit properly after I riveted the whole thing together.  This caused the J-stiffener to bow a bit.  Bummer.  Interestingly, the tray shipping from Van's is now sans tab.  See the first ADAHRS post to read about that tab.

Original ADAHRS mount on top.  New on bottom.

Empennage: Empennage kit ship date.

Ship week for empennage kit slated for 21-Oct-13.  Unfortunately, no information yet available regarding the size and weight of the crate(s).  Curious how large the tail cone is.  That probably defines the crate size.

Wings: Bottom skins. Flap gap stiffener reversal.

The plans clearly call out the W-1021B Flap Gap Stiffener to keep its flange outboard.  On the left wing, I put it inboard since that made the most sense (to me, anyway).  So when I went to do the right I took a quick gander at the plans to refamiliarize and realized I reversed it on the left, but not before the whole flap gap fairing was riveted in.  So fixing that would be quite challenging. 

Sterling at Van's graciously went to look at their flying -14A (N214VA) and their bird is actually opposite of plans.  He said either orientation is fine so I'm going to leave it as-is.  My concern was clearance issues against the fuselage rather than drag. 

 

Wings: Pitot-static. Pitot hole made.

Here's a series of images capturing the fashioning of the pitot hole in the left bottom skin between ribs 8 and 9, butted up against 8.  A few pilot holes were drilled, followed by enlargement by the unibit, removal of skin with the nibbler, filing to get a good fit and final deburring with 400-grit.  An hour and fifteen minutes of after-dinner work.

 

 

 

Read the entries in my AOA series:

• Parts.
• Mounting - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.

Wings: Leading edges. Leading edges attached.

Here is the left leading edge going on.  I had some help here as things were balanced on the couch.

Turns out nearly all of the rib-to-spar rivets are LP4-3 blind because it's impractical to buck them.  However, the inboard-most rib's spar rivets are AN470AD4-5 so they must be bucked (circled below).  But, they're very difficult to reach with the rivet set.  I used a double offset rivet set to reach the manufactured heads, but I kept mashing up the heads with the kind of smile that would make an orthodontist close up shop.  So after replacing those rivets, the left ones aren't as nice as they ought to be and I have yet to do the right side until I can investigate alternative methods.  I'm considering CR3213-4-3 Cherry Max.  Update 5-Dec-15:  I did not use the Cherries.  The difficulty I had with setting these AD470 rivets was that the offset rivet set kept spinning in the gun.  I've since learned to use duct tape to prevent the set from spinning and to increase the air pressure to accommodate the set's flexion.

The wings in their cradle in the entryway.

The wings parked behind the couch until I can get a house with a garage some day (which happened on 29-Mar-15).

To mitigate damage, I'm keeping the landing light lenses, stall-warner and tie-downs off until the wings are more complete.

Wings: Wing cradle built.

The wing cradle has been built.  My RV-9A friend completed this in the entryway whilst I did parallel work on the pitot mount in the basement.  I used the RV-10 design that Mouser published (the origin of which is uncertain) and just shortened it for the RV-14 wings.  A process that merely encompassed shortening it to 8 feet from 10.

How does one account for build time when you have help?  Many ways to answer that interesting question.  I just 2x the time I record during those periods.

Wings: Moving from basement to living room.

Calculations showed that the wings could not continue to increase in size lest they be locked in the basement only to fly some really tight pattern work or be removed by knocking out a wall or lifting of floorboards (Van's doesn't offer a flyout version of the kit yet).  So, up they went to the living room, where they will live until some new digs materialize (which happened on 29-Mar-15).

Left wing positioned for pulling out of egress window.  Don't worry, there are two 2x6s it rode up on (for the yet-to-be assembled cradle), the carpeted dimple platform for it to rest on until we got into position and a towel was eventually placed on the sill.

Right wing being positioned for removal in the egress window.

Right wing in position for removal.  Half in and half out.  I sure hope I never achieve a flight attitude that would put the wing like this!

Boy, these are big.

And the depths of the house eject a left wing.

Not a single scratch, bend or dent realized!

Wings: Pitot-static. AOA pitot mount.

The PBK-12 Gretz Aero bracket I'm using for Dynon heated AOA pitot requires you to fabricate a piece of angle to hold the mounting plate to the rib.  Below is an image from the instructions showing that angle.

To make this, we cannibalized a discarded rib I had from a previous mistake.  We pounded the pushed out rim around the lightening hole and cut part of the upper flange off.  Then we sized it to the left 9th rib on the inboard side.  Here are images showing the cut rib fit back together on the left and with the fabricated bracket (from the flange) on the right.

The mount requires a joggle to slip under the flange yet still be flush to the rib so the wing skin mates to the mount.  Below is an image from the instructions illustrating this.

The part comes pre-joggled, but it isn't quite deep enough to get under the flange properly.  Initially we tried to deepen the joggle with a hand seamer with unsuccessful results.  Turns out EAA has a great video instructing how to make your own joggle.  And, in a fantastic coincidence, the fuel sender hole covers from the RV-9A capacitive kit I bought (to steal parts from for my capacitive fuel senders) is the same thickness of my main spar flange!  So I made a joggle jig with that part.  The large holes on the left are to ensure the dimples in the pitot mount don't get squashed.

 

 

Once joggled, it was lined up on the rib and match drilled.  You'll notice that the mounting plate doesn't butt up to the rib.  This was done intentionally because I wanted the mount to use 4 holes in the main spar flange.  If this wasn't done, it would only use three.

 

And finally, match drilled into the bottom skin.  The mount hole was also traced out for later cutting of the bottom skin.

Read the entries in my AOA series:

• Parts.
• Mounting - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.

Wings: Fuel tanks. Fuel vent lines cut and installed.

I decided to redo my fuel tanks.  See here for why.  The entries specific to the redone tanks are here.

Bought a pipe cutter for the vent lines.  The latter are now installed in both tanks.

 

Wings: Leading edges. Landing light lenses cut.

Here are the posts pertaining to nav-strobe lights.

• 12-Aug-13, initial thoughts
• 9-Sep-13, lights ordered
• 7-Jan-14, wiring completed
• 2-Nov-16, panel control circuit
• 30-Apr-17, mounts fabricated 
• 16-May-18, first night flight

The lenses have been cut.  This is a two person job for sure.  We used a cutting wheel on a single speed Dremel then it was smoothed on the Scotch-Brite and radiused with 220 grit.  A dowel was used to help push the lens flush to the skin when the lens holes were being match-drilled to the skin (thank you for the idea Mark).

Pre-cut lens on left.  First cut on right (necessary to fit into leading edge to size the final cut).

Pushed in with dowel on left.  Match drilled to skin on right.

Final lens.  If you prefer the lenses to be flush rather than having a skin-thick lip around the edge, check this out.

And, just for giggles:  My RV-9A friend saw this and though they'd make good book shelves.  I'd rather use them for flying.

Wings: Fuel tanks. Right tank ribs and stiffeners sealed.

I decided to redo my fuel tanks.  See here for why.  The entries specific to the redone tanks are here.

The right tank ribs and stiffeners are in, along with the capacitive probe connector.

I bought an extended double offset rivet set to hit the top-most AN470AD4-5 rivet joining the aft and fore inboard ribs to the tank attach assembly.  Turns out this thing is really difficult to use and just ends up work hardening the rivet.  So, in the end, that rivet isn't very pretty.

The plans would do well to have you not rivet the VA-146 Flange Bearing to the tank attach assembly until after you drive that rivet described above.

Both tanks are waiting to have their fuel level optical sensor installed, final sealing forward of the J-stiffeners and fuel float senders (yes, I'm using those with the capacitive sensors).  Then I can leak test prior to putting on the baffles.

What a mess.  I should clean that.

Wings: Fuel tanks. Right fuel tank ribs fay sealed.

I decided to redo my fuel tanks.  See here for why.  The entries specific to the redone tanks are here.

Right tank fibs are fay sealed in anticipation of riveting tomorrow evening with the help of an RV-9A builder.  I figured it was good to build the other tank built with two people in case my solo approach introduced an inherent incipient failure mode.

First I slather the sealant on the rib flanges.  Then each rib goes into the skin with just the bottom-forward most hole held with a cleco.  After putting in all ribs the same way, I put in a cleco on the top-most forward hole, then progress aft, alternating top-and-bottom.  This makes sure the skin folds around the ribs properly and I don't have to finaggle the holes to line up.  Wish I did that on the leading edges (I entirely cleco'd the bottom first, then did the top)!

 

Today marks the 300 hour crossing.

Wings: Bottom skins. Prepping skins and priming gap farings.

The bottom skins are in the works as I wait out tank completion and figure the logistics for moving the wings as-are out of the basement.  I can't let the wings get bigger lest they need to be removed by lifting the carpet and floorboard from between two joists to push the wings out.  Right now they will fit through the egress window, which is the best option (indeed on 18-Aug-13, that's how it was done).

First I cut the vinyl from the rivet lines, then match drilled the inboard rib to the nutplate holes for each wing.  This was the first time I've used the clecos all gunked up with sealant.  I'm not a fan.  I'll be looking at cleaning them...somehow.

In looking at the plans, I can put on the flap and aileron gap fairings (Section 20) prior to systems wiring (Section 19).  This lets me get ahead as I wait out attaching the tanks and leading edges.  So, I've primed the farings plus the ADHARS mount and J-stiffeners.  Here are those parts lined up for priming after cleaning and etching with Stuart System's EkoClean and EkoEtch.  The tanks are front-and-center awaiting more work.

Here are the parts all primed with EkoPoxy/EkoPrime.  You can see an outboard bottom skin with the rivet lines exposed in the foreground plus the tank rear baffle and attach zees in the background.

Empennage: Empennage kit ordered.

Empennage kit ordered for a tricycle airplane.  Might as well get it before I need it rather than not have it when I'm ready for it.  $3,990 including the $85 crating charge.

Fun Stuff: Keychain.

Designed a custom keychain for my as-of-yet panel keys.  Works for the fuel tank keys for now.  Used GIMP to trace out the front shadow image and also to cut out the emblem from the demo plane.

 

Still planning to use this for the tank keys.