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Now the fun begins, where to start! The instructions call for mounting the aileron bellcrank first but we quickly found out that we could not find the brass bushing that goes inside it. After much looking we realized that it was in the ONLY bag that was backordered. ARGH!

So we decided to cut the long aileron pushrods to length. Then Chuck and I had a discussion about priming the inside - he likes Zinc Chromate and all I had was self-etching stuff. I decided to hold off and find Zinc Chromate (Tempo). The pushrods are very stable as they are 6061 and the only possibilities of corrosion is from dissimilar metals.

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A little more productive today. Started by fabricating the aileron attach brackets. Be sure to know which side is which and where the flush rivets go. Began mounting them to the wings. Per Vans, you only need to prime the mating surfaces of the angles.

The picture shows the aileron cover on... we'll cover that in the next step.

After riveting the aileron attach brackets, you are supposed to rivet on the fairing. I got a little ahead of myself and started riveting the fairing to the rear spar and skin. I forgot two rivets which are now inaccessible and had to use Cherry Max rivets in two locations on the outer bracket.

Also, I had to trim a little of the fairing to clear the middle rivet.

Drilled the pushrods for the 6 blind rivets on each end using the v-block and drill press. I propped up the end of the pushrod to the same height as the drill press to get good results.

Here's a shot of the ends already primed.

The VA-111 ends are a very tight interference fit into the pushrods. Removing them was a BIG challenge. I had to install a rod end bearing and then a 3/16 bolt and tap on the bolt. This ruined the rod end bearing but it removed the end. Then to get the other one out, I used a long piece of angle and tapped it out from behind.

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After priming the mating surfaces, I riveted the ends. Vans says to prime the inside of the rod using a spray can but I could not achieve full coverage. Since it's 6061 and the real corrosion concern is mating surfaces, I just made sure the contact points were primed.

After a few rivets, I thought it would be good to spray a little primer on the rivets themselves.

Nothing fancy, just killing time.

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Nothing fancy, just killing time. I also dimpled the ribs and rear spar.

Installed the Gretz pitot bracket. No real surprises here. Instead of using a bent piece of .032 for the angle, I used some .75 angle from Home Depot.

Determined to get a sub project done, I decided to finish the right landing light by mounting the plexiglass cover. I dimpled the skin and countersunk the plexiglass. Then I used the double sided tape to attach the aluminum retaining strip... after it falling off a few times, I got it in place. Towards the end I noticed a crack developing around a screw hole.. not good.

I stop drilled the crack and proceeded onward. Wanting to rivet the reinforcing strips, I drilled and countersunk for a blind rivet. Looks like they also put stress around the part too.

Hope I don't have to redo this as I dont know how good the fit will be if I mount a new plexi cover (with the dimples in the skin and all).

NOTE: do not dimple the reinforcing strips... I made this mistake and had to remake the strips. Countersink them instead (see first picture!)

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Again, nothing exciting. Match drilled the left wing skin then deburred and dimpled the ribs and rear spar. The main spair is alredy countersunk and primed.

Waiting on helpers to help me buck rivets on the aileron brackets.

Faxed Van's notice that my aileron bellcrank bushings are missing (since their order line was busy).

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Chuck helped me buck the rivets on the left aileron hinge brackets - the ones I couldn't squeeze successfully. Then we riveted on the left aileron gap fairing.

After that, we made the short aileron pushrods (W-818) from the steel stock. The drill press made easy work of the holes. One item of note, plans call for -12 rivets. I found those to be too long and used -11's successfully.

Made the big cut again! Now I know what building a bi-plane feels like (doing everything twice). Measure, mark, cut - repeat.

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Drilled out the existing snap bushing holes and used 1/2 OD, 3/8 ID snap bushings in their place. Used the unibit on all but ribs 2 and 3 (the two inner wing-walk ribs). There I used a 12 inch long, 1/2 inch drill bit. Wasn't the best of tools but the holes came out pretty well with a little patience.

I used some blue tape on the drill to keep it from marring the spar. However, the tape slipped off once and the anodizing on the spar was scratched. The scratches themselves are very, very light and it's all cosmetic. Have to ask Van's how to touch-up this spot. My plan is to use green primer like they did on the countersink holes. But I'll check first.

I think I'll install another set of snap bushings (probably 1/4 ID) to serve as a run for the wingtip antennas.

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Just for kicks, I wanted to see what would pass through the 3/8 ID snap bushings. Here you see 7 wires - one thick strobe wire, three 14 ga, 5 conductor autopilot wire, one 16 ga and one 20 ga. Should be plenty of room. I plan on installing another set of snap bushings for the wingtip antennas and remote compass (to keep them away from the high power lines).

Here's a shot of the other holes I want to open up. The upper one is for the pitot line, middle is the one you see and the smallest hole is the one I want to open up as well.

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Received the Pitot-Static and AOA air lines from SafeAir1. I went with their system because it looks like good quality stuff that will save a lot of time and make installation easier. I'm still not sure if I will go with the Dynon EFIS but I wanted to run the air lines for the AOA feature just in case.

The air lines are 1/4" OD each necessitating a 1/2" ID snap bushing. That means drilling the holes to 5/8". After wasting time searching Atlanta for the perfect drill extension, I simply drilled out the end of a Irwin extension to 3/8". Then I did one hole at a time, removing and installing the unibit as I went.

Here you can see the pitot (green) and AOA lines installed (blue).

My very kind and very pregnant wife graciously helped me get the left wing in the cradle (obviously gave her the light end). That made room for the dimpling setup.

Woohoo! Bag 1993-1 finally showed up from Van's. Still missing the close-tolerance bolts but all I wanted right now were the brass bushings. I almost resorted to making my own after Van's told me that I'd have to wait to get the complete bag.

Just in case you need the specs to make your own - 3/8" OD, 1/4 ID, 2.781" long and material is C33000 hard drawn brass (per Bruce at Van's).

Drilling the brass bushings would have been a lot easier with a 1/4" reamer!

Aileron is mounted (temporarily) to check pushrod length. Right on! (using the measurement called out on Dwg 15A).

Getting ready to close up the wing. Here you can see all the wires being run.

You can see I rerouted my antenna hole above the aileron bellcrank for maximum clearance. The other wires will be also secured to avoid contact with the bellcrank.

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UPS showed up just as I got home from work to reward me with a DigiTrak. The Dynon pitot should arrive tomorrow.

No work on plane tonight as I took my wife out to eat... not too many opportunities for those type of activities once the baby arrives. ETA is only about 17 days away. Gave her a *nice*present for going thru the trouble of carrying and delivering our baby (plus Valentine's Day and her birthday are coming up as well... how convenient). I thought I'd get her a nice EFIS system but for some strange reason she liked the sparkly necklace better.

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Mounted the roll servo in the right wing.

I really like the TruTrak installation - fast and professional looking. A nice design. I will, however, have to reroute the wires around the top of the servo.

Also started designing some panel layouts.

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Paul came over and got me started on the bottom left outboard skin. Couldn't have done it without his experience. Of course we could have also used a contortionist as the bucker.

You need to get the two innermost rivets on the rear spar before proceeding too far. The other really hard ones were on the main spar near the nutplates - there's just nothing to hold the bucking bar against for reference.

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Chuck was instrumental in helping me skin the left wing. We pounded the remaining rivets without too much trouble. Our pace really picked up after dinner... rest and a little food will goes a long way.

We got by without any oops rivets (NAS 1097) until near the very end. There's about 3 NAS 1097 rivets in the last bay. That's it!

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Here I used NAS 1097 rivets to attach the nutplates because they can take a thinner countersink - good enough for the .025 skins.

I had previously countersunk the right wing for the standard AN426 rivets since that was what I saw the QB builders do but could tell I was pushing the envelope concerning minimum skin thickness for countersinks.

Drilled the right wing for the autopilot and antenna snap bushings. I used the ones with the 7/16 OD.

You can see how I managed to get the air drill in the wing for the #4 rib (last in wing walk area). And the other picture shows how I routed the wires around the roll servo.

This wing is now ready for skinning. Although I may use different bolts to mount the roll servo.

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Drove down to Spruce to pick up some NAS1801-3-20 bolts (as well as some other goodies) for the roll servo. These screws are 1.25" long, fully threaded and allow locknuts to be installed. It is weird that TruTruk doesn't include the nuts and bolts, let alone suggest what to use.

I then proceeded to mount the left flap. Used a piece of 1/4 ply to set the gap at the aileron. I used excess hinge material to align the flap with the aileron trailing edge. It came out very well. Finally, I countersunk the hinge material in preparation for riveting and riveted the flap brace to the wing.

I think I'll need to use the same type of homemade rivet set that I used on the elevator trim tab.

Update: even though I used a 1/4 piece of ply, the gap came out to .225! I go back and measure the thickness of the ply and sure enough it's .225. Oh well, I don't see any problem as there is no interference with the aileron whatsoever. It's only .03".

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The right wing started off much easier than the left. I did a lot of the shooting and bucking myself but Paul helped shoot a few that were in hard to reach spots.

I think this wing is easier because you can buck with the left hand and shoot with the right (if you're right handed like me). The left wing was pur awkward for me to try to do alone.

Hope to get this wing done and out of the way before baby arrives in about a week.

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Not a good night with the rivet gun and bucking bar. My friend came over to help me buck the rivets and things were just not going well for us (new bucker, rivet gun set too high, etc). A few oversized rivets had to be put in.

But after only a handful of rivets we called it a night. The next day I found that we managed to dent and nick the spar with the bucking bar. This is in the bay just outboard of the last inspection panel. Wing skin riveting is on hold til a repair is worked out.

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Chuck came over and found the damage on the spar (see Feb 11, 2005 entry). No work - just coming up with a repair plan.

The plan is to blend out the damage then fabricate doubler from .063 2024-T3.

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Today's the baby's due date...yet no baby is in sight.

Chuck came over and we blended out the damage caused by the bucking bar. After blending, I estimate we removed about .015 to .020 in thickness from the .063 spar. We installed a 'chicken strap' fabricated from .063 2024-T3. This strap and the bare metal on the spar was properly alodined and primed.

We started closing up the wing but Chuck had to leave for dinner.

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Chuck and I knocked out the remaining rivets in the right wing skin in no time. Much easier to do the skin riveting with the wing in a vertical position.

Just a picture from the next day while I was working on the flap.

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Attached the aileron and mounted the flap to the right wing. I managed to get it lined up very well and have the same gap as the left side. Later on I pop riveted the flap brace to the rear spar.

Here's me riveting the piano hinge to the wing.

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Well I'm running out of things to do without the engine and waiting for a few miscellaneous electrical parts to arrive. Taking a fellow RV builders words to heart, "always do something no matter how small the task", I decided to trim the wing tip lens.

I did this many months ago but I scratched the lens while I was working with it... duh. This time I'm being a lot more careful.

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Same as the day before, trimmed the left wingtip lens. Both are very close to their final shape.

Received an order from B&C for a coax crimper and map light. I think I'm going to return the map light because it's too big. I like the idea of a flexible post though.

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Added an AN fitting on the pitot probe (not shown, it's in the wing) and then I drilled and tapped for the mounting screws. My tap broke in the last hole... thankfully I was able to turn it out with a small set of needle nose pliers. Phew!

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In preparation for mounting the wings (someday), I trimmed the rear spar per Dwg 38.

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While the cats are away, the mice will play - is that how it goes? My wife and daughter went to BNA to see her parents leaving me to work on the plane. We planned on the engine being here but it's stuck in BNA of all places!

Anyway, I decided to keep a little busy by finishing the wing tip lenses and drilling them into position. I used MK-319BS blind rivets to attach the nutplates, top and bottom. Also made backing plates for the nav lights.

Will get pics as soon as my camera is back from being serviced. Since it's a Digital SLR (Canon Digital Rebel), it needs the sensor cleaned.

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A few weekends ago I put the wingtip lights in as shown. And tonight I trimmed a little of the edges of the wingtips so they seat nicely on the wing. The measurement I was looking for was 19/32 from the ridge. Simply took a dremel and removed a small amount of material.

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Just two quick shots showing the connectors I put on the wires in the wing. Used a 6 circuit Molex at the wing root (4 wires for strobes and then nav and landing light power). Used a cool AMP circular connector for the autopilot.

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Pretty trivial. I did it just like I've seen on other websites. Did have to drill out about 4 nutplates beforehand. You might want to hold off on putting all the nutplates on the wing until you decide if you want a wingtip antenna. You can see how I glassed it in place, too.

I have no idea why these antennas cost so much. They are pretty thin aluminum strips just pop-riveted together.

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Big day today. I owe a big thanks to Jamie Painter, fellow RV-7A builder, for helping me with this monumental task. We leveled the plane and then went to town. Kahuna stopped by to donate some drift pins and to help slide the wings in. We broke out the plumb bobs and did the best we can to eliminate the forward sweep.

Everyone talks about how conservative Vans is when they tell you to trim the rear spar. They're right. We had to do some filing on the rear spar to get most all the sweep out. There's still hair of sweep but it's equal both sides.

I did the actual drilling with Jamie and others checking to see if I had the drill level. Jamie also brought his .311 reamer to make a nice hole. The bolt fits well.

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Before you stick the wings on, mark the holes for the bottom fuse skin.

Once you're happy with the dihedral of the wings (you really don't have much choice once the bottom bolts are in) you can drill the fairings. Pretty simple task. After you take the wings back off, you have to put a bunch of nutplates on the wing.

Well, well, well. I have built myself into a situation where it's very hard to get the lower bolt out. I had to slide a scrap NAS1307 bolt in there to get the correct dihedral before drilling the bottom fuse skin. Now I'm left with how to get it out. This will be interesting.

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After the wing root fairing was drilled into position and the wings come off, it's time to put like 30 nutplates on the wings. Nothing too exciting here so I won't bore you with pictures.

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This service bulletin from Van's has you drill a hole in the AN nut and safety the nut. Roger from work was kind enough to do the SB for me! He has the right tools to drill the hole accurately. Thanks for your help Roger!

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Many people suggest ditching the rubber type gasket that comes with the fuel tank senders. I did this and just pro-sealed them in. Be sure to cover the screws and nutplates. No one's going to see it and it can only help!

I bent and cut the wires that attach the float. Be sure to leave about 3/4" extra for the bend that secures them to the sending unit!! Hopefully you won't have to order new wires like I did.

Also used some proseal to fill in the areas around the landing gear and steps.

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Picked up some proseal today at a local aviation supply place called Falcon Crest. This allowed me to attach the tank aaccess plates to the right wing. I ran out of longer #8 screws to do the left side. Here's a shot of the right side.

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Thanks to Mike and Ron, both RV-8 drivers, for helping me slide the wings in. Used my rivet gun to tap the bolts in. Went very smoothly. Til I realized I needed a washer under the heads of the bolts on the lower spar attach points! Working on a fix now.

After we got the wings on we got some lunch then headed out flying. Fun and productive day!

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Snuck out to the hangar to work on getting the nuts on the wing spar bolts. The left side is pretty much done... just have to take them to final torque. The right side still needs the lower nuts tightened. This is hard to do because the bolts are hard to turn! I put grease on the shafts of the bolts on the left side but didn't do it on the right. Consequently, they are hard to turn. Need to get a longer wrench or impact wrench.

No pics to show for it today. You all know what nuts and bolts look like.

PS - Ken Scott at Van's said just go ahead and tighten the lower bolts as is (without the washer under the head). I put some heavy grease there to help protect the bearing surface.

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Finally was able to tighten and torque the main wing bolts tonight.

After that I just dabbled around with making the cutout for the flap pushrod. Then messed around with attaching the left aileron.

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Now that the wings are on, I can adjust the aileron pushrods to the control column. I basically setup a straight edge on the tooling holes on the outboard rib and adjusted the pushrods til everything was neutral. It took a little while but I think I am there.

Then I made some aileron stops using a method I have heard about. Using 9/16 Delrin stock, I drilled a hole for the upper spacer for the aileron pushrod. This spacer hits the aileron bracket at just the right angle to get proper aileron deflection. I get about 30 degrees using the 9/16" Delrin. Mickey used 1/2" round to get a tad more deflection. I can always make new ones later if I want more deflection or these wear out.

Hooked up the fuel and vent lines. A while back, Paul told me to use a 90 degree bulkhead fitting for the fuel because that's what works on his plane. Well he has an -8 and I guess the -7 is different. The fuel goes straight into the plane. So I made some fancy bends to make my setup work without putting a new bulkhead fitting in. I didn't have any on hand.

The vent line is easier because it's only 1/4" material.

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Spent a while trimming the flaps to clear the fuselage. The picture below was taken in process (still a little trimming to go). Didn't want the flaps rubbing on the fuselage.

Also finished my flap pushrod hole. I'm not at all happy with the cutouts on the bottom skin becuase they are MUCH larger than they needed to be, especially on the aft side. Ohhh well, I guess I can rest easily knowing the flap pushrods will always clear!

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Here's my fancy marker beacon antenna - a 40" conductor glassed to the right wing tip. Simply removed the shielding from the RG-400 as I saw Dan do on his website. Also pop riveted the W411 pieces to the inside of the wingtip. I turned them around so the flush face is visible.

Had to remove about 3/16" of material from the aft edge of the wingtip so it's nice and even with the trailing edge of the aileron.

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The information presented on my website is for reference only and is meant to satisfy FAA requirements to document this aircraft's construction.
Comments that appear on this website should not be interpreted as instructions on how to build any aircraft. Please consult with the manufacturer.

2004 Scott Will.