Saturday, August 20, 2011

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 18: Flaperon (part 4)

Reference: page 18-05, page 18-06; 5.5 hours

The cool things about flaperons on the RV-12 are, few production planes have them and it sure saves build time and weigh compared to building four separate wing control surfaces.

Step 1: Rivet the A-1207-L Actuation Bracket (outboard row of rivets only), A-1206 Pivot Brackets and A-1203 Spar together per the callouts in the RV-12 plans on page 18-05 figure 1.



Step 2: Cleco ten of 12 A-1205 Main Ribs to the A-1203 Spar. Leave the 5th rib from the inboard end and the most outboard main rib un-clecoed. Rivet the main ribs to the spar using the rivets called-out in Van's Aircraft plans.



Builders note: I found by squeezing the ribs as shown above they were easier to insert into the spar.





Step 3: Cleco the inbd Nose Rib & Bracket Assembly, A-1203-R Inbd Nose Rib, the remaining two A-1205 Main Ribs, and the A-909/A-1204-L & -R Outbd Nose Rib/Counterbalance Assembly to the A-1203 Spar.





Step 4: Rivet all the parts assembled in Step 2 together per the callouts in figure 1 of the plans.







Reference: page 18-06

Step 1: Cleco the A-1202B Outbd Flaperon Skin and A-1202A-L Inbd Flaperon Skin to the A-1205 Main Ribs and A-1203 Spar. Checl that the inbd flaperon skins are bent properly as shown on page 18-06 figure 2 of the RV-12 plans. If not, work the inbd and out bd flaperson skins by hand until they lie flat against the main ribs.



Builders note: My RV-12 flaperon skins needed a little extra bent to lay flat. So I placed them on a solid surface and carefully creased them by hand much the same as you would crease a paper fold for a paper airplane.



Next time I will finish the flaprons off. Until then, take care!