Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 18: Flaperon (part 3)

Reference: page 18-03, page 180-04; 3 hours

Well, the flaperons for the RV-12 are going smoothly. As soon as I finish this section I will do a time comparison between the RV-12 and the RV10. But I can tell you right now the RV-12 is hands down much fast to build.

Step 3: Un-cleco all the parts. Deburr the two holes just drilled into the A-909 Aileron Counterbalance. Rivet the A-1204-L & -R Outbd Nose Ribs to the aileron counterbalance.





Step 4: Cleco the A-1204-L & R Outbd Nose Ribs/A909 Aileron Counterbalance sub assembly to the A-1203 Spar. Cleco the A-1201C-L Outbd Nose Skin to the spar and outbd nose ribs.



Step 5: Match-Drill #30 the holes of the A-1201C-L Outbd Nose Skin into the A-909 Ailron Counterbalance. See "match-drill" call-outs in Figure 3 of Van's Aircraft plans for the RV-12.

Because of the hardness of the stainless steel I prefer to match drill with a #40 drill bit first and then final drill with the #30. In the pictures below you can see why. The First picture is a #40 hole. Note the drill bit "walked" while drilling making for a ugly pilot hole. However, when it was final drilled #30 it completely cleaned the hole up. The slight unevenness of the hole in the bottom picture is due the the camera angle to the piece.





Match-drill 330 the holes of the outbd nose skin into the upper flanges of the A-1204-L & -R Outbd Noe Ribs.

Remove the #40 cleco holding the out bodnose skin to the upper flange of each outbd nose rib and final drill #30.




Step 6: Un-cleco all parts. Deburr all holes in the A-909 Aileron Counterbalance and all holes in the A-1204-L & _r Outbd Nose Ribs and A-1201C-L Outbd Nose Skin that were either matchdrilled or final drilled.

This completes all steps on page 18-03.

Reference: page18-04

Step 3: Rivet the A-1208 Bracket to the A-1210-L Inbd Nose Rib per the callout in Figure 2.



Step 4: Cleco two A-1206 Pivot Brackets and the Inbd Nose Rib & Brakcet Assembly to the A-1203 Spar.





Step 5: Insert an AN3 Bolt thourgh the hole in the A-1208 Bracket and A-1207-L Actuation Bracket. use washers to space the parts as shown in Fidure 3 on page 18-04 of the RV-12 plans.



Step 6: Align the sides of the A-1207-l Actuation Bracket and A-1206 Pivot Brackets perpendicular with the upper edge of the A-1203 Spar. Match-drill #30 the holes in the spar into the actuation bracket and pivot bracket. Cleco as you drill.







Step 7: Remove the A-1206 Pivot Brackets, A-1207-L Actuation Brackets, and Inbd Nose Rib & Brackets Assembly from the A-1203 Spar and deburr all holes in all parts that were match-drilled.

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 18: Flaperon (part 2)

Today I spent most of the time deburring parts in preparation for build the RV-12's flaperons.However, there were a few other steps I accomplished

Reference: page 18-02, 180-3, 18-04; 1.5 hours

Step 3: Flute the flanges of the A1204-L & -R Outbd Nose Ribs and A-1210-L & -R inbd Nose Ribs at the locations shown in Figure 3 and 4 of the RV-12 plans. Flute the rib flanges so as to make the rib webs as straight as possible however it is not absolutely necessary for the ribs to be perfectly straight.

Builder's note: I ended up putting very deep flutes in the ribs to get them as straight as possible. This was done after I deburred the edges of the parts.



This completes page 18-02.

Reference page 18-03

Step 1: Cleco together the A-1203 Spar, A-1204-L & -R Outbd Nose Ribs, A-909 Aleron Counterbalance, and A-1201C-L Outbd Nose Skin.





Step 2: match-Drill #30 the most outboard hole and most inboard hole of the A-1201C-L Outbd Nose Skin into the A-909 Aileron Counterbalance. See "match-drill call-out in Figure 1 of the the RV-12 plans on page 18-03.

Builders' note: Stainless steel is very hard, used new bits while drilling and Boelube (which is sold by Van's Aircraft). I started with a #40 drill bit and then final drilled with the #30.





Reference page 18-04

Step 1: Break apart the A-1208 Brackets by removing the hatched areas shown.



After completing the above steps, I deburred, etched and alodined the parts for priming.