Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 23 Side Skins (part 6)

Reference: page 23-06; 5.0 hours

Step 4: Remove, deburr and prime the Left and right Longerons. Trim the tab from the aft edge of the Fuselage Side Skins as shown in the detail view in figure 1 of the RV-12 plans on page 23-06. Break the bottom and aft edge of both side skins.









Step 5: Dimple the nutplate holes around the triangular opening in the Fuselage side Skins (flush outboard side). Thetop center nutplate hole is inaccessible with a 3" yoke. Rivet nutplates to these holes as called out in figure 1 of Van's Aircraft's RV-12 plans. Dimple nutplate attach holes at the forward top corner of fuselage side skins.

Builder's note: While a 3" yoke may not work my ~2 1/2" yoke worked just fine.







Step 6: Reassemble the Longerons, Canopy Decks and Fuselage Side Skins into the fuselage.







CAUTION: Do not rivet the holes marked with a triangle in Van's Aricraft's plans on page 23-06. Cleco these holes for later assembly.

Step 7: Rivet the Fuselage Side Skins, Longerons, Roll Bar Attach Plates and Canopy Decks to the fuselage assembly.

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Step 8: Cut apart the two F-1256 Skin Stiffeners. Rivet the skin stiffeners to the Fuselage Side Skins.





Builder's note: The bottom of the stiffener should be parallel to the baggage compartment floor as can be seen below.



This complete page 23-06 and this entry for the fuselage of the RV-12 airplane.

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 23 Side Skins (part 5)

Reference: page 23-06; 9.0 hours

During this building session I had a problem with the way the Longerons vertex aligned with the roll bar attachment plates (see step 2 below.) This may not be a big problem, however I will add it to the Gotcha list just to make people aware of the fit issue.

Step 1: Rivet the F-1202L Gussets to the Bulkhead Side channels as shown in figure 1 of the RV-12 planes on page 23-06.



Step 2: Cleco the Fuselage Side Skins to the fuselage skeleton. Align the aft edge of the Canopy Decks with the forward edge of the Roll Bar Attach Plates. Align the vertex of the Longerons with the upper edge of the fuselage side skin. Clamp the longeron to the fuselage side skin. Align the outboard edge of the Roll Barr Attach Plates with the vertex of the longeron. Clamp the roll bar attach plates to the longeron.





So here is the Gotcha. In the pictures below you can see the vertex of the longeron is not flush with the edge of the Roll Bar plate.The culprit is the tab on the center section frame. By grinding this down it allows the longeron to fit closure to the way it is described in the plans.







Step 3: Match-Drill #30 and cleco all holes common between the Fuselage Side Skins and the Longerons. Match-Drill #30 all holes common between the Roll Bar Attach Plates and longerons.





Builder's note: As this is drilled make sure the tab gets drilled correctly and not damaged.





Thats all for this entry on the RV-12 airplane build. Enjoy!

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 23 Side Skins (part 4)

Reference: page 23-05; 2.0 hours

This entry is a continuation of installing the mid side skin on to the RV-12 aircraft designed and kitted by Van's Aircraft.

Step 1: Cut out the wing spar penetration in the Fuselage Side Skins to create left and right side skins. Start by marking out the shaded areas labeled in Figure 1 and 2 of the RV-12 plans on page 23-05. Drill a large hole with a unibit inside the shaded area. Use snips to cut close to, but not at the edge of the shaded area. Snip around a final time removing material up to the trim line around the shaded area. Deburr the edges of the hole.
Builder's note: I used a hand nibbler purchased from Aircraft Tool Supply. It's slow going but doesn't distort the aluminum like aviation snips can.







Step 2: Mark the Fuselage Skins left and right.

This completes page 23-05. The rest of the time was spent deburring the edges of the skins.

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 23 Side Skins (part 3)

Reference: page 23-03, 23-04; 2.0 hours

So here we are again working on the RV-12 LSA aircraft by Van's Aircraft. This entry deals with the building of the center sections and side skins. So, let's get to it!

Step 1: Machine countersink the top face of the Roll Bar Attach Plates for the nutplate attach rivets and the five locations called out in Figure 1 on page 23-03 of the RV-12 plans to create mirrored left and right parts.



Step 2: Rivet nutplate to the Roll Bar Attach Plates as shown in figure 1. (Temporarily thread a bolts into the nutplate while riveting.

Builder's note: The bolt would not fit into the holes on the plates, so I used a unibit and drilled them out to 1/4".



Step 3: Rivet the Mid Fuse Brace to the aft side of the Bulkhead sides. See figure 2 on page 23*03 of Van's Aircraft's plans for the RV-12.



Step 4: Rivet the Roll Bar Attach Plates and Mid Fuse Brace Close-out to the Mid Fuse Brace and Bulkhead Sides (Do not rivet the roll bar attach plate to the F-1204F-L and -R Aat side bulkheads.



Builder's note: In the picture above I'm pointing at a seventh rivet not called out by Van's Aircraft. The RV-12 plans say there are only six rivets. So I went ahead and put a rivet in the hole. Only time will tell if this was a mistake. In that case I will drill it out.



This completes page 23-04

Reference page 23-04

Step 1: Cut apart the deburr the Arm Rest Brackets. See figure 1 on page 23-04.



Step 2: Rivet the Arm Rest Bracket to the Bulkhead Side Channel. Repeat theis for the right side of the aircraft.



Step 3: Rivet the Bulkhead Side Channels to the Bulkhead per the call outs in Figure 2 on page 23-04 of the RV-12 plans. Rivet the Bulkhead Side Channels to the F-1203A bulkhead.





Step 4: Remove the tab from the notch in the Arm Rests that is for the Bulkhead Side Channels.



Step 5: Match-drill #30 forward tabs of the Arm Rests to the Bulkhead channels. Match-drill #30 the afttabs of the arm rest to the Fwd Bulkhead Sides. Deburr the bulkhead side channels and fwd bulkhead sides.



Builder's note: The rivet I am pointing at in the picture above had to be removed to fit the Arm Rest.





Step 6: Rivet a Fuselage Pin Latch to both the Arm Rests.



Step 7: Rivet the Arm Rests to the Bulkhead Side Channels. Rivet the arm rests to the Fwd Bulkhead Sides. Rivet the arm rests to the Arm Rest Brackets. See figure 3 on page 23-04 of Van's Aircraft plans.

Builder's note: The arm rest rubbed on the Bulkhead channel so I opened up the cut out to eliminate the possible wear points. See the pictures below.







Step 8: Insert the Canopy Decks and Longeron (should still be clecoed together as an assembly) into the fuselage skeleton. Cleco the canopy decks to the upper tab in the Bulkhead Side Channels.





This completes page 23-04. I am thoroughly enjoying building the RV-12. So long until next time.

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Build, Section 23 Side Skins (part 2)

Reference: page 23-02; 5.5 hours



Step 4: Clamp the F-1255_L Longeron in a padded vise at the start of curve line and pre-load the free end. using a rubber mallet, firmly strike the longeron adjacent to the vise to produce a bend. Repeat this process at one inch intervals to produce a curve that matches the template (F-1234-L Canopy Deck) within a sixteenth of an inch. See figure 1 on page 23-02 of the RV-12 plans.

Builder's note: I used the F-1234-R upside down as it cleared my vise and made the job easier.



Check the curve often to prevent over bending. The longron can be place in a six-inch vise without removing any of the bend, so it is easy to add more curve later. Remove curve by clamping the mid fuse langeron at the required point and pulling back slightly.

Check that the mid fuse longeron does not bend out of plane vertically as it is being bent in the horizontal direction. If this occurs, rotate the mid fuse longeron 90 degrees, clamp it in a vise, bend it back straight with your hands, then recheck the curve with the template.





The two pictures above are of the straightening process when the longeron is turned 90 degrees.

Clamp the longeron at the start of bend line at the aft portion of the longeron as shown in figure 1. Using the method described above bend a single bend in the longeron as shown in figure 1. As before check that the angle has not bent out of plane and adjust as before.







Step 6: Using a scrap of .025 thick aluminum to simulate the F-1270 Fuselage side skin, postion the F-1234 Canopy Deck to the F-1255- Longeron as shown in figure 2 of the RV-12 plans. (the canopy deck will overhang the longron by .025). Flush the aft edge of the canopy deck with the aft end of the template mark, then clamp the parts together. Match-drill #30 the longeron using the canopy deck as a drill guide. Take care when drilling to ensure that the drill is perpendicular to the canopy deck. Repeat this step to match drill both Longerons.

Builder's note: Use new or newly sharpen drill bits so they don't wonder. Also coleco as each hole as drilled.







Complete both longerons in the above mentioned process. This completes page 23-02. That wasn't so bad was it? Next time I will move on to the Roll bar attach plates of the Van's RV-12 Aircraft.