RV12 Vertical Stabilizer (continued)

Reference: page 06-02, 2 hours

Primed all the vertical tail parts today. I'm going old school; alodine and zinc chromate. Originally planned on using alodine and epoxy like I used on the RV-10. It had large section of the plans you would do with a final disassembly to deburr and dimple before riveting. However, the RV-12 plans call for riveting small assemblies together through out the process. I feel the alodine and zinc process will work better with this assembly method, as small batches are not a problem to treat and prime. The main thing is to be careful and protect yourself and the environment.



Reference: page 06-02

Step 9: Insert the called our bearing into the largest hole in the VS-1211A Hinge Spacer. Re-cleco, then rivet the hinge spacer between the two VS-1210 Hinge Brackets in the same position as drilled per call-outs in Figure 4.

Refer to this assembly as the Lower Hinge Assembly.



Step 10: Insert the called out bearing into the largest hole in the VS-1211B Hinge Spacer. Re-cleco, then rivet the hinge spacer between the two VS-1210 Hinge Brackets in the same position as Hinge Brackets in the same position as drilled per call-outs in figure 5.

Refer to this assembly as the Upper Hinge Assembly.



Note: The pneumatic squeezers are over kill for this project, but I had them and like them.

This completes page 06-02

RV12 Vertical Stabilizer (continued)

Reference: page 06-05, 6 hours

Step 1: Radius the edges at the narrow end of the VS-1205 Tip Rib, the VS-1206 Mid Rib and the VS-1202 Front Spar as shown in Figure 1.



Step 2: Flute (section 5N) between the holes in the flanges of the VS-1202 Front Spar and any of the other vertical stabilizer ribs as necessary to straighten the flange hole pattern.







Held off on steps 3 - 8 on page 06-05 until parts are primed.

Reference: page 06-06

Step 1: Remove the material from the VS-1204 Fwd Skin, called out in Figure 1.



Step 2: Remove the material from the VS-1201 Main Skin, called out in Figure 2, Detail A.



Step 3: Final-drill #19, the nutplate screw holes in the VS-1204 Fwd Skin per call-out in Figure 1.



Step 4: Final-drill #19, the nutplate screw holes in the VS-1201 Main Skin per call-out in Figure 2, Detail B. NOTE: Plans don't call it out but I also drilled #40 the nutplate attachment holes.


Deburr all of the final-drilled holes from Step 3 and 4.





Step 5: Dimple the #19 holes in the VS-1204 Fwd Skin using a #8 dimple die as called out in Figure 1.



Step 6: Dimple the #19 holes in the VS-1201 main Skin using a #8 dimple die as called out in Figure 2 Detail B.



Step 7: Dimple the nutplate attach rivet holes in the VS-1201 Main Skin using a 3/32 dimple die as called out in Figure 2, Detail B.



NOTE: A small diameter female die is required to dimple the nutplate attach rivet holes on a countersunk nutplate. An alternative would be grinding material from a standard female die to clear the recess of the nutplate.



Step 8: Dimple the nutplates attach rivet holes using a 3/32 dimple die as called out in Figure 3.



Finished deburring all the edges. Cleaned and alodined the vertical stabilizer parts in preparation for priming.

RV12 Vertical Stabilizer (continued)

Reference: page 06-04; 1 hour

Step 1: Final-Drill #12 the 3/16 holes in the web of the VS-1202 Front Spar.



Step 2: Machine countersink (section 5E) the six #40 holes in the web of the VS-1203 Rear Spar flush for 3/32 rivets.



Step 3: Machine countersink the four #40 holes in the VS-1212B-R & L Upper Spar Caps flush for 3/32 rivets.



Step 4: Machine countersink the #40 holes in the web of the VS-1202 Front Spar flush for 3/32 rivets. NOTE: I removed the countersink cage to clear the flange on the two holes that are nearest the flange.



Held off on steps 5 & 6 until parts are primed.

RV12 Vertical Stabilizer (continued)

Reference: page 06-03; 1 hour

Step 4: Nest the VS-1212A-R Lower Spar Cap into the VS-1203 Rear Spar. Align the bottom edge of the lower spar flush with the bottom edge of the rear spar web then clamp it in place along the rear spar flange.

Start from the #30 hole nearest to the bottom of the rear spar web, match-drill #30 about every fourth hole of the rear spar web into the lower spar cap. Cleco each hole as you drill and be sure to drill perpendicular to the rear spar web. After reaching the top of the lower spar cap, move on to the VS-1212B-R Upper Spar Cap. Match-drill #30 the four #30 holes in the rear spar web into the upper spar cap.

Remove the upper and lower spar caps and deburr the match-drilled holes. Clear away any chips, then cleco the upper and lower spar caps back in place. Match-drill the remaining #30 holes of the rear spar web into the upper spar cap.





Step 5: Match-Drill #30 the VS-1203 Rear Spar flange holes into the VS-1212A-R and VS-1212B-R Upper and Lower Spar Caps. Cleco as you go. NOTE: Make sure to drill perpendicular to the flange as it is not 90 degrees to the rear web.



Step 6: Match_Drill #40 the nutplate attach rivet holes from the VS-1203 Rear Spar into the VS-1212B-R Upper Spar Cap. With the same size bit match-frill the #40 holes near the bottom of the rear spar web into the VA-1212A-R.


Step 7: Match-Drill #12 the 3/16 holes of the VS-1203 Rear Spar into the VS-1212A-R and VS-1212B-R Upper and Lower Spar Caps.

Remove the spar caps, deburr the holes and clear away any chips.

RV12 Vertical Stabilizer

Reference: page 06-02 2.5 hours

Wedge Tool Steps 2-4
Step 2-4: Fabricated the wedge tools that will be used during riveting hard to reach areas. deburred and smoothed the edges so they won't scratch either me or the skins when they are used.




Step 5: Final drilled to #12 the 3/16 inch holes in the flange of the VA-1210 Hinge brackets.



Step 6: Separated the VS-1210 Hinge Brackets and deburred the edged. Note: Part on right is not deburred.



Step 7: Marked and cut apart the VS-1211A & B parts. Removed the extra material attaching the two parts.



Step 8: Clecoed the VS-1211A hinge spacer between two of the hinge brackets and final drilled the #30 the 1/8 inch holes. Repeated step 8 with the VS-1211B hinge spacer and the remaining two hinge brackets. Mark the parts so they can be returned to the same position as drilled. Remove the clecoes and deburr the edges and holes.







Held off on step 9 and 10 (riveting of hinge asemblies) until I have enough parts to prime as a batch.

Reference: Page 06-03

Note: Step 1-7 describe installing the VS-1212A-R lower and VS-1212B-R upper spar caps. Installation of the left side is a mirror of the right and is done at the same time.

Step 1: Separated the VS-1212A-R lower spar cap from the VS-1212B-R upper spar cap/ Recovered the material called out in Figure 1 of the plans.



Remove the material called out in figure 1.



Step 2: Mark the VS1212B_R Upper Spar Cap with a reference line on the surface that nests against the VS-1203 Rear Spar web per the dimension shown in figure 2.



Step 3: Nest the VS-1212B-R Upper Spar Cap into the VS-1203 Rear Spar so the reference line shows through the center of the #30 hole in the rear spar web called out in Figure 3. Clamp the upper spar cap in place.

Inventory of RV-12 Tail Kit

It took all of a week to come to grips with building of another airplane. This is lightening speed for me as it normally takes six month to decide on buying a car! After getting the tail kit home, I started to unpack and inventory the parts. It still amazes me at all the little things that go into designing and delivering a great kit. My hat is of the the staff at Van's Aircraft for doing such an amazing job.

One nice addition to the RV-12 kit is a copy of the Standard Aircraft Handbook. It's a nice touch.

Just a thought on blog house keeping. I'm going to work out a way to keep all the RV-10 information available and I'm thinking of doing a page by page log of the RV-12 build here on the blog. This will be referenced by the page number of Van's building instructions.

Light Sport Aircraft & the RV-12

I have been given the opportunity to investigate and fly LSA. So N44QT headed out to it's new owner and I started researching various airplanes that would fit my mission - our new mission statement is posted in the column to the right.


Joe Blank at Van's Aircraft offer to take me for a flight, so as soon as our schedules meshed with the weather I found myself standing on the tarmac at Van's hanger.




What's it like to fly? Fun! It's not an RV-10 but it is definitely not a Cessna 152 either. We climbed out at 900 feet per minute. After leveling off, cruise was 120 knot indicated, which is not bad for a fuel flow of 5.5 gallons per hour.


Next we did some aileron only turns. Thats right no back pressure on the stick, surprisingly there was no loss of altitude in the turns. Next was slow flight no surprises here. In case your wondering it is flown with three fingers (after all it is an RV.) Just a well mannered fun airplane to fly.


Couple of unique items are there is no mixture control. Also, Joe mentioned the need to ensure the throttle frication lock is set properly, because unlike Continentals and Lycomings the throttle is spring loaded to go to full throttle. This can happen if the friction lock is set too loss. Also in the "different" category is the sound of the Rotax as it runs happily at 5,500 rpm. Well, it sound a lot like my Toyota Prius when it accelerates so I felt right at home.

Van's Homecoming 2010

They say, "Home is were the heart is." In that case there can be no place nearer and dearer than Van's Homecoming for a RV aircraft builder or pilot. The weather was good as was the turnout, about 70 planes. I only counted 2 RV-10s but others may have shown up later.

The event was held in Independence, Oregon with the help of EAA chapter 292. Time and again I over heard attendees commenting on how great the breakfast was on Saturday. Great job guys and gals!

Van extolling the virtues of the RV-12. I did ask him which plane he flew the most the RV-10 or 12? He said, "First is the sailplane, then the 12, next 10 and last was the RV-4. To date he has about 150 hour on the 12.

So if you couldn't attend not to fret! Here is a compilation of video I shot on Saturday.

RV-10 #40324
2,400 hours in construction time (and counting)

Includes:
Tail Kit (SB 06-2-3 & SB 08-6-1 completed)
Wing Kit
Fuselage Kit
Finishing Kit
Firewall Forward Kit
Lycoming IO-540 C4B5, 80 SMOH in 2004
O time Hartzell two bladed prop.
Electric aileron, elevator and rudder trim
One touch Flap positioning
Whelan strobe & nav lights
Landing light kit
Upholstered seats by DJ's Custom Interiors (Cleaveland Tools)
Seatbelts

Panel
Advance 3500 with AOA, battery backup & ARINC
TruTra DigiFlight II Autopilot
Garmin 396 (for weather &  backup navigation)
Garmin 340 audio panel
Garmin 430W
Icomm A200
Garmin GTX327 transponder
Trutrak ADI with GPS
Backup ASI and ALT
EBC 406 ELT w/remote
2ea. comm., transponder and GPS antennas
Bob Archer wing tip VOR antenna
VOR glide-slope splitter
Panel wiring by Pacific Coast Avionics

Extras: Chromed door hinges, Map box, Pitot Static kit, PlanePower Alternator, Airflow oil Cooler, Detailed builder log and paperwork with comments by Technical Counselors, Randolph Epibond Epoxy primer used throughout construction, heated pitot tube with Gretz mount, Stienair Fresh air vents, Ray Allen control grips, Aftermarket wheel pant extensions, electric fuel pump, Rivethead door guides and pins, McMaster door seals, door looks.

RV-10 Doors

This is the final install of the doors - well until they are taken off and remounted for paint! But this does give me a chance to cover some of the finer point I have learned about fitting the doors.

First I never could get the Van's door seals to fit correctly. So, following what other RV10 builders have done I installed McMaster Carr seal material it's part number 1120A311.




As you can see it gives a nice seal.






Of course with any modification there is extra work. First the door frame needed to be trimmed to fit the new seal.






















Also, the door hinge area on the top of the door must be covered to provide a new seal landing over the hinges. I used fiberglass scrapes left over from trimming the door and epoxied these into place and glassed over them.













Now this creates a new challenge. The frame mount for the gas strut hits the the new door seal area. To solve this, I choose to make new strut mount landing that moves the strut mount down by 1/4". These were made from 1/4" aluminum blocks and filled in around them with epoxy and flox. (One other possible fix is the make the area over the rear hinge convexed to clear the strut mount.)











I have to say I am pleased both with the appearence and the fit.

One other small fix has to do with the locking rods and locking gear rack. On a few other RV-10 I have noticed some surface damage to the inner door panel casued by the pin that is safety wired to the gear rack and door lock rod. In fact, if you look at the picture below note the area were the grey primer is visable. To solve this interference I installed a small washer on the back side of the pin before finishing the safety wiring the pin in place. The washer keeps the pin from sticking out and hitting the inner fiberglass panel.

One other quick mod was having the door hinges chromed by a local shop and replaced the supplied steel screws with structual stainless hardware from Aircraft Spruce. At the same time I also had the two bolt that hold the front sholder harnesses to the cabin top chromed as well.

The cabin top hinge pockets where also fill in to fit snuggly around the hinges. This is done by appling packing tap over the hinges, bolting them in place and filling the void with epoxy and flox. If you do this make sure there is enough area around the hinge for the thikness of the paint.