Feathering the nest

[Cherokee Driver]

With the end in sight on my tail kit...I placed the order for the wings.

So I am looking to get the shop ready for my next building phase. I am seeking advice on how I can best get prepared to hit the ground running.

1. I have been looking at your wing jigs and gathering ideas for getting my own set built. I am thinking of building both wings simultaneously since I have the room. If you have not shown photos of your jigs on the site, I would like to see what you have used. I am leaning toward a type that can be moved in the shop rather than bolted to the floor. All tips are welcome.

2. Any new tools that are not part of the tail kit build that I should have on hand? Plate nut jigs come to mind. (Can't miss an opportunity to get more tools!)

3. Any experiences/advice that you want to share? Unloading the truck? The inventory process? Hiding those big boxes from the wife...?

Happy Halloween to all Rivetbangers!

[bullojm1]

CD -

I glued my wing jig's 4x4's to the floor of my garage. On top I bolted them to my garage's roof. In the end, no holes, no mess. Can't even tell where they were now.


Hmmm....new tools. The one major tool I thought made the biggest difference was using a backrivet bucking bar for the top of the wing rivets. Holy cow did they turn out nicely! Everyone who has visited my project cant believe how well the top of the wings turned out. Hmmmm....nutplate jigs? I don;t believe in them. I made my own with a nutplate, screw and scrap of 063 AL. Takes no time and works amazingly well. I'm not cheap, but I am too cheap for nutplate jigs. Plus you dont need them too much for the wings from what I remember.

If you have a pickup truck, or can borrow one, do a "Terminal Deliver" from ABF. It will save you some $$$. The crate with the spars in it is LOOONG, so I put that in the pickup first, then the bigger crate on top to hold it down. Worked great.

[Spike]

I had a piece of 90 degree angle bolted to the upright on one end, and attached to threaded rod on the other. The threaded rod allowed me to adjust for twist, etc. so I didn't have to worry too much about getting the 4x4 perfect with respect to each other.

Spike

[BSwayze]

I would agree with Mike, CD,

I bought the 12" double-offset backriveting set from Avery tools to use to backrivet the top wing skins on. Boy, did they turn out nice! Others may have reported not liking it, but I found you just have to turn up the air pressure. I used about 60 lbs. pressure, or even as much as 80 lbs. (there's a lot of mass in that rivet set). Works great!




Here's a link to my page showing the tool and how we used it that day:
http://www.europa.com/~swayze/RV-7A/Wings/20080105.html

[Mike Balzer]

1.I installed all nutplates on spars first using 1097 3-? size rivets to keep from countersinking the spar too much plus I got vans approval
2.I built rear spars for both left and right side
3.Set the completed spars to the side or up high in the garage.
4.I straightened and deburred all wing ribs
5.Put FWD and REAR spar aside and built Ailerons
6.Build Flaps
7.Then set up jig for wings because they will take up a lot of room for a long time and the set up you probably have now will do the above work.

Just My .02 worth

Mike Balzer

[Cherokee Driver]

Mike, Very interesting perspective. One of my concerns is where to build my jig to make it user friendly and not be in the way for the long term. I am going to seriously consider this. Thanks.

[Lorin Dueck]

CD -

FYI - On my RV-9A, the outboard edge of the wing skins extend beyond the last wing rib (acts as a flange for joining the wing tips).
This means the short piece of angle that is clecoed to the outboard rib (and bolted to the jig) should have a long enough horizontal leg to support the wing/rib and still allow you to rivet the skins. Another option is to notch the supporting angles when it comes time to skin your wings.

Lorin D.
RV-9A - SB Fuse
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