KitLog pro

Powered By Kitlog Pro v2.0

RV-7 Construction Log
' style=
Date:  12-29-2017
Number of Hours:  3.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Mated Wings to Fuselage

With the help of several friends, we got the wings mated to the fuselage!

We first removed the mattress I've been using to cushion the bottom of the fuselage against the homemade work table (built out of the RV-12 fuselage crate by the Brighton Build-A-Plane kids). This allowed the fuselage to be stabilized in a level positon laterally and longitudinally for accurate wing incidence measurements.

The actual mating of the wings was much easier than I had expected. I had previously measured the thickness of the main spar stubs and the space in the F-704 bulkhead where they go and found 10-15 mils interference fit, but there is enough flex in the structure that with slightly beveled edges on the spar stubs and some grease that they went in with surprisingly little effort. It took two people on the wing to maneuver it, one underneath to keep the bottom skin clear, and one on the opposite side of the fuselage to keep from pushing it off the work table. It took a minute or two of rocking and pushing, but it wasn’t all that difficult.

Initial measurements showed the sweep within 1/8" all the way across, square to fuselage within 1/16” measuring from a rivet near the tip of the main spar to a point just forward of the F-711 bulkhead, and incidence within 0.1 to 0.2 degrees. I had pre-marked both the rear spar fork and rear spar stubs for edge distance, and ended up with a 1/4” tall by 1/8” wide rectangle where the bolt holes could be centered and still meet the 2X edge distance requirement on all parts. I lightly center punched a hole location in the center of that rectangle on both sides and walked away (per the build manual…).

I came back later in the evening and fit the flaps. The bottom skin came to within 1/16” of the bottom of the fuselage, but didn’t “kiss” it like the manual says it should. I have about that much of the spar stubs protruding below the fuselage forks, so I can probably alleviate this issue by raising the trailing edges until the bottoms of the stubs and forks are flush with each other.
' style=

A subset of the Brighton airport breakfast bunch helped me get the job done.

A subset of the Brighton airport breakfast bunch helped me get the job done.

' style=

Plenty of real estate to meet edge distance requirement

Plenty of real estate to meet edge distance requirement

' style=

Flaps will need to be trimmed slightly.

Flaps will need to be trimmed slightly.

' style=










Copyright © 2001-2024 Matronics. All Rights Reserved.