Wing - Left Flaps and Ailerons

2004-07-10 - Flap assembly. (6.0 Hrs).

Finished assembling the left flap, and temporarily attached the flaps to the wing. Also, primed and assembled the left aileron control rod, and attached the left aileron to the wing.

Riveting the spar to the front of the flap ribs. This is a really crappy rivet squeezer that I just happened to own before I started building the RV-7. I would never have used this rivet squeezer, but it is the only one that has fit in all of the tough places, like the tank Z-brackets, the leading-edge ribs, and now, under the top flap skin.
Note, when the last rivet was squeexed on the flap spar, I was out of the original LP4-3 rivets that were supplied with the wing. I used a bunch on the leading-edge ribs. Fortunately, these rivets are only 5 cents a piece, and I bought another 100 from Van last month. Now, it looks like I am going to need to place an other order for some more of the MK-319-BS rivets to complete the other flap.

The left flap is all done, and cleco'd to the wing.

Error
What's wrong with this picture, besides being of poor quality? Look close, and you can see rivets in two of the four holes on the hindge and flap bracket. That's right, I installed 30 rivets in the hindge and flap bracket before I figured out that there should be a bottom skin on here also (the skin is just laying there, after the fact). I kept saying to myself "boy, it looks like I countersunk every one of these holes too deeply." Here's a piece of advice. When assembling parts of an airplane, if you find yourself saying "hum, something doesn't look right", you should immediately stop, and take a better look at what you are doing.

I decided to use a single hindge rod, since I don't like the looks of the other method where you cut out three hindge eyes and cut the rod in half. You can see the offset hole in the aileron bracket where the rod slides through. When I assembled this, the rod slid in and out pretty easily. Unfortunately, a few days later, after I riveted the bottom skin to the hindge and flap bracket, the rod was harder than hell to get in. Hopefully a little lubricant and maybe some more filing on the end of the rod will help. I still like this method.

Here's the left flap and aileron installed on the wing.

Here's the specified quarter-inch gap between the flap and the aileron.

Here's how I got those pesky washers installed on the aileron brackets.

Drilling the control rod to the rod end bearing. Obviously, this does not have to be precise. The paper towel is there to soak up the cutting oil. I also cut the spacers for the aileron bellcrank and the aileron bracket.

Here is the control rod all drilled and primed on the inside, as well as the spacers. I taped the end of the control rod and poured paint thinner inside to clean out the oil. I probably should have pulled a clean rag soaked in paint thinner through the rod. Then I poured a little primer inside the control rod and coated the inside. I thought this control rod was powder coated, but it was pretty scratched-up, so I doubt that it was powder coated. I will need to prime and paint the outside sometime in the future.

	Riveting the spar to the front of the flap ribs. This is a really crappy rivet squeezer that I just happened to own before I started building the RV-7. I would never have used this rivet squeezer, but it is the only one that has fit in all of the tough places, like the tank Z-brackets, the leading-edge ribs, and now, under the top flap skin. Note, when the last rivet was squeexed on the flap spar, I was out of the original LP4-3 rivets that were supplied with the wing. I used a bunch on the leading-edge ribs. Fortunately, these rivets are only 5 cents a piece, and I bought another 100 from Van last month. Now, it looks like I am going to need to place an other order for some more of the MK-319-BS rivets to complete the other flap.
	The left flap is all done, and cleco'd to the wing.
	Error What's wrong with this picture, besides being of poor quality? Look close, and you can see rivets in two of the four holes on the hindge and flap bracket. That's right, I installed 30 rivets in the hindge and flap bracket before I figured out that there should be a bottom skin on here also (the skin is just laying there, after the fact). I kept saying to myself "boy, it looks like I countersunk every one of these holes too deeply." Here's a piece of advice. When assembling parts of an airplane, if you find yourself saying "hum, something doesn't look right", you should immediately stop, and take a better look at what you are doing.
	I decided to use a single hindge rod, since I don't like the looks of the other method where you cut out three hindge eyes and cut the rod in half. You can see the offset hole in the aileron bracket where the rod slides through. When I assembled this, the rod slid in and out pretty easily. Unfortunately, a few days later, after I riveted the bottom skin to the hindge and flap bracket, the rod was harder than hell to get in. Hopefully a little lubricant and maybe some more filing on the end of the rod will help. I still like this method.
	Here's the left flap and aileron installed on the wing.
	Here's the specified quarter-inch gap between the flap and the aileron.
	Here's how I got those pesky washers installed on the aileron brackets.
	Drilling the control rod to the rod end bearing. Obviously, this does not have to be precise. The paper towel is there to soak up the cutting oil. I also cut the spacers for the aileron bellcrank and the aileron bracket.
	Here is the control rod all drilled and primed on the inside, as well as the spacers. I taped the end of the control rod and poured paint thinner inside to clean out the oil. I probably should have pulled a clean rag soaked in paint thinner through the rod. Then I poured a little primer inside the control rod and coated the inside. I thought this control rod was powder coated, but it was pretty scratched-up, so I doubt that it was powder coated. I will need to prime and paint the outside sometime in the future.