Just back from the LAA Rally at Sywell, UK where it was a pleasure to meet and shake the hands of three other RV14 builders … and share a pint of beer or two!

But if you want to join the other happy RV owners who are flying their planes, the build must go on.

Skin Deburring

I deburred the inner top skin and doubler edges, and since the metal is quite thin I used a sanding block. Didn’t take too long.

Final Drilling

The #40 holes common to the skin and doublers have to be final drilled once all clecoed together … I used my #40 reamer.

The W-1027A WING WALK DOUBLER – FWD’s look at first glance perfectly symmetrical. But when I clecoed them into position for a trial fit, it materialised that one orientation offered good clearance for the wing stiffeners, but impinged very slightly on the wing spar flange. The other way round cleared the wing spar flange, but in my opinion was a bit close to the wing stiffener. I suspect Vans mean them to go this way round, but I decided to revert to the first option and file a sliver off the front to clear the spar flange.

Match Drilling

The nutplate #40 holes have to be match drilled in the root rib. I used a long drill bit to make it easier to work around the clecoes.

Countersinking!

The holes common to the doublers are countersunk for 426 rivets. Vans suggest that up to 0.005″ proud is preferable to too deep … no pressure then! I carefully adjusted my microstop on a scrap piece, and began with trepidation. I left the heads about 0.002″ proud, frequently checking that the setup had not wandered. There are lots of holes.

Swarf

I masked off the bearing to avoid swarf getting somewhwere it shouldn’t!

LAA Rally

View from my tent the morning after those beers : )