Flaps 3 (6.0 hrs)


Finally, my attention has been able to turn back to the flaps. I started this session by remembering where I was, and figuring out what was next. The answer to the latter question turned out to be the hinges. I pulled both flaps down from the top shelf of my storage area and began figuring out exactly how the hinges go. IMG_5901.JPGIMG_5902.JPGThis seems simple enough, except the diagram is a little hard to follow. The hinge goes further than the flap brace, but not all the way to the end of the spar. Ok, exactly where does it end, and how long is it.  Quick… to Mike’s rvplane.com.  Crap. It looks like the RV-7 flap is slightly different in this regard. (I actually already knew that, as I had noticed it at Oshkosh, however it probably took me about 25 minutes today to realize why things looked different. So I was a bit stumped.  This shouldn’t be hard?!?IMG_6408.JPGFinally!  There’s the annotation I’ve been looking for! I must have looked at this exact spot 10 times before I finally saw the hinge length stipulated at 56″ long.  Ok. Now. IMG_6407.JPGAgain, I really wanted to have a good picture of what this looked like together, as I don’t have a clear picture in my mind of how this looks at the fuselage. Putting it up on the wing quickly helped.IMG_6409.JPGI started with the left flap and I measured out 56″.IMG_5907.JPGI ran across to Mike’s Tool Emporium and grabbed this handy dandy little tool that makes marking a center line easy! IMG_5908.JPGHere’s a good picture showing how helpful the centerline can be in ensuring you’ve got your hinge exactly where you want it. IMG_6406.JPGIMG_6405.JPGAfter I got the hinge on, it was time to turn my attention to the top skin. Having just moved hangars, I couldn’t remember where the skins were. I thought they were on the shelf with the rest of the flaps. I looked around the hangar, and didn’t see them anywhere. Now I started to worry… where could they be? Turns out, they were right in plain sight next to the bottom skins. Tonight is just not my night for being observant. IMG_5913.JPGAfter I removed the blue vinyl from the top skins, I should have caught the right flap up to the left one, but instead I turned my attention to the 706 and 708s. The 708 has to be fabricated from angle. IMG_5914.JPGFirst cut. IMG_5915.JPGMeasured for the second cut. IMG_5917.JPGAfter the second cut and some treatment with the scotchbrite wheel here is the result. IMG_5918.JPGNext I measured out where all of the holes would go. Some need to be marked, and some are match drilled. I annotated both so I don’t forget. IMG_5919.JPGNow time to get the right flap caught up. IMG_5922.JPGIMG_6404.JPGIMG_5923.JPGAt the end of the day, I have both flaps completely match drilled, and the 708’s fabricated. In the next shop session, I will have some fine tuning to do to the hinges, and then I can begin the deburring, dimpling, and priming process. There are apparently two methods to attach the flaps. 1: You can use one pin for the entire length of the hinge and insert it through the aileron hinge brace. 2: You can use two pins that insert in the center of the flap. Interestingly, several blogs mention these options being annotated in Van’s instructions. They sure aren’t in mine! I think only the RV-7 gets that annotation. Regardless, I plan to use two pins. Seems like a much easier way to remove the flaps when the time comes.

 


About Peter

plbarrett.com | Certified Flight Instructor (Single & Multi-Engine, Instrument, and Advanced Ground) | Commercial Helicopter

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