Pete and Tad's RV-9 Build: 2010-03

Monday, March 29, 2010

Right Wing Ribs

Spent some time drilling out the Conduit holes for the Right Wing Ribs. Same basic procedure as the Left. Match drill a #30 on all Ribs and then enlarge them on the drill press to 3/4" with the step drill.
Will need to match drill them to the Spar and then ship them off to Tad's place for primer!

From Pete and Tad's RV-9a Build

Monday, March 15, 2010

Left Wing Ribs Riveted

Tad and I got the Left Wing ribs riveted onto the both front and rear spars. We left the outboard most rib off as per the instructions.
We had a couple of rivets we weren't happy with but they were fairly painless to remove. just time consuming really.
We used the 4x gun and reduced the pressure to around 50psi i believe. That gave Tad a bit more control of the impact. anything higher and they seemed to set too fast, either they were under or they would be over with only one hit.
The Rear Spar was easy to do with the pneumatic squeezer and only had one that didn't squeeze straight - the very first one we did. It was more from the inability to see the rivet properly but flipping over the wing allowed much better control of it.
Oh, one last thing, we ended up drilling out one of the tooling holes just in case we decide to install a AOA device later on in the build. I think it was a good idea to do that.

From Pete and Tad's RV-9a Build

Monday, March 8, 2010

Nose Ribs - Deburring

Modified an old Scotchbrite die-grinder wheel and made it so it will work on the Dremel. That way it can be shaped a lot smaller to get into those tough places to knock off any rough edges.
Works pretty well so far.
Anyway, got about half-dozen or so done. I use the main wheel for the primary edges and then use the dremel.

From Pete and Tad's RV-9a Build

Friday, March 5, 2010

Conduit Holes, Nose Ribs

I have been trying to get more time in on the RV and have found the mornings, before work, to be the best. Still work on it during evening though, try to leave that to the mundane work. Being tired and trying to decide what the plans call for aren't a good mix.
Anyway, I drilled out the Conduit holes to 3/4" for the Left Wing. Tad still has the Right Wing ribs so i'll do those when he is done. These Ribs are ready for primer now so Tad will tackle that this weekend.
So it's time to do some more deburring. This time onto the Nose Ribs!

From Pete and Tad's RV-9a Build

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Riveted Tie-Downs

Spent some time this morning getting these done. Tad dropped them by after priming them. i actually shot a bit of primer on the flush-side as well after setting the rivets.... they're ready for assembly on the wing spars.