Tim's RV14 Build - Wing Ribs / Rear Spar / Top Skins
/ Leading Edge
Added 2/11/2013This update includes the following sections:
- Wing Ribs
- Rear Spar
- Top Wing Skins
- Outboard Leading Edge
As we got moving on the kit, I was also involved in a windows 7 "downgrade" from windows XP on my computers at home, so I found myself not having much time to actually use the computers for what they were intended. I had to purchase many software items to run on Windows 7 too. Being a geek at heart, this stuff took some priority to doing my updates and writing. When push comes to shove, something had to go, and it wasn't going to be working on the kit or getting the network all working good again.
The RV-14 wing is very very similar in process to building the RV-10 wing, and I still keep finding myself looking at my old RV-10 write-ups to keep perspective on what is going on. I've found a few plans errors along the way, some of which caused me a little wasted cash and time. One in particular I was sadly led astray by comments of a non-14-builder on one of the forums, that made an off-the-cuff remark that made me question things that I thought I knew very well. Then when I came across the plans error, it really got me questioning myself. Sadly, rather than trusting my instincts, I drilled the holes and built the part to look like the plans...which resulted in me buying a couple of wing ribs and parts to remake the whole thing. This just goes to drive home a lesson for you readers. "Don't trust everything you read on the internet." Of course, you already know that, but I'm saying that you shouldn't even trust what you read here on my site. The plans aren't perfect, and neither am I, so if you're building, always read the plans and ask questions until you know the answer for sure. I am finding that whereas the RV-10 plans gave a little more explanation as to why you do or don't do a step, such as dimple various holes but not others, the RV-14 plans gives a little less "foresight" comments. They tell you for instance, not to dimple the tops of the wing ribs while you're dimpling the bottom. But, in reality, they are just trying to keep you from dimpling the innermost ribs, where the wing-walk doubler will be. Knowing some of this ahead of time could help you move ahead a little quicker, and having built before, it was easy to see what was going to happen...but if you're a first-time builder, you're going to have to spend time looking ahead at the plans to get a feel for what the end result is on various steps.
update 2/12/2013: Van's just emailed info today regarding a boat load of plans revisions. There were quite a few items on the list.
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| The wing spar and
wing ribs steps are very much like the RV-10, and in fact
use RV-10 parts for much of the construction. |
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| A major difference
and huge benefit over my RV-10 build is the addition of a
10' wide paint/primer booth. In my last build, my
entire garage was covered with paint dust when I got done.
This booth makes priming a lot more appealing. Part
of me thinks it would be easiest to just alodine all of
the parts and NOT prime at all. Part of me thinks
the priming is easier. On the RV-10 I used Akzo
2-part epoxy primer, and also alodined the parts. On
the RV-14 I'm using the same primer, but I do not plan to
add the alodine step. The Akzo primer is very
durable, and has an amazing 8 hour pot life. The
only drawback is the 30 minute induction phase before you
can spray, which means you either mix up extra for every
batch, or you have long waits between sprays. We
underestimated the primer volume when doing the ribs and
it took 3 mixes to finish. On the other hand, when
doing the wing skins and some other parts, I overestimated
by DOUBLE. With a full day ahead, I "fixed" that
problem by just moving as fast as I could to go from start
to finish on the wing leading edge section, and actually
prepared all of those parts in 1 day and got them primed
before the primer batch expired on me. I guess
that's one way to get a lot done in 1 day! |
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| No big surprises on
the wing rib install, except you need to be VERY careful
if you have Rev. 0 plans, that you install the flap
bracket on the proper rib. The Rev. 0 plans has it
all wrong. |
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| The wing skins are
indeed prepunched to #40 size, so after making sure to get
your deburring done, you can get right to dimpling in no
time. I found an old plain soldering pencil iron
worked better than my solder gun for melting the plastic
along the rivet lines this time. The debate goes on
about leaving the plastic on or taking it off, but I
prefer to keep the wings as protected as possible until
they're painted. |
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| One of my biggest
surprises in the build was the use of the DRDT-2 C-Frame
dimpler. An RV-10 buddy of mine loaned it to me, and
I will never ever go back to my old hammer style C-Frame
again. I may just have to buy one of these. |
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| They actually
mention painting around the inside of the landing light
cavity in the plans. The RV-10 didn't even have the
hole cut, but the RV-14 includes the lenses, the brackets,
and tells you to paint ahead of time. I think I
painted my RV-10 at the time the airframe was painted. |
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| Another thing made
easier by looking at my old RV-10 page....the wing
cradle. I had something that worked really well last
time, and the only difference this time is that the RV-14
wings are a bit shorter. For the RV-10, my cradle
was 10' long, but for the 14 I shortened it a few
inches. This keeps most of the support by the carpet
from not being over the landing light hole, and gives a
little working room off the end of the cradle for
installing wing tips and things later. Measurements
of my boards are printed on the 2x4 above. |
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| Lots of rivets in
these skins! This build, I got a nice Tungsten
bucking bar for Christmas, and then bought myself a 2nd
one of a different shape. Turns out they were pretty
handy. There are a few rivets that are very hard to
get to, so it pays to have compact bars. All of the
build to this point was very very basic, and very
familiar. |
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| After a bit more
riveting of the skins, it was time to attach the leading
edges, which was quick and simple. In no time, the
wings were put safely away in their cradle. Time to
get started on the fuel tanks! |
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