983RV Life

Author: olanandkate

  • Flap System Complete!

    I exercised the system today and got the rod end bearing adjusted as best I could. I’ve never found a good way to accurately measure the middle of a bolt hole on two ends. There must be some tool that allows you to do that or some process but I’ll have to look it up. Either way, I got that all done, everything bolted up (which the flap horns were absolutely the hardest and the worst to reach) and I went ahead and put the access panels over it for now until I need to come back and finish other things up down the road.

  • Flap Torque Tube and Motor Installed

    I got the bushing blocks cut first. I decided to skip shaping the blocks to minimize the weight of the blocks. They couldn’t weigh more than a pound all four of them together so cutting off all of the optional parts wouldn’t make a huge difference. I cut off the required parts and moved on. Little did I know that the radiusing was also a requirement not just the cut. I ended up having to pull them back out to make that radius but it wasn’t too bad. I also had to shave a small amount of material from the outer skin to get the torque tube to go through like it was supposed to. After all of that I got the tube put in and everything bolted together. I then installed the flap motor but I will have to power it on tomorrow to its shortest and fullest reach to make sure that everything meets the requirements. Once that is done I can bolt up the flap motor to the torque tube and then bolt the flap horns to the torque tube.

    Oh, on a side note all of my front seat components came in today! So I now have a complete front seat kit which I can get started on soon.

  • Flap Components Drilled and Primed

    I got all of the control horns and torque tubes drilled and primed. Next is to get the bushings blocks cut to size and then mounting everything. Then I have to get the flap motor mounted and this section will be done!

  • Rear Seat Backs Complete!

    Didn’t take too much additional work at this point as I had everything ready. It just took some riveting which luckily they could all be squeezed instead of bucked. And the pins to mount them were easier to install than I thought as well. It all came out great! Next is the flap system!

  • Rear Seat Backs Ready and Primed

    I got the seatbacks drilled and ready to go. What took the majority of the time was trimming down the F-637C angle aluminum to nest inside the radius of the upper seat backs. It took alot of material removal with a file. I tried using the bench sander but I couldn’t get a consistent amount of removal like I could with the file. But they are all primed and ready to be assembled on Monday! Oh I tried that new spray can primer which was a pain to get it to go on evenly. It shot out in such a narrow fan pattern that it was impossible to get a good spray pattern. I ended up using 2.5 cans of the stuff just on these parts alone which is outrageously expensive compared to the other primer I usually use.

  • Rear Seat Backs Started

    I had a chance to talk with John at Van’s about the parts issue for the controls. He said he was going to take the pictures I have and verify the size of the parts they have in inventory. While I’m waiting on that I decided to move ahead and start on section 42 with the rear seat backs. Not a very long section to do but something else I need to complete. Plus I know my daughter has been looking for an opportunity to actually sit in the plane so this will appease her LOL

  • Control Sticks Drilled & Column Issues

    I got all of the control columns and sticks initially assembled and drilled but I found an issue with the control column. The control column opening where the sticks are supposed to go are WAY too small. It is almost 1/8″ off in size. I’m going to call Vans tomorrow to see if there’s an issue here as the control stick bushing was below their measurements in the document (between 2 1/4 and 2 5/16 but mine was 2 7/64) and then the control stick opening on the control column was only 2 1/64″. Just way too far off to bend it into shape so we’ll see what they say. I might have to cut down the control stick mounts some to make it fit or they might say it is okay to bend it further open to make it fit, but man that’s just a LOT and the bracket will not be anywhere close to square at that point.

    • Control stick and base match drilled
    • Control column opening too small for control stick base
    • Measuring the width of the brass bushing that is inserted into the control stick base
    • Measuring the control stick base width without the bushing
    • Visual representation of the control stick base being too wide for the control column

  • Elevator Push Rods Installed

    I got everything primed, riveted, and bolted in. Not alot to report here except that it is done LOL

  • Aileron Push Rod Assemblies Complete

    I got the three aileron pushrod assemblies assembled and I removed the rear bell crank housing so that I could insert the mid elevator pushrod into place, but I realized I should probably prime the outside of these tubes as well. Unfortunately I’m almost out of primer so I ordered some spray cans of primer from Aircraft Spruce instead of ordering the gallon buckets since I’m pretty much down to the wire here on things that need to be primed. I’ll use the little bit of regular primer I have left to finish these tomorrow, but the spray cans I can use to finish the rest of the parts, etc. Most of my time was spent getting the bell crank housing off as I had to remove the rear covers for the empennage cover first before I could get some of the bolts out that held it down. Either way, I plan to get the tubes primed tomorrow and then install them all.

    Edit: After hockey tonight I decided I could do a little bit more so I prepped the elevator idler arm assembly parts for priming tomorrow as well.

  • Mid Aileron Push Tubes Complete

    I got the tubes drilled, primed, and assembled today. Didn’t take too long but glad to have it done.