Ron's RV7 Aircraft Factory


Welcome to my personal blog. This site was created as an informal description of my build progress in the construction of a Van's RV7 aircraft. A place where family/friends/builders/curiosity seekers can follow along. It is not intended to be a detailed description of every step in the building process as that would be much too time consuming. There are plenty of sites that do a great job in that arena, that is not my intention with this site. My intention is for this to be a philisophical/motivational/inspirational account of the emotional ups and downs of the life changing journey...and it will change your life. I hope this will give you an idea, through my eyes, of what its like to make this transformation. A note to other builders, I am not an expert so do not put your safety at risk by attempting anything you see on this site until you have done your own research, or send me an email so we can discuss it. Any deviations from the plans are not approved, nor endorsed by Van's Aircraft or myself. Thanks for visiting.



Thursday, July 22, 2010

Rivet Day HOBBS 256.5 hrs

I headed right out to the shop as soon as I got home to start riveting my main ribs to the main spar. I usually take a little break after getting home from work before getting started on the plane, but I was excited to start riveting tonight. It was a productive night: all main ribs are now riveted on the left spar. I wasnt sure if I was going to be able to pull this off solo, but after some strategy planning I got it done without too much problem. Sometimes its a challenge not having someone readily available to help buck rivets.

Checkoway recommended doing the main spar before attaching the rear spar...great piece of advice. You can flex the ribs as needed to gain access to the rivets, that helps a ton!

I also riveted together the aileron hinge bracket sub-assemblies. When I did, I noticed a note on the drawing saying not to prime the mating surfaces...hmm, too late, not sure if this is gonna bite me later? I have to remember to start reading all notes on drawings before proceeding. Builders beware.


My setup, I just used clamps to secure the main spar to the table and the ribs hanging over...worked good.




A view of my factory heads, I had a few 'smilies' but they weren't on the rivets but on the ribs themselves. In light of this I think they will be ok, I'll look at them again next session and make a final decision. I was using my 'offset' rivet set for the first time and its pretty easy to get that thing crooked...since it is crooked! :) I got better as I used it more, just by paying close attention to how it was sitting before hitting the trigger on the rivet gun. 


I got the rear spar cleco-ed on and almost ready for riveting. That will come in my next session. I am beginning to realize that I am much better at riveting when I'm not tired and have good focus so I will tackle this when I'm fresh. After getting the rear spar and aileron hinge brackets riveted together it will finally be time to hang these puppies in the wing stand! That will be an exciting day....soon.


Check out my 'modification' to my new gloves. I couldnt pick up rivets with them on, so out with the scissors and voila. It really worked great, protects my hands but still gives me dexterity with my fingers to pick things up. Adapt, improvise, overcome!! ;)

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