Dave’s RV-7A Building Log

Deburred and dimpled more of the flap parts.

I’m back after pedaling around Washington State on my bike for a week.

To get back in the groove, I just did a little deburring and dimpling on the flap parts. I thought the flaps were going to be a slam dunk, but there are a lot of parts with lots of holes to prep.

Drilled the flap reinforcement parts to the front spars and inboard ribs. Disassembled everything in preparation for deburring, dimpling, and priming.

It looks like the flap instructions are a preview of things to come. The steps are out of order, and some steps are missing. I spent a little time bending the 6 degree angle in the F-706B’s (it’s on the plans, but not in the instructions) and then figuring out how to clamp things together to drill the holes.

A funny thing started happening recently. With both wings in the cradle and placed in the middle of the garage, people walking by have been noticing them. We live near a park, so lots of people walk by every day. Last night a neighbor stopped by and asked about the project. Last night, two guys walked over from a party across the street. A few weeks ago another neighbor who is a retired pilot and former RV-6 owner stopped by. Some of my building time recently has been spent talking planes, but I don’t mind. It keeps me motivated.

Took a long weekend off from the project for some camping with the family. Despite the rain, we had a great time. We got back mid-day on Sunday, so after packing away the camping gear, a bike ride, and mowing the lawn, I managed to work on the flaps a little bit.

I fabricated the second reinforcement plate, F-706A.

Drilled the flap hinges to the bottom of the front spar. I used an edge distance of 1/4″ as called out in the plans and I’ll adjust the wing side of the hinge as needed.

Clecoed on the top skins and drilled everything to size. Started fabricating the reinforcement angles.

Drilled the flap spars to the ribs and the bottom skins to the ribs. I clamped the hinge in place, but decided to wait to start drilling. So far, the flaps seem pretty straight-forward.

Deburred more of the flap ribs and started to cleco things together. This is the flap skeleton and bottom skin.

Started in on the flaps. The ailerons are waiting for some riveting help, and the wing brackets and braces are waiting for primer, which I didn’t feel like doing tonight. Instead, I got out the flap parts and started deburring the edges.

I bought some cheap plastic shelves to hold all of the fuselage parts, so I could get rid of the crates. Putting stuff on the shelves saved a lot of space.