Gear tower conundrum
February 28, 2010 by Sandy
Filed under Gear Tower Mod, My RV-8 Project & Building Log
I was doing a final check before starting the riveting process and installing the gear towers (finally).
As you can see there is a good 1/4" to 3/8" that the F802C can still go over (Click to enlarge)
What I noticed was that the F802-C (the top plate on the gear tower-see photo) and it’s overlap of the F887 top longeron seem off a tad. According to Van’s drawings, the overlapping aluminum should pretty much cover the top lonergon up to the F822 side skin. There is between a 1/4″ to 3/8″ gap (again, see photo). It is possible for me to “nudge” it over, but only about another 1/8″. This would give me reasonable edge distance for riveting, but still not cover the top longeron per drawings.
I placed a thred on Van’s Air Force forums and will see what some of the other builders say and post that here. Feel free to post here as well if you are a builder and have input.
The reason I post this is that the parts are all -1 (pre-punched parts) and it would have been difficult if not impossible for me to have anything mis-aligned due to to my error.
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March 3, 2010 Followup
Here it is after drilling complete with 1/8" gap (Click to enlarge)
I was able to get good alignment with just palm pressure, but went ahead and used ratchet straps just to hold things in place while I drilled. Ended with 1/8″ gap between 802C and outer edge of F887 longeron. Good enough. Here is a final photo (left).
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I’m at the same point you are and I had the same problem but a friend just got his quick build 8 fus and their was about 1/8 inch space and it did not come to the edge og the Long. Let me know how you are coming along. Best regards
Larry
larryachampion@gmail.com
Thanks Larry,
Some have suggested pulling it all the way over with ratchet straps, but there would appear to be a lot of shear force on those few rivets. However with just my hands I can pull it to within an 1/8″ as your friends QB fuse with very little additional side stress on the rivets and 802c and 877 parts. So I think I will go that route and settle for the 1/8″ gap. I’ll probably use straps to hold it all while I drill, but not worry about horseing it all the way over and creating a lot of side tension/stress in the structure that might fail eventually.