Still thinking about an RV-14

[tsts4]

Just remembered a few items:
- vise
- die grinder and some small 3M wheels
- Dremel

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

I prefer the belt driven oiled models to the oiless variety as they are much quieter)

I would offer up a bit of an exception to that.
Now, I do have a "vintage" Sears oilless compressor that is stupid loud. When I had it in my shop, I would go outside when it was running. It now has a forever home at the airport where it gets used less often.
OTOH I have an oilless compressor from California Air Tools that is quiet enough that you can stand next to it and carry on a conversation without raising your voice. Quieter than belt driven oiled compressors that I have been around.

 

[tsts4]

I would offer up a bit of an exception to that.
Now, I do have a "vintage" Sears oilless compressor that is stupid loud. When I had it in my shop, I would go outside when it was running. It now has a forever home at the airport where it gets used less often.
OTOH I have an oilless compressor from California Air Tools that is quiet enough that you can stand next to it and carry on a conversation without raising your voice. Quieter than belt driven oiled compressors that I have been around.

I should have qualified my remark. I believe it’s pretty accurate with hobbyist/home level compressors typical of what you’d find at the big box stores.

 

[TCABM]

Before I go much further, I’m thinking about getting some angle and sheet aluminum just to figure out riveting.

 

[Jim K]

 

[Racerx]

View attachment 135538

I've seen far worse on completed rv's

 

[kyleb]

Before I go much further, I’m thinking about getting some angle and sheet aluminum just to figure out riveting.

This. Riveting is about the only building skill it takes time to develop.

 

[iamtheari]

This. Riveting is about the only building skill it takes time to develop.

Unless you count patience as a skill. That one takes forever.

 

[moparrob66]

Its definitely different, but the BD-4 is held together with a zillion screws. If riveting isnt your cup o' tea...

 

[tsts4]

Its definitely different, but the BD-4 is held together with a zillion screws. If riveting isnt your cup o' tea...

IIRC the internal BD4 structure is bolted or blind riveted while the skins are bonded on. However there’s plenty of aircraft kits out there that don’t use solid rivet construction so a potential builder has plenty of choices in that regard. That said, there’s reasons Vans has a huge E-AB market share. Oh and learning to rivet isn’t hard whatsoever.

 

[TCABM]

Unless you count patience as a skill. That one takes forever.

And that’s my real worry.

 

[Jim K]

Yeah, I didn't find riveting to be all that hard. Harder than pulling pop rivets obviously, but easier than producing a crisp, clean weld.

And that’s my real worry.

exactly

Most of my mistakes were a result of not reading the instructions EXACTLY. For example, one step said to cleco the bottom skin on to the spar and ribs, then rivet it to the spar. The next step was to rivet the top skin to the spar. Well, I couldn't get my hand in there because I had merrily riveted the entire bottom side down. So then I got to drill all those rib rivets out. When I went to re-rivet them, the holes were now somewhat loose from the first rivets expanding, which makes it a lot harder to make the second rivet look nice.

Another example, when I put the skins on to drill the spars (the ribs were pre-drilled), it looked like the skins and ribs were identical top & bottom. Got the first one in place and drilled, then went to do the other side and they were 1/4" off. It to me a while to even figure out what I did. I think the -14 plans are more handholding than some of the earlier ones, and enough people have been through it to find the gotchas, but verifying part numbers and positions before doing anything is critical.

I always liked metal work more than woodwork because a mig welder can make up for a little gap, and you can always stick a piece of metal back together if you have to. Sheetmetal work feels more like woodworking where if you screw up, you start over.

The other stupid mistake was having two cups of different length rivets sitting next to each other. You can guess what I did there. I did 5 before I realized why the shop heads looked so small. An426ad3-4...an426ad3-3.5...there's a difference.

Now I know to look out for those mistakes, so i guess the practice kit did it's job, but it kind of rattled me wondering what other unknown unknowns lurk in the project.

 

[tsts4]

Yeah, I didn't find riveting to be all that hard. Harder than pulling pop rivets obviously, but easier than producing a crisp, clean weld.

You got that right! Riveting is way easier and less time consuming to learn than welding (in my experience as a novice welder with a multi-process machine) especially to make anything close to aerospace quality. My welding is one step up from a monkey's, but I can rivet with the best of them.

 

[455 Bravo Uniform]

Compressor noise is a safety feature. Mine causes me to leave the area from annoyance. When the tank comes-from-together, no one is around to be shrapneled.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Just for the fun of it, a 15 second clip were I turned on yea olde California Air Tools noise maker.

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