RV10 Wing Disassembly -LCP

[Tlrguy]

Hello all. I want to share my thoughts regarding the disassembly of my RV10 wings due to LCP. All of my spar box ribs, leading edge ribs, flap attach ribs, and torque tube bearing mount were all LC, so a complete wing disassembly was in order.

No too much to talk about in regards to drilling rivets. Just use the time tested methods and take your time. I choose to focus on protecting the main spars at all costs, as that’s all I was really trying to salvage for rebuild. Everything except the skins came out undamaged, so I actually did better than I was hoping. Drilling out thousands of -3 rivets, there was bound to be some rivet holes mucked up.

In the end, I don’t think disassembly of major components like a wing to remove affected LCPs is reasonable. Every one of my main ribs and leading edge ribs looked good upon inspection of the completed assembly. Fact of the matter is, upon removal for unobstructed inspection, every rib was cracked in almost every rivet hole.

I just can’t allow these parts in the air.

 

[PaulvS]

Oh wow, such a lot of work, I really feel sorry for you and all the others affected by this, but I do believe that you have done the right thing.

 

[Everwild]

Same boat

I had just started riveting the top skins on the left wing when the LCP news hit. Didn't take long to get the partially attached skin off and remove the rear spars and ribs.

Unfortunately, I went out of order and did the tanks and outboard leading edges before starting on the spars. The tanks and outboard leading edges have blue LCPs so I've decided to rebuild them. Not practical to take tanks apart IMO and the leading edge skins are not that expensive so I've decided to just order all new parts vs take them apart.

I've deburred all of the remaining wing kit parts that are not LCP so I'm at a standstill until I either get my fuse kit (Jan-Feb) or Vans starts shipping replacement wing parts.

 

[jerseypilot83]

Hello all. I want to share my thoughts regarding the disassembly of my RV10 wings due to LCP. All of my spar box ribs, leading edge ribs, flap attach ribs, and torque tube bearing mount were all LC, so a complete wing disassembly was in order.

No too much to talk about in regards to drilling rivets. Just use the time tested methods and take your time. I choose to focus on protecting the main spars at all costs, as that’s all I was really trying to salvage for rebuild. Everything except the skins came out undamaged, so I actually did better than I was hoping. Drilling out thousands of -3 rivets, there was bound to be some rivet holes mucked up.

In the end, I don’t think disassembly of major components like a wing to remove affected LCPs is reasonable. Every one of my main ribs and leading edge ribs looked good upon inspection of the completed assembly. Fact of the matter is, upon removal for unobstructed inspection, every rib was cracked in almost every rivet hole.

I just can’t allow these parts in the air.

I am in the same boat as you regarding the wing ribs and I can’t imagine tearing all these ribs out of this near completed wing. Can you provide some tips on how you drilled out all the rivets? Did you use any special tools or just free-drilled everything. I am 99% sure I have all ribs LC. I was looking at my river holes and cannot see any cracking but you said nothing was visible until you took everything apart???? Any pictures will be greatly appreciated??? Dare I ask how long it took you to tear apart???? And I would say little faster doing a rebuild???

 

[PhatRV]

. Can you provide some tips on how you drilled out all the rivets? Did you use any special tools or just free-drilled everything.

You can do a lot of damage by mis-drilling out rivets. Drilling out rivets cleanly takes a lot of practice, especially when drilling out the wing skin. Doing it incorrectly will make it a lot worse. I have my method but I tend to be prudent on the decision to drill out rivets. Just my 2c.

 

[Everwild]

Take your time and you will be fine. A few tricks.

1. Use a smaller bit. #34-33 for 30 rivets and #44-43 for 40s.
2. Obviously, you want to be centered in the rivet head. You can use a tool like this for universal head rivets. Helps center the bit and I think these tools also let you set the depth. https://aircraft-tool.com/shop/detail.aspx?id=1341A&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
3. Drill perpendicular just deep enough to insert a tight fitting punch into the head of the rivet. Stop before you get to spar depth.
4. Pop the rivet heads off with the punch
5. With the rivet heads and ribs off you can go back and carefully drill out the center of the rivets. I find you need to drill them roughly halfway through the depth of the material they are set in.
6. With the center removed, insert a smaller punch and give them a firm tap and they should pop out of the spar. Don't hammer on them, if they don't come out, drill some more and try another firm tap.

Since you're not saving the ribs, you only need to get the heads off to pull the skin away. Leave the balance of the rivets in the ribs.

To remove the ribs from the spar, I like to remove the heads and the rib from the spar first. Then I have a clear view of the rivet in the spar and can take my time drilling the center out. Drill a little, take a look, drill a little more. Drill slow, not fast speed.

Wear a pair of 3.5x readers to magnify what you are working on.

Took me roughly 10-15 hours to remove a partially installed left wing skin, the rear spars on both wings, all of the ribs, and the spar extension brackets. There were a couple places where I removed the anodizing from the holes but nothing out of spec.

 

[brettwmyers]

Tlrguy, when did you receive your wing kit? I am in a similar position, but I think most of my LCP are in the ailerons and flaps, I don't think that the wings had any LCP. But I didn't take any pictures of the parts before I removed blue film. In any case, I can't see any cracks...

 

[jerseypilot83]

I received my wing kit in August 2022 and my pictures of inventory showed no blue plastic. I am going to assume they are LCP. I also saw the little notch on lightning holes where laser entered aluminum.

It is going to be a PITA but it is what it is:-( Better to be safe than sorry

 

[rocketman1988]

But

I received my wing kit in August 2022 and my pictures of inventory showed no blue plastic. I am going to assume they are LCP. I also saw the little notch on lightning holes where laser entered aluminum.

It is going to be a PITA but it is what it is:-( Better to be safe than sorry

Lack of blue plastic does not necessarily mean a LC part. There are sim parts that are formed and then heat treated and may not have plastic…

 

[jerseypilot83]

Yes I agree but when the lightning holes have that little shark tooth edge on them —I believe thats where the laser entered and exited. Most of my ribs have that

 

[rocketman1988]

Yep

Yes I agree but when the lightning holes have that little shark tooth edge on them —I believe thats where the laser entered and exited. Most of my ribs have that

Yes, just highlighting that lack of plastic doesn’t necessarily mean LCP…

 

[Dr_Dave_MT]

Lack of blue plastic does not necessarily mean a LC part. There are sim parts that are formed and then heat treated and may not have plastic…

I agree. My re-inventory of my RV-10 wing kit showed (for me) on these "no blue covered" parts: A-1004L and A-1004R, VA-195C and W-1016L, W-1016R as NOT LCP. For me I needed to use an eye loupe to determine this.

 

[andrepew]

I bought a microscope on Amazon to check for LCP. Some of the well done parts are pretty hard to tell. Especially in QB kit where they’re already deburred and primed. Example attached