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RV-9A, SoCal

I have to catch up with the pictures, but I've made some real progress. Rudder and brake pedal assemblies are done; just need to drill final mounting holes for outer bearing blocks. Aileron trim lever/friction block thingie and elevator bellcrank done. Static air ports/ tubing installed in rear of fuselage, and center tunnel cover nearly finished (took a long time yesterday making those Z-channel brackets, but they fit well). Cut all angle pieces for seat backs.

I used the Van's static air system, which is just fine for the most part. But as everyone has said, there's not a whole lot of purchase on the static port rivet for the tubing. It gets worse as you apply RTV, as it's slippery before it sets up, and the tubing simply refuses to stay on the rivet until it starts to set up.

So, as I was buzzing through angle on the bandsaw, I'd stop and push the tubing back on the rivet. Another five minutes, I'd do it again. After roughly 15 cycles, the RTV had set up enough where the tubing would hold. So I'm convinced now that there's a good airtight connection, but I'm making a fillet of RTV around the outside for a better peace-of-mind mechanical bond.

So now on to the seat backs. How did you guys do the .040 notches on the vertical angle stock, to accept the bottom hinge? My first thought was to farm it out to someone with a milling machine, but I thought I'd ask you resourceful types if there was some other way to get a good result.
 
So now on to the seat backs. How did you guys do the .040 notches on the vertical angle stock, to accept the bottom hinge? My first thought was to farm it out to someone with a milling machine, but I thought I'd ask you resourceful types if there was some other way to get a good result.

Careful use of the bandsaw and then a little time on the scotchbrite wheel will work. You'll never look at it again, so I wouldn't go crazy getting it perfect...
 
Thanks, Chris. You're right, it's not in a real obvious spot. I need to get a fine tooth blade; I've been using the one that came with the bandsaw (for wood) that works well for most cuts, but a little more precision is called for here.
 
I actually used my router (wood bit) in a router table to make those notches. It works great on soft aluminum.
 
The bandsaw worked better than I thought it would for those seat rail notches. Thanks for the tip!

Here are a few more pics of progress, rudder pedals and some miscellaneous stuff. RTV around static port rivets is not pretty, but I like that the system is light and compact. Gonna route the line up front beneath baggage floor and then use a 90-degree fitting to run it up the center tunnel. I'm pretty sure I'll use an EFIS with AHRS built in up front, and there's the steam gauge altimeter too that's planned for the panel.

I'm working on the seats, and then I think I'll go tailcone forward for a lot of things….getting the tail strobe/elevator trim wiring in place, seatbelt cables anchored, belllcrank/elevator pushrod, etc.

Maybe I watched too many reruns of Star Trek as a kid, but doesn't the tunnel cover look like the Galileo shuttlecraft? :)











 
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One more question: Any problems with riveting the seat back assemblies together first, then priming and painting as a unit, rather than finishing all the parts individually?
 
One more question: Any problems with riveting the seat back assemblies together first, then priming and painting as a unit, rather than finishing all the parts individually?

Sounds like a good idea to me! In 100 years when they corrode through, you can just build new ones:D

Thats what I did. I remember masking off the hinges though, probably don't want to goop those pin holes full of paint.
 
Sounds like a good idea to me! In 100 years when they corrode through, you can just build new ones:D

:D:D I think the only place drier than Chino is the Gobi Desert. I'm good with the wash primer for most areas. On the empennage, I primed all the skeletal stuff, but not the skins. She will live a pampered life in a hangar, for sure!!

Derek, you're really getting close to the maiden flight….exciting stuff!!!
 
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:D:D I think the only place drier than Chino is the Gobi Desert. I'm good with the wash primer for most areas....

The wash primer is probably adequate, but whatever you do be comfortable with it for wherever you plan to go. I'm sure you're not going to limit your flying to SoCal!
 
The wash primer is probably adequate, but whatever you do be comfortable with it for wherever you plan to go. I'm sure you're not going to limit your flying to SoCal!
Mostly the Pacific Southwest. For my particular mission, I'll be fine. I feel that you reach a point of diminishing returns with the added build time, prep, cost and weight of priming the whole shebang versus anti-corrosion benefits. If I were hangared in Houston or Ft. Lauderdale, I'm sure I'd feel differently.

I'll be touching up areas of the wash primer that get scratched during the build with some rattle-can stuff.
 
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One seat back almost done. I am ITCHING to throw some primer and paint on these puppies…I figure that the front sides will be good for practice, since they'll be covered with upholstery, as well as the undersides of baggage floors, seat pans, etc. Going with JetFLEX WR in Gray Beige. When I saw John Halcrow's interior (RV-12) in this exact shade, it looked so good that I just had to go the same route. (Upholstery will be medium gray w/ small red accent stripe.)

Welp, looks like a trip to Harbor Freight this weekend for a spray gun, drier, and so on.
 
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Some painting has taken place, but it's primer sloshed inside pushrod tubes and rattle cans for the outside. Got both elevator pushrods to finished paint stage. It's tougher than you think to get the rivets for the end caps evenly spaced, but mine turned out pretty good.

Also fitted weldments for main gear, finished both seat backs and did the wear blocks for the seat belt cables. I think the steps are the next project, but I have to take a week off for a business trip before I can dive in. At least the cutouts for the main gear got me up to speed on hole drilling technique.

Tonight's woodworking project was this 15"-tall pedestal for the fuselage. My back will thank me for getting it up to a reasonable working height!! Will use a padded sawhorse to support the tail.









 
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Ah, so much better up on the pedestal. Tonight I bent and flared my first aluminum tubing, for the right-side tank vent. It went well…I'm glad I spent a little more for the top-of-the-line flare tool. Also mounted ELT, final-mounted steps, drilled remaining holes on the gear weldments, etc.

Check out the gussets on the steps. I had a local welder who used to work for McDonnell Douglas do them. The gusset left a small gap on the aft side, between the leg and the base, so I made a little cosmetic piece from sheet aluminum that I later covered up with JB Weld.









 
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It's very satisfying to reach a point where some reassembly is taking place! I finished much of the interior painting (Jetflex gray/beige with EkoPrime primer), and I have to say, love the water-reducible paints and HVLP gun. Overspray was kept to an absolute minimum, and the only issues with clogging were with the primer, and that was only at the tip of the gun…I just had to unscrew the tip, wipe the clog off with my finger, put the tip back on and continue. Thanks, John Halcrow, for the excellent spray-painting advice!

I think I made all the right provisions for wiring to the tail, and ran the ELT control panel cable forward, but just in case, I ran some extra conduit under the floor. Baggage floor/seat pans are now riveted in place, crotch-strap anchors are in, flap mechanism is nearly done, and I crimped my first connectors for the tail strobe.

Really hot here, into triple digits…tonight I'll move inside and solder the stick switches in air-conditioned comfort.













 
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Doug you are making tremendous progress and your work nears perfection.
Since March after you introduced yourself here you did so much it's possible your 9 will be one of the fastest built known to VAF. Keep pressure on don't get distracted, hit a plateau or burn out like many of us did. When you plan to fly it? It's about time to ask :D
 
Thanks for the kind words, Vlad!! I'm having a blast building this thing, three hours at a time. Going the QB route helps immensely. Every time I complete a small section, I get a warm fuzzy feeling that springboards me to the next!

I reckon that fall of 2015 is a realistic date of completion. I think I'll do the canopy last (before paint) in summer of 2015 so the plexi is nice and squishy with the hot temps. I have already purchased the engine (IO-320 D1A), comm radio, transponder, wiring kit, etc., and the FWF and Finish kits will show up in about 2-3 weeks. Catto prop being made too, as we speak. For instrumentation, I'm going with GRT Sport SX panel, with backup AI and altimeter steam gauges, and maybe a round tach as well. It's costing my life's savings, but it's the project of a lifetime?no regrets whatsoever!! :)

Your words of encouragement, and those of all the other helpful people on VAF, really help to sustain the enthusiasm.
 
Milestone moment!

For the first time, I moved the control stick and the elevators went through their range of motion. Yeah! :) I did quite a bit over the weekend… final-drilled and temporarily bolted in horiz. stab and elevators, installed most of the control linkage, ran the rudder cables, drilled the critical control-horn hole, and removed enough material from the elevator down stop for about 20.5 degrees of down travel (maybe a degree more after final filing). Up travel is ideal; about 29 degrees until the control horns contact the deck sheet metal. I'll fit the hard stop of course and trim away the deck metal.

I'm really pleased with all the edge distances, etc. but I did oval a hole slightly on one of the main gear weldments. I'll fix it with an oversized bolt and matching reamer. Need to send away for these. :roll eyes: The hole on the left side turned out great, however, so I bolted in that gear weldment for good.

I plopped the vertical stab on there just for a photo op; that's tomorrow night's project.











 
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Finish kit shows up in a week to 10 days, so the timing is perfect to fit the empennage fairing. Might as well since the tail is put together. I still have to fabricate the rudder stops, finish riveting the tailcone and drill/rivet the tie-down bracket in place. As far as the fairing goes, I hope I get a "good one" that doesn't take too much finessing for a decent fit! I've been searching like crazy, looking at what y'all have done here….many possibilities. Bill, I really like your aluminum fairings that are extensions of the inspection covers--very slick!

The car just barely fits in the garage still with the horiz. stab in place. All bets are off with the elevators fitted, because of the way the fuse is angled. And the garage door just clears the vertical stab when opened; I'm glad I held off attaching the fiberglass tip!

Got the elevator "up" stop fitted and filed…29 degrees of glorious travel.
 
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Got the rudder stops made and fitted; they turned out a little more robust than the ones in the plans! All wiring to the tail is completed, as well as the stick wiring, which is a bit fiddly to fit behind the spar. So now I have a nice umbilical cable running up to the IP.

Flap mechanism is wired and bolts final-torqued and safety wired, and control sticks & linkage (minus ailerons) are all hooked up. I'll put in the aileron trim system later, as it'll just get in the way of the wing wiring.

Can't wait to get to the panel! I've studied wiring diagrams until my brain hurts, and I think I've come up with a workable layout. And the fuel pump will finally arrive in a couple of days, so I can finalize its placement, bend tubing, etc.










 
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Welp, got the sub panel fitted, drilled, dimpled and ready for primer, and fitted/drilled the top forward skin. I rolled the edges, and it lays down real nice with clecos. Also did all the fussy brackets for attaching the IP. I bagged them up and put 'em in storage for later.

I did my first FWF piece...heater valve...and am soul-searching about the fuel system after posting over in the -9 thread. I decided on the original plan of extending the center cover up by about 2" with strips of aluminum and putting pump, filter & red cube inline. It'll make it super simple to pull filter for service/annual, and a test-sit showed the modest extra height is not too intrusive. When I'm flying solo and want to stretch out, I can easily put my right leg over in the right footwell.







 
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Classic Aero delivers!

Got my seats today! :D:D And armrests and stick boots and glare shield trim. I'm thrilled with how they all turned out, and I had to plop 'em in place for a glamour shot. They feel wonderful, and the clever lumbar adjustment is a nice touch.

Also, work continues apace on the fuel system, and I finished extending the cover upward by about 1.75" to clear the pump & filter. This is a great solution for me...on long solo flights I can really stretch out, movie theater style, with my right leg over the console. I'm pretty sure the dog house would get in the way if I had gone the conventional route, and it just looks cleaner.

For the extension, I riveted on a doubler in back, so the extension skin butts up against the existing piece and fits flush. The best thing is that I used strips of aluminum from the wing trim bundle, which were exactly the right width.








 
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Got the brake lines done, and most of the in-tunnel fuel system plumbing is finished. A very straightforward inline setup here. Now, I just have to do the right-side fuel line, and all the cursing and scraped knuckles that go along with it. :eek: Then I can plunge into the FWF stuff, which will require a lot less leaning over....I think I need to buy one of those little rolling stools for this.

Later, I'm thinking of running some small conduit through the top of the foam blocks to run the magnetometer wires. I want to keep them away from the antenna coax, which will be run along the right side.


 
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I did the center tunnel wiring, and all wiring out to the wings. The missing bits are magnetometer wiring (will be wing mounted) and two coax cables for the comm and transponder. For the most part, I went about a gauge thicker than suggested...easier to crimp, and a little more peace of mind. Lots of blue tape consumed for labeling. :) I bought the Van's pre made harness, but I think it's really designed to start at the panel and work back, where I'm doing the opposite. Not a total loss, because there's lots of good wire here to be harvested.

Most fuel fittings have been final-tightened, and I'm really hoping the Red Cube doesn't leak. I assembled those fittings with generous amounts of Loctite 567.

I ended up making the center console a 2-piece unit, with aluminum angle and nut plates at the bend where it goes vertical. Far easier to remove!! And I finished off the setback attachments. It's a "one size fits all" plane, with both seats all the way back. After I took the pic, I drilled two AN3-size holes (undersized, then reamed) so these bolts will drop in as pins. It'll make it easy to fold/remove the seat for cargo, etc.

Next up: Lots of priming and painting, and putting the rudder pedal cluster in for good. Oh yeah, and drilling the firewall for the motor mount before that!









 
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Very nice clean install Doug. If you decide to go with Classic Aero carpet you may not be able to get one piece.



IMG_2996.jpg
 
Thanks, Vlad! You're right about the carpet. I may have them make it two separate pieces, and then cover the tunnel with thinner carpet, attached with 3M spray adhesive. While it won't have quite the same sound-deadening effect as the thicker main carpet, it will make the two surfaces closer to even.

Quick question: When it comes to panel wiring, would you do it before or after the plane is on its gear? My back is killing me from bending over, and if it's too high for an easy reach, I can always stand on the pedestal I made that's supporting the plane now. It seem logical to do the gear when the plane is lighter (i.e., no engine) so I can lift the whole thing up to align gear fairings and wheel pants. At least most of the stuff down low within the tub is complete.
 
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I did panel wiring after the fuse was on the gear, and after the engine was hung. I fab'd a couple of elevated work stands from the wood in the engine crate ... put one on each side. That made panel wiring pretty painless, figuratively and literally. The works stands were ~20x36x18H ... dimensions dictated by the size of the scrap lumber. Those work stands are now in my hangar ... I use 'em for all kinds of things today.
 
Thank you, Terry. Your work stand dimensions are similar to the pedestal I'll be freeing up...it's about 15 in. tall. I can make a second one for the other side.

I like the thought of putting her up on the gear...a milestone moment for sure!! I found out today that I will have an...er, um...temporary lapse in employment, so that means more RV-9A work time! :):)
 
It's great when you get to an actual assembly stage. I'm finally there with a big pile of interior parts that are fitted, drilled, deburred, dimpled, nut plated, primed and painted. I still have maybe 10 percent left of the original quart of Jetflex for touch-up duty, and that's after painting all the sub panel pieces. The plan was to leave those in primer if I ran out of paint.

Also finished off starter/main contactors and through-firewall wiring near battery box. Engine mount is final-drilled (I know, bolts are in backward, but it's only a test fit), and firewall recess is almost ready for final riveting.

I'll probably test the fuel system tomorrow...gotta buy another 5-gallon gas can. All the AN fittings are final-torqued, and it's so nice to final put that red anodized lever on the Andair valve.







 
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A very productive day! I got the firewall recess sealed & riveted, mounted the battery box, tested the fuel system (no leaks!) and final-mounted and plumbed the rudder/brake assembly that I had done before. No real contact of the lines through the rudder pedals' range of motion, but the stainless lines rub slightly on the firewall angle, so I put some split automotive conduit over them.





 
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Nice work!

Looking good, you are in a very fun stage of the build, enjoy. Looks like your engine mount bolts are backwards but maybe you just have them stabbed in there temporarily? Pretty soon you be on to the canopy, slider right? Bang that out in a few weekends:D

12 more hours and you can come to RNM for a ride and a grin:)
 
Hey Derek,

Yeah, a temp test fit on the bolts. I'm waiting for the cable pass-through eyeballs so I can install them before I final-mount the mount. :)

I'm steeling myself for the laborious canopy, engine baffling and all the fiberglass fitting/filling, etc. but am enjoying the easier-bolt together stuff.

The wing stand is assembled and performing its raison d'?tre, holding wings! Thanks again for bringing it down. RNM will be among my first trips after Phase 1.
 
Welp, she's standing taller on sawhorses, and the main gear legs and brakes have been fitted. Also cleco'd the sub panel together, and fitted the stainless wiring pass-throughs. Still waiting on the cable pass-throughs...I ordered them direct two weeks ago from Doubletee. I called and emailed about the order, but no response yet. :(

Brake bolts require an ultra-thin wall socket, so I ground one down to near nothingness. Drilling the holes for the cotter pin in the axle nuts was a little scary, but it worked out well. I used on of those extra-long #30 drill bits for the job, flexing it a bit while drilling to get a straight shot through the axle.

Test fit the wooden stiffeners; almost time for flox and epoxy, and some alignment strings on the garage floor.

Questions about the Matco brakes:

1) Any lubrication needed for the calipers' sliding pins?

2) Nylock nuts are specified for the axle collars that the calipers bolt to. I'm guessing this location is far enough away from brake heat to be safe, but does anyone have issues with the Nylocks loosening from heat, or have used a different sort of locking nut?









 
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2) Nylock nuts are specified for the axle collars that the calipers bolt to. I'm guessing this location is far enough away from brake heat to be safe, but does anyone have issues with the Nylocks loosening from heat, or have used a different sort of locking nut?

Doug, I had the nylock nuts loosen up on my plane, had a wheel pant destroyed. All nylocks had loosened, including the side that did not have any damage. Sean at PlaneAround suggested going to metal lock nuts.

I installed the PlaneAround spacers, and metal lock nuts during the repair.

Info here that may be of interest to you---------- note this is a 10, so some of the stuff may be different. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=114693
 
Thanks, Mike. My -9A has somewhat less kinetic energy on landing than a 10, so less heat buildup, but the all-metal locknuts would be good for peace of mind. If I stay with the Nylocks, they'll be inspected regularly.

I'll give each wheel pant a tug as part of the pre-flight as well. So glad that there was a safe outcome to your incident!
 
I found out from Doubletee that the firewall grommets shipped about two weeks ago...looks like they were lost by USPS. Oh well...perhaps a blessing in disguise, as I'm using the time to tackle wheel pants and gear fairings. I'm keeping my promise to myself that my RV will have a paint job and a full set of fairings before the first flight.

Jack stands make great rigs for alignment strings; I've used them many a time for automotive suspension alignment in a pinch. I floxed the first damper on; will wrap it later with fiberglass tape, so it won't be going anywhere!

I'm very impressed with the fit of the wheel pant halves...some really well done fiberglass here. The step is so cleanly defined on the aft part of the main gear pant. I may go through two or three Dremel tools before I finish, though! Looks like some decent toe-in on the mains in the unloaded state, so the tires will be skewed a bit (in plan view) inside the pants.





 
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Just be careful with those yellow saw horses. There have been some failures noted on the forums. They just aren't strong enough to support all of the fuselage weight.

Also, you will be surprised at how much more you will need to open up the pant for the tires. The little scribed line on the fiberglass will barely get them over the tire!
 
Thanks, Bruce, Yes, the yellow 'horses are a little wobblier than I'd like, so I'm being vey careful. I wouldn't dare sit in the plane in this configuration, so it's good I'm forging ahead on the fiberglass so in not too long I can set 'er on the tires for good. I think part of the problem is that the saw horse legs don't spread out much....stance too narrow.

Agreed on the wheel pants. My Sharpie marks are at least 1/2" on average outside the scribed line. I'll err on the "too much space around tire" side, as I don't care about losing a knot of airspeed from a slightly bigger gap.
 
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So very close to getting her off the sawhorses and on to the tires. I still have to trim the nose gear wheel pant and fairing, but the engine mount and nose gear leg are on for good. Also, I need to lure a neighbor over to move the whole fuse over a couple feet to final mount/align the left main pant, as it's up against a cabinet right now, so access isn't good.

On the nose wheel breakout force, I'm really taking my time before drilling the hole for the cotter pin...gonna keep adjusting it and moving it back and forth a lot, over several days to get all the parts seated so I can get a consistent reading. At first, I though I had nailed it at 22 lb., but it dropped to about 15 after sitting an hour. No rush!!











 
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So glad to finally see the faint, translucent light at the end of the fiberglass tunnel! The intersection fairings really are a ton of work, even though I bought the rough pieces from Van's. They're really only a starting point, as you have to apply a couple more layers of 9 oz. cloth and do a ton of trimming, etc. I took the suggestion of a fellow VAFer to bond these fairings to the wheel pant halves and make a split up the gear leg. You can never have enough clamps for this!

Hardest part was making the intersection fairing conform to the underside of the gear leg fairing. I had to wait until the epoxy was about 75 percent set up, and then apply a clamp over the fresh layup. On the first side I clamped it too early into the cure, and the cloth/resin slid a bit during the process. Ti...ming is ev erything.

Made my first panel cut (well, sub panel to be truthful) for the map box. Hope to hang the engine by Christmas. Hanging ornaments is overrated! :D:D:D








 
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Nice and clean job Doug I am jealous. One suggestion based on experience. If you plan to fly at least once to an unimproved strip or do a bouncy landing elsewhere, add an extra layer or two of fiberglass on the bottom part of rear split intersection fairing. The geometry and direction of pressure exerted by leg fairing may cause lower intersection fairing to detach/break out from wheel pant. It happened on my RV and I've seen on couple more aircrafts with pilots far sharper then me :)
 
Thanks, Vlad. :)

Good to know where the weak spots are. I'll certainly heed your suggestion and put a couple of extra plies there. Most likely, all she'll ever see is pavement, but you just never know!
 
Panel taking form!

Well, I was going to hang the engine, but I contracted a serious case of panel-itis. After four days with a Dremel tool and a file, I finally got to the point of test-fitting most components and getting a feel for what the final panel will look like. Big blank spot above the radio stack is for a surface-mount iFly 520 that i believe I'll get for Christmas. :)

I'm pleased with it so far. It's simple and straightforward, with lots of space between the switches so hopefully I won't bump anything accidentally. Altimeter knob on both the EFIS and steam gauge are nice and close to each other, so they'll be easy to adjust.



 
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Map box fitting

Brrrr...posting is a good way to kill some time until the sun heats the garage to a survivable temperature!

Panel is almost ready for paint. I did the map box door last night. The whole thing is fiddly and time-consuming, but I'm so glad I did it to have a nice cubby for documents, a flashlight, spare fuses, etc. Once it's finished, I'll line the inside with a nice piece of black felt from the local craft store. You can see I kinda banged up the back of the box, setting those rivets with a bucking bar taped to the end of a 2x4. One slip is all it takes! The felt will cover the eyesore.

To make the final door install easy, the hinge will be fastened with pull rivets. The flat stock beneath the hinge is machine countersunk and solid-riveted to the map box floor. I didn't use the piece provided with the kit, because I couldn't figure out what was going on with the hole spacing!

The last thing I have to make is the IP "ears" where I'll mount the headphone jacks. I put the vents higher up on the panel for a little less clutter and ease of adjustment.





 
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I had one of those "Oh cr*p" moments when I realized that, on the right side, the map box got in the way of the routing for the fresh air tubing (not a problem with standard Van's location for the air vents). So I made a hole in the sub panel, and fabbed up a reinforcement with some thin-gauge angle and fluting pliers. It feels sturdier than the stock piece now.

 
Hi,

Quick question: Did you had any trouble to align the WD-605 horn with the spar of the elevator? If you refer to the post that I made in the RV-9 forum, I don't manage to align it properly. VANS responded that I could add an additional plate in between the horn and spar, but this is not really changing a lot. As you must have a empennage kit from the batch, I was wondering that you had the same issue, and maybe got a fix for it?

Thanks!
 
Hi WVM,

I didn't have any issue with alignment of those parts. Sometimes you have to bend and tug and tweak things to bring them into alignment, I hope you find a solution!
 
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