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33-11 Step 5

kbalch

Well Known Member
<vent>
The polyethylene sleeves on the forward ends of the rudder cables are secured inside the center tunnel by four Adel clamps (two each).

I'd love to have a chat with the genius who decided that the four nuts in question were adequately accessible to adult human hands. :mad:

I just spent 1.5 hours wrestling with the **** things and only managed to get two started. Though I did finally figure out how to tighten them (it wasn't obvious), I haven't done it yet, as I managed to re-injure a barely healed knuckle in the process. The other two are still sitting there mocking me. :rolleyes:

What a cluster!!
</vent>
 
I also only got two done. The other two are waiting for my helper to come over and receive his punishment for recent absences. But at least we RV-14 builders get to complain about hard-to-reach bolts and nuts. I'm sure the early RV-6 builders had plenty of other things to complain about. :)
 
Adel clamps are notorious 'nut-launchers' but noboby has come up with a better solution. Making your own ad-hoc tool to hold them clamped together, position the nut, align the holes, etc. is usually the solution......along with some colorful language and an occasional beer you can usually bend them to your will :)
 
I got the idea From a post a couple months ago of clamping the adel clamp closed with a Medical hemostat available at any pharmacy. Made the job much easier.
 
I also only got two done. The other two are waiting for my helper to come over and receive his punishment for recent absences. But at least we RV-14 builders get to complain about hard-to-reach bolts and nuts. I'm sure the early RV-6 builders had plenty of other things to complain about. :)

No doubt! As an early -8 builder (a bit better than the -6 kits, but not much), I'm definitely appreciating the -14 kit. Inaccessible MS21042-3 nuts, not so much. I hate those tiny things - not sure why Van's changed from the ubiquitous AN365...

Adel clamps are notorious 'nut-launchers' but noboby has come up with a better solution. Making your own ad-hoc tool to hold them clamped together, position the nut, align the holes, etc. is usually the solution......along with some colorful language and an occasional beer you can usually bend them to your will :)

Oh, I'll get 'em eventually. Only another hour or two to bourbon time. Maybe Blanton's tonight... :D

I got the idea From a post a couple months ago of clamping the adel clamp closed with a Medical hemostat available at any pharmacy. Made the job much easier.

Yep, I just did exactly that to hold them closed. My real issue was with how difficult it was to start the nuts, hidden as they are beneath the inboard cover angles and tucked, for good measure, right up against a nutplate. I lost count of how many times I dropped the nut, the wrench, or both. Fun times...
 
Yep, I just did exactly that to hold them closed. My real issue was with how difficult it was to start the nuts, hidden as they are beneath the inboard cover angles and tucked, for good measure, right up against a nutplate. I lost count of how many times I dropped the nut, the wrench, or both. Fun times...

Looks like you built a 8 which I assume tighter space than 14, it is tight but don't recall to be super bad.

I usually keep the Adel clamp closed using safety wire to the extend that I can start the nut by hand at least one or two threads. Then simply cut the safety wire. From here on, tasks becomes easier to tighten the nut.
 
I'm 4 sections behind you.. Is there any reason why the bolts cannot be put in from the outboard side into the tunnel? If not I have some grand kids with little hands to loan out
 
Opportunity to install nut plates?

I am months away from this step . . . however would this be an area where a nut plate could be employed? It would make the job at least half-way easier . . . not looking at plans so don't know if this is viable.
 
I'm 4 sections behind you.. Is there any reason why the bolts cannot be put in from the outboard side into the tunnel? If not I have some grand kids with little hands to loan out

That was our solution. Find a small-handed person!
 
Well, I've got the aft two nuts all snugged down. The forward two are started (whew!), but I can't seem to get any combination of sockets, wrenches, or clamps to hold them with enough purchase to actually tighten them down.

I'm going to check with Van's when their tech support hours open up at 6:00 EST. I bet they fabricated a custom tool of some sort for this awkward corner. What a bear!!
 
Looks like you built a 8 which I assume tighter space than 14, it is tight but don't recall to be super bad.

From the perspective of so many years on (my -8 first flew almost 17 (!) years ago), I don't recall any one spot this inaccessible. Possibly down side the gear towers...
 
I am months away from this step . . . however would this be an area where a nut plate could be employed? It would make the job at least half-way easier . . . not looking at plans so don't know if this is viable.

With enough foresight (or, you know, an actual useful change to the plans!), this could be done.

From where I am now, it might be possible to run the bolt into an unriveted nutplate and let the "ears" stop it from rotating as the bolt draws tight. Never to be removed, of course! Might have to resort to this...
 
I'm 4 sections behind you.. Is there any reason why the bolts cannot be put in from the outboard side into the tunnel? If not I have some grand kids with little hands to loan out

I think it'd be just as difficult to get a wrench on the bolt head in that location as the nut.

I might take you up on those grandkids! :D
 
I'm also getting close to that section. Is there any reason the sleeves cannot be installed before installing the fuel valve and lines? I know the rudder cables need to pass through flanges on the baggage floor, but other than that, I haven't found a reason I can't route the rudder cables earlier.
 
I'm also getting close to that section. Is there any reason the sleeves cannot be installed before installing the fuel valve and lines? I know the rudder cables need to pass through flanges on the baggage floor, but other than that, I haven't found a reason I can't route the rudder cables earlier.

Nope. Those baggage floor snap bushings are the only impediment to doing the sleeves prior to the fuel system. Just do the baggage floors first and you'll be good to go. Wish I'd done it that way.
 
Excellent! Thanks for the info. :)

No problem at all. To clarify: do sections 32, 33, & 31 in that order and you should be all set.

You could also do the section 31 fuel line tasks after the rudder cables and before the brake lines. :D
 
In my infinite wisdom I installed those cables and clamps (took way too long) before the baggage floors. Sooo, I got to install the clamps twice.
 
If you hated the cable clamps, just wait until you run the wiring to the sticks . . . :eek:
 
My most important trick here was to use safety wire to close the adel clamps over the sleeves. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get cutters on them after installation so I just left the wire in place.
 
Done!! :):):):)

I was able to wedge my smallest ¼" open-end wrench on each of the forward nuts and then nudge the respective bolt head about a 1/32 of a turn at a time with a socket extended down between the fuel lines aft of the selector.

What a bear!!!!
 
Jeeeez! I thought it was just me and my inexperience giving me so much trouble with this. I spent the entire afternoon Sunday getting one rear bolt started. Still working on the other three! Finally gave up from sheer exhaustion. :confused:


Joe Reaves
Longview, TX
2019 Dues paid.

RV-14A Empennage complete, QB fuselage and aft section joined
Arian Lightning LS-1 Flying
 
Jeeeez! I thought it was just me and my inexperience giving me so much trouble with this. I spent the entire afternoon Sunday getting one rear bolt started. Still working on the other three! Finally gave up from sheer exhaustion. :confused:

Nope, it’s not you. There are some tasks that are just awkward and miserable no matter how much experience (or how many specialized tools) one has.

Stick with it - you’ll get it done eventually. :)
 
I tell people, as an airplane or a large sub assembly of it nears completion, you will inevitably find some step that requires the hands of a child and the strength of 10 men.:D
 
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I never anticipated this, but one of the most useful tools for assembling stuff like this turned out to be my 1/4 in drive cordless electric ratchet...

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-ARW804T-Ratchet-Battery-included/dp/B00X9B8QUI

I used the 1/4" hex drive adapter and could nest any number of extensions to get into tight spots, with the main advantage being that you don't need any space to swing the ratchet...just push the button...but go slow to avoid over-torqueing

I was able to tighten bolts through the firewall by holding the bolt on the firewall with a wrench and reaching around under the panel with a 2-3ft extension on the ratchet...
 
With help, I was finally able to get the forward two nuts started. Now, how does one torque them?

I think I will pick up one of those electric ratchets, although I'm not sure there's room for it in this space.

Can anyone tell me why it wouldn't be possible, if you knew about this battle ahead of time, to install these sleeves and clamps earlier, such as on page 28-08 just before the F-01403 bulkhead assembly is installed on the firewall/tunnel assembly? As someone who installed the rudder cables backward back on page 10-21 and had to reverse them before installing the guides in the tunnel in section 33 (which I fortunately noticed before putting any of these clamps in place!), I would rather run the rudder cables through a completed empennage 1,000 times before installing the sleeves after the F-01403 bulkhead again.
 
I too spent a whole day getting this done. I'm certain it could be done with care earlier in the build.
 
Is there any reason a person can't reverse the bolt and have the nut and washer on the clamp side? I just put an extra washer under the bolt head to protect the rib - the length on the bolt was still ok with 3 threads outside the locknut. Makes it not a bad job.
 
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