Rear Spar Work Begins
Marking the Doubler for Trimming
I got out to the shop for a little bit after work and started the rear spars. First task is to trim the doubler forks and doubler plates that attach to the fuselage and spar. This apparently is only required for the RV-7 and RV-7a’s. The 7 and 8 share the same wing with a few tweaks. These are 0.040″ parts, so cutting them is not easy. My band-saw did make it easier and I was able to trim close to the line, run over to the 12″ disk sander and sand them closer, and then finally hit it with the scotchbright wheel. The layout was not so easy as the plans use extended lines drawn from the part itself. I simply traced the part onto some paper, superimposed the same lines from the plans onto the paper and then transferred the marks back to the part and then cut. I then used the first cut one as a template for the rest.
As a side note, Van’s does appear to have a full scale drawing in the plans of this trim, but it is not sent until the fuselage kit. Seems a little silly. Van’s should move that drawing to some empty space on one of the plan sheets for the wings. Thank goodness for preview plans however.
All Trimmed and Cleaned Up
Here are the parts after trimming and deburring them. It was then time to debur all the remaining edges. For this, I pulled out a file and the bench vice. I then hit them with the scotchbright wheel on my grinder and then completely buffed them with a maroon scotchbright pad. They have to be primed anyway, might as well get them ready for it now.
Ready to Match Drill
Once buffed, I clecoed them in place on the inboard side of the rear spars. They are ready for match drilling. At this point, it was time to call it a night.
