I’ll start today's post with a helpful hint for
future builders of the RV-12 … at a minimum double the quantity (50) of #40 Clecos
Van’s suggests purchasing for the project.
Trying to assemble and final drill the roll bar using only 50 Clecos was
just not fun. Can you do it with only 50? Yes, I managed to get the job done,
but it took far far longer than necessary. Frankly, trying to work with so few
Clecos was a royal PITA.
Because the vast majority of RV-12 parts that
are secured with Clecos have #30 holes, the DOG Aviation procurement department
ordered far more #30 Clecos than the recommended amount … knowing they would be
put to good use during assembly of the wings. Sadly, the same was not done for
the seldom used #40 Cleco.
The problem became apparent early on … the roll
bar components are to be secured with #40 Clecos then each #40 hole is to be final
drilled using a #30 drill bit. Do the math, there is well over 200 holes in the roll bar
assembly which require being final drilled … there are six components forming top,
bottom, forward and aft layers of holes. Areas where the bends were formed on
the W-1231B&C straps required Clecos in every hole to hold the straps in
good alignment. The only thing that could be done was work in small sections
and constantly move Clecos back and forth all afternoon.
Drilling the first #30 hole, all fifty #40 Clecos are in use … notice
how
many holes on the opposite side are missing Clecos.
Roll bar final #30 drilling completed … not much
has changed since yesterday’s
photo except the color of the Clecos … copper
today as opposed to silver yesterday.
What should have been a couple of hours of
drilling turned out to be a time sucking abyss of moving Clecos from one
section of the roll bar to another over and over and over again … not a productive
afternoon. Especially considering I was also hoping to machine countersink
approximately 50 holes today that are on the roll bar’s outer aft flanges which
will lie under the rear window.