Matt’s RV7 Build Log

Today I was going to prime the left side parts but decided to go ahead and complete the riveting on the right elevator. Everything worked out well. When I do the left side I will be waiting to rivet 704 and 703 together until I get the short rib to the spar thereby avoiding the squeezer gymnastics needed to get all the rivets squeezed in that joint.

There’s two items I need to investigate further. First, Van’s came out with the soft rivet bulletin this weekend. Although I am not affected by their apparent mishap, it got me thinking that I had bought some rivets locally early on before knowing the difference between soft and hard rivets. And, just tonight, it felt like a few of the rivets were VERY easy to squeeze. The other thing I need to check on is the quality of my trailing edge bend. It seems like it needs a little more massaging in the middle sections to reduce some bowing I see. Work is going to kill me over the next couple of weeks so I might not get a lot more done on the elevators in November.

Tasks Completed:    

• Finished riveting the right elevator skeleton
• Riveted 701 skin to right elevator skeleton

• Drilled E701R skin, E713 and 709 ribs, and E702 spar
• Drilled aft 3 holes for right elevator tip to #30
• Diassembled right elevator 

We just got back from a long weekend in Vegas. It was nice be in the warm desert before our winter really kicks into high gear. Now back to the project!

• Clecoed left elevator skeleton together
• Cut away right counterweight per plans

Note: Holes in the outboard right elevator spar doubler and the E701R spar are slightly off set by approx. 1/32″. I need to contact Van’s to confirm this is within tolerances. Update (11.20.07): Joe B. at Van’s says its no issue as long as no torsion is created in the spar by trying the force the clecoes in place (which is not happening in my case). Problem resolved.

• Match drilled E713 and 714
• Match drilled E709 and 702
• Beveled E713 for overlap
• Touched up powder coating chip on right elevator horn
• Finished sanding E701L skin