Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

Having gotten the ailerons up to the point of final assembly, I went ahead and primed the remaining parts which included just the nose skins and the spars. I also threw in the aileron trim parts that I recently started working on (more on this in an upcoming post), and priming all these did not take much time. More parts ready to prime Aileron and aileron trim parts ready for primer after being cleaned with EkoEtch Aileron nose skins and spars primed... ... along with aileron trim brackets and other small parts Primer used:   ~68g + 7g distilled water  Time Taken:      2.3  hours Dates:                    October 5 2024 - October 6 2024 RV-10 Build Total Time:      815.1  hours Priming Total Time:                102.2  hours  (not included in build time totals)

Continuing on section 21 with the ailerons, I pulled out the top and bottom skins and deburred all edges. I then also deburred the stainless steel counterweight tube ends (these were already cut to the length specified in the plans when I received the kit), as well as the aileron spars and nose skin edges. Aileron parts ready to be worked on again Several holes need to be drilled into the stainless steel counterbalance tubes, starting with holes that attach the counterbalance to the FL-1004 nose ribs. Rather than drilling through the holes in the aileron skins as suggested in the plans, I chose instead to mark the hole locations in turn on a piece of masking tape attached to the steel tube and then use the drill press to drill the holes. The reason for this was that, having never drilled holes into stainless steel before, I did not want to run the risk of enlarging the holes in the aileron skin. I had read that stainless steel was much harder to drill into than aluminum and there was a

After a short break from building the RV-10 (for a long awaited family vacation), I picked up where I left off, and riveted the flap ribs and hinge bracket assemblies to the spars.  Except for the outer ribs at each end of the spars, all other ribs and assemblies were easily riveted using the pneumatic squeezer and longeron yoke. I also set all rivets with the manufactured head on the thinner material. I had to temporarily uncleco some ribs to gain access to rivet others, but by working along the spar setting each rib in turn, there were no issues getting the squeezer and yoke square to the rivet. Rivets holding flap ribs to the spar Shop heads formed on the spar to avoid rib flanges from deforming while riveting  For the outer ribs, the nose and trailing ribs share rivets, and getting the squeezer in there would have meant pushing one of the ribs (the trailing rib was easier to push) out of the way. However, doing this I could see the flange of the rib being pulled away from the spar,