Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

Continuing on with riveting the baggage area together, I first riveted nutplates onto the Upper Baggage Door Seal Channel. I used blind rivets for one of the attach holes on each nutplate due to those being impossible to reach with a bucking bar. I was able to use the pneumatic squeezer on the other attach holes. Nutplates riveted to the door seal channel Blind rivets used where it is impossible to reach with a standard bucking bar Next it was time to rivet both baggage floors in place. Feeling confident that the conduit runs and under floor electrical runs were adequate for my needs, I clecoed both the baggage floors and rear seat floors into place, along with the bottom rear seat back hinge, and then began pulling CS4-4 rivets Ready to final rivet the baggage floors into place Pulling blind rivets was easy (left baggage floor). I just had to make sure that the rivet puller was tight against and inline with the head of the rivet prior to starting the pull  After completing the bli...

Starting on the flap system, I first trimmed the four Delrin Flap Torque Tube Bushings to the dimensions specified. To make this easier, I first 3D printed a template sized to the required specifications, and clecoed that via the bolt holes to accurately indicate where cuts should be made.  I found that using a coping saw with a coarse tooth blade (~10-16 tpi) worked well to quickly cut through the Delrin to the approximate shape, and then using coarse files to gradually sand down each block to the final shape. Sanding was then completed using 180 grit sandpaper. Flap torque tube bushing template Rough cutting the flap torque tube bushing using a coping saw with a coarse tooth blade Flap torque tube bushing was held to the 3D printed template via the bolt holes to ensure that the final cut result matched the specifications given in the plans Four flap torque tube bushings cut and shaped to size Next I match drilled both Flap Torque Tubes to either side of the Flap Crank, by first m...

The remaining cables to be routed under the rear seats before the floors are permanently installed are the COM Antenna cables.  I had previously riveted doublers to the bottom skin in the area of the second most outboard bay under the rear seats on each side of the cabin, so now it was a matter of running a coax cable from there to the cabin side and forward towards the panel area. I purchased about 75ft of RG400 coax cable which I estimate should be enough for all the coax cable runs needed for my setup, and cut two 10ft lengths for the COM Antenna runs. Prior to running the coax cables, I crimped female BNC connectors onto one end of each cable. This was relatively straightforward using a suitable crimper and taking care to keep the shield and conductor separated. Female BNC connectors crimped onto one end of each RG400 cable Each COM Antenna cable passes through a hole punched in the second most outboard rear seat rib, and then up through the rear seat floor where it then contin...