Prior to priming and riveting in the wing ribs, I decided to finish fitting the rear spars and top skins so that I could complete any necessary drilling and countersinking, and ultimately dimple parts prior to priming and riveting.
Starting with the right wing, I clecoed in all the wing ribs, rear spar, aileron and flap attach brackets, and final drilled any holes (as indicated in the plans) in parts where an rivet would not pass through.
There are 4 holes in the third and fourth inboard most rib to rear spar flanges that need to be match drilled through the rear spar doubler. This results in new holes in the flanges very close to the original holes. It is these new holes that will get riveted while two of the original holes in each rib flange will not.
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| Wing ribs and rear spar components clecoed in place for drilling |
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| Additional holes drilled into wing rib aft flanges |
I also countersunk the holes in the top flange of the rear spar corresponding to the doubler plates locations. Even though the rear spar is not particularly thick, these were easily countersunk with the doubler plate in place to add additional support for the countersink pilot.
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| Rear spar top flange holes countersunk in area of doubler plate |
After completing drilling, I deburred all holes in the rear spar and associated parts, as well as the rear spar edges, and then reassembled the wing structure in preparation for placing the top skins on.
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| Wing structure reassembled after deburring, viewing from below... |
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| ...and from above... |
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| ...and also along the rear spar towards the outboard end |
The same process was also repeated for the left wing rear spar.
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| Left wing ribs and rear spar clecoed and ready for final drilling where needed |
Build Hints
- My practice with final sized holes when the instructions call out final drilling of holes depends on whether the hole will be dimpled or not (YMMV!)
- if dimpling final sized holes, I do not final drill them even if lined up holes are slightly out of alignment. The dimpling process enlarges the hole slightly, allowing all parts to be pulled into alignment when riveting while still keeping everything tight.
- if final sized holes are not to be dimpled, I test all aligned holes by inserting a rivet. Where a rivet is tight or cannot pass through, I will final drill those (using a reamer) to get alignment but only if this results in a few thousandths of an inch of material being removed
- in all other cases, I check plans and recleco parts to figure out why the holes are not aligned. Reclecoing usually helps fix such issues.
- Don't worry about drilling new holes into the third and fourth rib aft flanges. These are required for riveting the rear spar doubler to the rear spar and ribs. The two punched center holes in these flanges will not be riveted and should NOT be match drilled into the rear spar.
- Be especially careful countersinking the holes in the rear spar flange behind the doubler. Use consistent pressure otherwise the flange may flex resulting in a countersink that is slightly deeper than required.
Dates: January 16 - January 27 2024
Wing Rear Spar Total Time: 20.9 hours
RV-10 Build Total Time: 580.2 hours
Priming Total Time: 50.9 hours (not included in build time totals)
