Wing Outboard Leading Edge 17-3-9, 17-3-12
In-between top wing skin riveting sessions, I continued working on the outboard leading edges.
First off I filled the stall warning slot holes in both leading edge skins as I will not be installing the standard stall warning system (instead going for an angle-of-attack indicator).
To fill these holes, I decided to deviate from the plans, and instead used NAS1097 "oops" rivets. The advantage of using these, as opposed to standard AN426 rivets, is that they require only a shallow countersink to sit flush, rather than a full 3/32" dimple. rv10.org also suggested that a dimple at this location might deform the curve in the skin, so I chose to countersink instead.
After countersinking, the "oops" rivets were set using the Cleaveland Main Squeeze as I wanted full control over this process. I did run into an issue, however, while adjusting the squeeze depth as one of the left leading edge rivets did not sit entirely flush, and after squeezing I noticed some minor deformation as the skin stretched around the rivet. I was able to smooth this out using some 240 grit sandpaper and a ScotchBrite pad, and I didn't have any issues squeezing the other 3 rivets.
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| Stall warning slot guide holes countersunk for a NAS1097 "oops" rivet |
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| Both "oops" rivets set in the right outboard leading edge skin |
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| Shop heads formed well around the curve in the skin |
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| "Oops" rivets in the left outboard leading edge required some gentle sanding to obtain a better finish |
Next I dimpled all the holes in the outboard leading edge skins. Interior holes were all easily (although somewhat awkwardly due to the size of the skin) handled with the DRDT-2, and the holes around the edges were dimpled using the pneumatic squeezer for better control.
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| Right outboard leading edge skin after dimpling |
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| Crisp dimples formed well along the entire skin using the DRDT-2 and pneumatic squeezer |
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With dimpling complete, all outboard leading edge parts were now ready for priming.
Time Taken: 3.2 hours
Dates: April 9 - April 13 2024
Wing Outboard Leading Edge Total Time: 28.2 hours
RV-10 Build Total Time: 647.0 hours
Priming Total Time: 73.4 hours (not included in build time totals)