Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

To alodine the COM antenna doublers and spacers, I have been using Bonderite Alumiprep 33 for surface cleaning and Alodine 1201 for alodining. These are fairly easy to work with, however due to their toxicity I did take additional precautions by working outside, and to ensure that I didn't accidentally splash any chemicals on myself I wore goggles, gloves, long sleeves, and a respirator. Parts were dipped in a 5:1 solution of Alumiprep for about 5 minutes, then rinsed and dipped into a 3:1 solution of Alodine for another 5 minutes Doubler turning a golden hue while sitting in Alodine solution. I did find that the conversion was more effective if I moved the doubler within the alodine solution rather than letting it just site there After a final rinsing and drying, both sets of doublers and spacers were a similar color to my RV-10 wing spars After clecoing the spacers and doublers back into their respective rib bays, all that was left now to complete this section was to rivet the ...

Riveting the mid fuse together, I was able to use the squeezer to set the rivets holding the bulkhead side channels to the rear spar bulkhead.  All rivets squeezed except those that will attach the F-1015A and F-1018 ribs Factory heads were placed on the thinner material where possible With the F-1015A and F-1018 ribs in place, I was able to use the single offset rivet set to buck the rivets from the F-1018 rib side Space was tight, but I was able to hold a bucking bar in between the two outboard seat ribs to set all the rivets to spec Next, working from outboard to inboard, I riveted each rear seat rib in turn. Once again the single offset rivet set worked really well here to fit over the flange of the rib. I also placed all factory heads on the thinner rib flange where possible to eliminate the possibility of the flange warping while riveting, Setting rear seat rib rivets using the single offset rivet set At the very top of the rear seat ribs, the flange angle is too great to use...

 Continuing on with the mid fuse ribs, I prepared all parts for priming.  Ribs and other parts cleaned with EkoEtch More ribs and parts ready for priming After the primer had cured, I clecoed parts together to keep the smaller parts from being misplaced Bottom skin primed, and areas under the COM antenna doublers alodined All mid fuse ribs primed and ready for final assembly I began final assembly of the mid fuselage by riveting parts to the inboard footwell ribs and outboard seat ribs. Vise helped keep parts secure while bucking rivets Nutplate is riveted to the seat belt attach bar and rib prior to riveting the seat belt anchor in place Assembling the inboard footwell rib subassembly Nutplates were riveted to the reinforcing angles prior to attaching the angles to the rib subassemblies Inboard footwell seat rib subassemblies ready to be attached to the spars Most rivets were bucked, however those near the edges could be squeezed Prior to riveting the Seat Rib Intercostal to ...