Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

With only a few steps left to complete the ailerons, I removed the trailing edge wedges and got both ailerons ready for applying sealant to the trailing edge. This involved scuffing and acetone wiping the mating surfaces on the skin and trailing edge wedges, and making sure both ailerons were positioned to lay flat on the workbench. Ailerons positioned for inserting the trailing edge wedges This was the last chance for me to check that there was no twist in the ailerons and that they lay completely flat Next I mixed up about 44g of proseal (40g sealant + 4g hardener) using a scale that measures down to 1/100g, and a 60ml syringe to apply the proseal to the trailing edge wedges. After installing both wedges and clecoing them to the alignment jigs, I double checked that both ailerons had zero twist, and left them to cure for several days. First time mixing proseal by hand using a cutoff popsicle stick and an acrylic plate on which to mix. Aileron trailing edges curing. All remaining hole...

Having primed the remaining aileron parts, I had one more task left prior to final aileron assembly and that was to countersink the trailing edge wedges. Countersinking the trailing edge wedges for the ailerons With that done, I started final assembly by riveting the spar doublers to the spars, and then clecoing the nose ribs and counterbalance into the nose skins and using the pneumatic squeezer to set all the solid rivets. I could set most of these with the 3" yoke and the 1/2" flat set, but there was one that required the 4" no-hole yoke. I also had to be careful to avoid hitting the nutplate attached to the inboard nose rib, but taking my time I was able to set all rivets on the first try. Nose skin clecoed to the nose ribs and held in the cradles while I rivet them together Using the pneumatic squeezer to set all the nose skin to rib rivets I used skin pins in the center nose rib along the top side to help pull the holes into alignment. These worked well here as the...

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...