Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

To close out section 14 of the plans, I riveted and bolted the left wing ribs to the left main spar. No challenges here as I had already completed the same on the right wing a few weeks ago. Ribs riveted to the main spar. Note there are 5 rivets holding each W-1011 rib in place and 6 rivets holding the W-1010 rib in place W-1012 ribs riveted to main spar. There are 8 rivets holding each rib in place W-1010 and W-1011 ribs will also have bolts holding them to the spar. These will be installed next. W-1012 ribs only have rivets holding them in 10" extension on the torque wrench came in very handy to get squarely onto the nut for accurate torquing. The second 1/4" socket wrench with 3/8" socket was used to hold the bolt firmly while tightening. Inboard wing ribs riveted and bolted in one at a time, starting with the most outboard rib Note the bottom bolt in the inboard W-1010 wing rib uses 2 washers as opposed to the one washer on all the other wing bolts. This is noted in ...

Wing rib final assembly has begun! I started by riveting the flap hinge ribs and attach brackets to the respective wing ribs. These were all easily done with the pneumatic squeezer and the longeron yoke. Flap attachments riveted using the pneumatic squeezer I also riveted the torque tube support bracket assembly together with the pneumatic squeezer. Here, pay special attention to the orientation of the angle when riveting it to the torque tube support brackets!  While riveting the left wing torque tube assembly, I accidentally riveted the wrong face of the angle to the bracket (the angle holes still lined up perfectly), but when I test fit the assembly in the inboard wing rib, the holes in the bracket flanges did not line up with the rib flange holes.  To fix this, I had to drill out the 6 universal head rivets holding the angle to the torque tube assembly (no issues here if you follow the recommendations in this video ), and rivet the angle in again in the correct orientation...

I took advantage of a break in the rain to work on priming the wing ribs and attachments. As with previous priming, I first wiped of any markings on the parts using acetone, however since there are a number of similar parts to be primed here, I also attached labels to each part so that I could easily identify its place in the wing. Wing rib attachments cleaned and tagged for easy identification I labeled the parts by their wing side (Left or Right) and rib position (pictured above, the 1st and 7th rib starting at the inboard end of the right wing) Ribs were labeled similarly R1 to R15, and L1 to L15 I then used EkoEtch to clean and etch the aluminum surface. I did take the labels off the parts for this, but was careful to keep the parts organized. All wing rib attachment parts were etched and left to dry thoroughly prior to priming Wing ribs were etched outside as it was easier to clean them off with a garden hose due to their size Slowly working my way through all 30 ribs, 2 at a time...

Moving on to the right wing ribs, I deburred and fluted those following the same steps as I had for the left wing ribs. No issues were encountered, and once all ribs were done I was ready to move onto the final match drilling steps prior to priming. Right wing torque tube support bracket drilled and clamped in place on the root rib After placing both spars into the workbench I clecoed the 12 most inboard ribs in place. These need to have bolt holes match drilled into the flanges, using the bolt holes in the spar as a guide. Ribs requiring bolt holes to be drilled clamped in position I drilled all the bolt holes while supporting the rib flange from behind with a wood block. The bolt holes were first drilled to #13, and then reamed to #12.  Care had to be taken while drilling through thicker parts of the main spar assembly because attempts to drill all the way through resulted in chips collecting inside the hole and the drill bit getting stuck. To remedy this, I drilled for a few sec...

Rather than waiting for Van's to send me parts to replace the laser cut parts that were recommended for replacement, I decided to go ahead and order a few parts so that I could move forward with wing construction. These punched parts arrived within a week and will allow me to fully construct the main wings with the exception of the flaps and ailerons for which I an fine getting replacements parts later. After studying the plans, I separated the ribs in to two piles, left wing and right wing, and placed the ribs in the order that they will be attached to the spar. I also removed all stickers, and labeled each of them 1L-15L and 1R-15R (30 ribs in total). With the ribs labeled, and blue vinyl removed, I proceeded to work on the left wing pile of ribs, to straighten and flute each of them as needed. I also took this time to debur all edges. There are two ribs in each wing that need to have parts of the flanges removed. I took care of these with a cutoff wheel in the Dremel, followed b...