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Jeff & Jackie's RV-8 Project
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Date: 5-27-2007
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Number of Hours: 3.50
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Manual Reference: 8-15
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Brief Description: Longeron bending
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After a frustrating morning, I have got the longerons done. The r/h F-843 longeron wasn't so bad. I also noted that there is indeed a gap at the front, and that the l/h one needed tweaking at the aft end a little to make sure if matched the F-822 floor panel. Next came the F-844-L auxiliary longerons and again, they weren't so bad either. Then the 'fun' began...
The main trouble is I don't have a lot of space. The longerons are only a couple of feet shorter than the workshop. That meanth I had to open the garage doors, which was annoying since it was blowing a gale outside and that was a) making the end of the longeron wave around, and b) kept blowing dead leaves into the shop (*really* annoying!).
Also, my shop floor is neither smooth enough, or level, or consistent enough to use for measuring, either as a flat surface or using a chalk line (which I don't have anyway) to measure displacement. I had to come up with something else. And photo #2 shows what I ended up doing.
After the initial bends for the F-887-L/R longerons were made in the vice (pictured on the right of the table), I used this jerry-rigged setup to assist with tweaking and measuring. The 4x4 wood blocks are the very expensive finger-locked beams from the wing jig: $90-odd per metre and very very straight! The other piece of 1/8" angle helps extend a reference line to the end of the longeron that I can then use for measuring. As the longerons were bent in two places with four bends, it was hard to clamp everything such that I had a good reference edge. Still, with a multitude of clamps and some patience (yeah, right!) I sorted it out to my 'satisfaction'.
It's hard to tell whether they are exactly right, since they are so flexible, but I guess they'll be 'final-tweaked' during fitting. They seem to match up reasonably well, but I guess time will tell. One thing is certain: if I have to replace 'em it isn't half going to be expensive to get new ones shipped over!
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F-844-L auxiliary longeron
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Measuring the F-887-L upper longeron
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F-887-L/R upper longerons
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