Brief Description: Left Flap Control Rod Fuselage Hole
Sent the hinge bracket pictures to Gus at VANS. Wrote the following: Got the reply from Gus yesterday on the misaligned hinge brackets: The washer idea is OK, but I would consider trying to bend the W-925 brackets straight first. The reason for this is probably that they weren’t flattened prior to attachment. Thick material like this often curves as part of the punching process, and needs to be flattened again.
You could probably do this fairly easily by cutting a 1/8" slot deep enough for the bracket in some wood 2x4 or similar, and using that to bend the bracket gently a little at a time until it is perpendicular to the rear spar/wing skin, checking it with a square as in your pic. They don't need to be perfect - you could certainly get them close enough with this method.
This would eliminate the need for a washer, but if it is otherwise OK (i.e. the flap is positioned OK laterally) you could do that.
FWIW, I had a look at our 9A and the RV-10 with similar flap brackets, and on a couple of those the paint has been rubbed off where a similar interference has occurred. So I wouldn't worry, even if there is some contact as the flap moves up. Gus
Because of the lateral misalignment I decided to try flattening the 3 hinge brackets. I used two 3/4 inch wood blocks and a channel lock pliers to do the job. It took a long time to bend the bracket gently a little at a time until it was perpendicular to the wing skin. After about 2.5-3 hours all three brackets looked good and the lateral alignment improved substantially. I will remove the washers when the flaps have to come off at a later time. Now that the lateral alignment is OK I finished the pushrod, hooked everything up and tested the flap movement. I got about a 32 degree deflection. I had to cut the pushrod to 5 1/8 inch to make this work.
