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dean.psiropoulos(at)veriz
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 Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:45 pm Post subject: RV-4 Tail kit |
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One thing I have NOT seen mentioned yet Tom is the parts of the tail kit
that ARE pre-punched. When I bought my RV-6 tail kit late in 1996, one of
the things that made me nervous was the thought of having to line up the
hinges on the spars and get them drilled without having any of them move
around and cause problems mounting the rudder and elevators later. Much to
my surprise, Van's had started pre-punching some of the tail parts including
the rear spars and hinge brackets (and all the skins but not the ribs).
Made life a lot easier and...the rudder and elevators fit first time. The
point I'm getting to here is that the RV-4 and RV-6 tail kits were identical
back then so, if you bought an RV-4 tail kit made after they started
pre-punching then your life will be easier and things will fit perfectly
when you install the elevators and rudder.
I know, 100s of people have built RV-4/6 tail kits before the pre-punching
but, for me, I've had enough frustration with other things on the airplane.
I would hate to assemble a stabilizer only to find out the elevator hinges
bind. If this doesn't bother you then full speed ahead with the old kit.
Make sure there is no corrosion under the edges of plastic coating or on
parts still wrapped in paper and...that you can still remove the plastic
covering, I've heard of people leaving this on for years only to have real
problems getting it off. If you don't want the hassle of having to align
and drill the hinge brackets you should still be able to order the punched
spar and hinge brackets from Van's for $100 or so.
Jigging, aligning and drilling all those holes and making the Rocket mods is
going to be enough of a job (but you already knew that, you built a -6 after
all), just trying to make this part a little easier for you. Rockets are
awesome but, now that the RV-8 is ALL pre-punched I think that would be my
choice (RV-4 drawings are even cruder than the RV-6 ones and assembling an
RV-8 would be a whole lot less hassle than trying to decipher the hand drawn
blue prints and trying to use your imagination to fill in finishing details
that are now commonplace on the new CAD drawings that come with the
-7/8/9/10, but...it wouldn't have a 540 Lycoming under the cowl either). And
speaking of RV-8s, I'm pretty sure that when that kit first came out the
tail was basically an RV-4/6 tail with the exception of a small
counter-weight on the rudder which the -4/6 don't have. This may have
changed now with Van's quest to standardize tail kits on the RV-7/9 but
you'll have to ask them to make sure, otherwise you may also be able to use
the prepunched spars from an -8 if needed. If you're going to make a Rocket
you may want/need a counter-weighted rudder for flutter suppression anyway.
Dean Psiropoulos
RV-6A N197DM
Finishing wiring, electrical checkout
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tcervin(at)valkyrie.net
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| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 7:22 am Post subject: RV-4 Tail kit |
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Dean, Points well taken. The tail kit I located had some corrosion and was
not exactly as advertised so......the hunt is back on for a tail kit. The
good news is, thanks to this list I have many more options.....RV-4,6, or 8
tail should do. Check those basements everybody...leads appreciated!
I took my transition training in an RV8-A and found it was very
similar to my RV6-A as far as feel. I really want that Rocket Power for this
repeat project and would prefer a side by side in a rocket version but alas
it's not available.
Thanks for the many replies.
Do Not Archive, Tom in Ohio
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