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Section 29 - Lower gear brace covering lower skin rivets

stigaro

Well Known Member
I might be overthinking this, but when attaching the forward and mid fuselage on the -14A, page 29-03 has us install the U-01402 lower gear brace and F-01442 lower drag fitting. Step 7 has us firmly tightening the bolts. Does this imply torquing them to spec? At this point, there are clecos holding the forward and middle bottom skins together and the rivets don't get set until Step 8 on page 29-04.

Since the gear brace is rather difficult to install, I'm concerned about having to remove it to get to these rivets. So when should I be riveting the skins under the gear brace?
 

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I just did this step. I assume the bolts need to be tightened to make sure all the parts are in their final position before riveting. However, you do need to remove the lower gear braces to get access for the rivets. I strongly suggest you use regular hardware nuts for these bolts so they can be removed easier than the prevailing torque nuts. Save them for the final installation. Don't ask me how I know. Also, the drag fittings get removed from the spar and riveted to the skin a little later, so the same advice applies here.
 
I just did this step. I assume the bolts need to be tightened to make sure all the parts are in their final position before riveting. However, you do need to remove the lower gear braces to get access for the rivets. I strongly suggest you use regular hardware nuts for these bolts so they can be removed easier than the prevailing torque nuts. Save them for the final installation. Don't ask me how I know. Also, the drag fittings get removed from the spar and riveted to the skin a little later, so the same advice applies here.

Thanks Doug, this makes sense.
 
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