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Vertical Stab Fiberglass Rivet Question

dwollen89

Well Known Member
I'm currently working on the vertical stab for the RV7A. The plans show to not rivet 6 spots on each side of the bottom of the vertical stab in preparation for the fiberglass. This is probably a stupid question, but I'm a new builder so take it easy on me. Do those skin holes still get dimpled, along with the sub structure? I'm guessing they do, but I looked through the plans and couldn't find anything definitive.

**Edit: bottom of the vertical stabilizer, not top. That’s what I get when I post while tired, lol.
 
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I'm currently working on the vertical stab for the RV7A. The plans show to not rivet 6 spots on each side of the top of the vertical stab in preparation for the fiberglass tip. This is probably a stupid question, but I'm a new builder so take it easy on me. Do those skin holes still get dimpled, along with the sub structure? I'm guessing they do, but I looked through the plans and couldn't find anything definitive.


DWG 6 section B-B describes the fiberglass tip attachment to the vertical stabilizer. Dimple the metal, countersink the fiberglass.

Not sure we’re your seeing 6 rivets being left out? DWG 6 shows 4 rivets per side for the tip attachment.

EDIT: the six rivets left out are on the bottom of the vertical stabilizer are for the empennage fairing….don’t dimple them…the get nut plates later on.
 
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Awesome, thanks for the reply! You’re right…it’s the bottom of the stab I was referring to. I looked through the plans but couldn’t figure out how those were going to attach…but that makes sense.
 
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Awesome, thanks for the reply! You’re right…it’s the bottom of the stab I was referring to. I looked through the plans but couldn’t figure out how those were going to attach…but that makes sense.

Go to DWG 44, upper left section. There you’ll find the callout for the #6 nut plates. Install them anytime before mounting the VS.
 
Fairings-etc

Get the Fairings etc tail fairing. Fits excellent. You don't need all those fasteners as called out on the plans. I have six per side on the main fairing with a perfect fit. All the fasteners called out on the plans will cause the glass to pucker.

I can't post pictures here but I can send you a couple of pictures if you email me.

[email protected]
 
Get the Fairings etc tail fairing. Fits excellent. You don't need all those fasteners as called out on the plans. I have six per side on the main fairing with a perfect fit. All the fasteners called out on the plans will cause the glass to pucker.

I checked out the Fairings etc website and they look really good. If I don't use all six fasteners per side, does it matter which ones I rivet and which ones I leave for nut plates?
 
I checked out the Fairings etc website and they look really good. If I don't use all six fasteners per side, does it matter which ones I rivet and which ones I leave for nut plates?

You can dimple all the holes and leave out the rivets according to the plans. If you decide to install nut plates per the plans later on, you can use your hand squeezer to flatten the dimples and install nut plates. If you decide to forgo nut plates on some or all the empty holes, just install the rivets then.

As far as if matters what holes get rivets vs nut plate’s, I’d ask Vans tech support but I’m guessing it doesn’t matter.
 
Look how nice it looks when you make your own fairings and hardly use any screws at all! The more screws you use, the more puckering you get between screws.
 

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Completely agree, the plans show far too many screws attaching the fairing. A few around the leading edge and a couple at the back are all that are really needed. Perhaps two or three on each HS if you really must.
 
I agree. I was at an RV fly-in this weekend in Boone, IA. I looked at numerous RVs and most didn't have all the fairing screws called out for in the plans. I think I'm going to just do three screws on each side.
 
I'm currently working on the vertical stab for the RV7A. The plans show to not rivet 6 spots on each side of the bottom of the vertical stab in preparation for the fiberglass. This is probably a stupid question, but I'm a new builder so take it easy on me. Do those skin holes still get dimpled, along with the sub structure? I'm guessing they do, but I looked through the plans and couldn't find anything definitive.

**Edit: bottom of the vertical stabilizer, not top. That’s what I get when I post while tired, lol.

I think the OP asked about dimpling the holes in the VS that attach the empennage fairing. On a -8 the fiberglass gets countersunk for a -6 screw and the holes in the VS get standard K1000 nut plates with no dimple.
 
Look how nice it looks when you make your own fairings and hardly use any screws at all! The more screws you use, the more puckering you get between screws.

Yep. That’s the way I’ve been doing it for 6 airplanes - 3 screws on each side. It lays down flat with epoxy/glass underlayment, no pillowing, and is easy to remove. I wrap mine around the leading edge an extra inch or so. I think it would just sit there without any screws.
 
Four screws hold my tail faring in place. 16 years with no change to the perfect fit of the tail faring.
Think about how many screws I have not had to remove in all those years of maintenance!
 
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