Taildragger spar carry-through bolt holes, p.25-06

[SabreFlyr]

I've been working on my quick-build fuselage for some time now (baggage area at the moment). For some reason, I decided to scan back through the steps that were already done prior to shipment (and that I had previously confirmed when I got started on it). I got to page 25-06 and didn't remember having confirmed that the .311" and .375" holes in the spar carry-through had been reamed. I HAD dealt with the lower bolt holes earlier with a piloted, adjustable reamer (great difficultly with the outboard holes because of limited access). However, I found that most of the upper holes had not been reamed either (note that this is a very early QB fuse; shipped Jan. '16). Some of the holes have already been filled with bolts (mostly by the factory). There are four bolt holes in the aft side that are used in the mounting of the mains on a tri-gear model but are filled with bolts (one AN5 and three AN6) on page 40B-12 for the taildragger. However, there is one hole remaining for an AN6 bolt in the top of the forward spar carry-through (lines up with the outboard of the three rear AN6 bolts).

Anyway, it looks like I'll be reaming in the wrong direction after using a jewelers file to open up the adjoining holes in the spar web in order to let the reamer get started properly in the spars.

I've gone over this with Van's support but they couldn't help me find where or if that forward hole gets a bolt. Any taildragger builders know where this is done?

[Wingit]

I have been trying to find an answer to that as well. I added the bolt but have not been necessary.
Dave

[SteveHicks]

A fellow builder and I here in the UK have also been looking at this ... we cannot find any reference in the manual that the RV14 Taildragger has a bolt in this hole. The 14A does however ... see attached picture from page 40A-03, showing a long AN6-43A passing through a spacer and into the hole in question.

[Jetmart]

After discussing with Van's I put bolts in the holes.
I left them lose until I attached the wings.

[SabreFlyr]

Originally Posted by Jetmart

After discussing with Van's I put bolts in the holes.
I left them lose until I attached the wings.

I am planning to install a bolt as well. Probably a good idea to leave them all loose until the wings are mounted. Hadn't considered that. Thanks!

Originally Posted by SteveHicks

The 14A does however ... see attached picture from page 40A-03, showing a long AN6-43A passing through a spacer and into the hole in question.

Yeah, Van's mentioned 40A-03 in our discussion but, of course, that's for the attachment of the upper gear brace. Does raise the question whether it would be better to use a long bolt through both holes (in which case I would definitely leave it loose until the wings are mounted) or two short bolts. The long bolt might, in fact, be closer to the original engineering. I appreciate the mention! Thanks!

[JTJones]

On my Taildragger I elected to install the bolts including the long bolt and spacer as called for on page 40A-03. Hasn’t caused any issues.