August 19, 2022 - Working on the RV-10

We've definately picked up the pace on the RV-10.  Some weeks we're able to put in 40 man-hours.

Here we drilled four holes in the cabin cover for the steel tube center support strut.
   
The two left-door pieces are epoxied together, then clecoed, clamped and duck-taped to the fuselage.
   
Looks more like a porcupine than an airplane.
   
The right door halves are expoxied together and secured to the fuselage.
   
Rich trimming the door window flanges.
   
The door window flange cut to the required distance.  The flange edges still need to be straightened and sanded smooth.
   
Marking the door edges for trimming so it will fit tight and flush to the cabin cover and fuselage.
   
We went through many iterations of mark the door edges, take off the door, trim the door, put the door back on, and repeat.  The goal was to get the door to sit flush with the cabin cover and fuselage, along with a 1/16" space around the edge.  Easy to say, hard to do.
   
Finally we got the doors trimmed.  Now it was time to attack the door hinges.  Here Rich is match-drilling the door to the cabin cover.
   
The first ever "lifting of the door".
   
More drilling.
   
All done.  Door hinges attached.
   
It was hot in the hangar, and all the work tired out Dorada the dog.
   
Getting ready to glue the door windows into the door.
   
Rich mixing the "Weld 12" epoxy, per the instructions.
   
All done.  I don't think it's going to come out.
   
Rich is happy both door windows are epoxied in.
   
Rich and Nhu-An finishing up with the flap motor install.
   
It's time to address the AeroSport carbon-fiber panel install.  Here's the before -- no panel -- look.
   
The support panel fit perfectly.  All the pre-drilled holes lined up perfectly with the quick-build fuselage holes.  It never fails to amaze me how the computer-generateds stuff always lines up perfectly.
   
Just for fun, we slide the cabon-fiber panel in with pictures of the avionics taped to it.  If only it were this easy ....
   
Back to the doors.  Time to install the door-latching mechanism. I could not envision how it worked from the drawings, but we followed the instructions, and it began to make sense.
   
I won't begin to describe how it works.  But the combination of steel, aluminum and plastic parts, gears, springs, and tubing does work.  Whoever designed this system was very clever.
   
Part of one of the aluminum tubes protrudes through the side of the door.
   
We put the door back on, and sure enough, the door handle system worked!
   
Right side.  It may not look like much, but it took many hours to install the door-latch system.
   
Back to the panel.  The interior of the carbon-fiber panel has been removed.  It will be replaced with three aluminum panel inserts, which actually hold the avionics.  It's the first time I've worked with carbon fiber.  I was literally covered in coal dust by the time I was finished cutting, filing and sanding.
   
Clamping the carbon-fiber panel to the aluminum support panel mounted in the fuse.  Ready for match-drilling, and then nut plate installation.
   
Now the carbon-fiber panel is screwed down to the support panel.  The panel inserts should arrive in a few weeks.  Some of the avionics has arrived and the rest is on the way.  It's coming together!
   
 
   
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