from Mark Zimmermann on 16 Feb 2018
n the life history of an airplane we learn the strengths and weaknesses of the various designs and components as they travel through that sea of air in which we refer to as our atmosphere. Although you cannot see the air or winds in the arena which an aircraft operates, you definitely feel turbulence, or rough air, as warm and cold masses battle. These stresses accumulate on the airframe in the lifespan of usage. In that period of time, and through aircraft inspections, manufacturers pool their historic data to find that it may be necessary to alert the airplane owners of their recommendations to repair, replace or improve certain components. This is the case with our airplane in the hangar and our airplane under construction. The attached file will spell out that which Van’s Aircraft recommends we accomplish due to their findings.
In the near future we will need volunteers (mentors and students) to meet at the hangar to get this task accomplished. We’ll be discussing this in class soon.
See RV-12 Service Bulletin on the Van’s Aircraft website.
Progress Report:
Our rudder has met completion including the fiberglass cap installed. Great job guys! The next project for one of you will be the cap installation on the vertical stabilizer. Final trim of this cap will transpire on final assembly. All hands unemployed on a certain task will need to get involved in the center fuselage project. We’ll have much to cleco and rivet as the belly skin is attached. The belly skin has been deburred and assembled as the plans describe. It is ready to go. Rudder pedal assembly is one lab class from completion. You guys deserve a hand for your attention to detail as this is a most complicated assembly. We should be good to go for our fuel tank leak testing this week. We’ve had various people working hard at cleaning parts for assembly or attachment. You are the unsung heroes! This must take place so our airplane will live a long service life. In the order of parts cleaning, the forward floor skins are ready for installation and nutplates as ordered by the plan sheets. Our side skins are in final cleanup and vent door assemblies will soon be installed. Center fuselage saw the completion of the intermediate (large) bulkhead with all components installed. Here again is a very complex assembly that is accomplished by carefully following the build sheets. This component is clecoed in place along with the forward floor ribs. In short order these assemblies will be riveted up per plans with belly skin to follow. Work has begun on the aft center fuselage. This area has a lower bulkhead web that will interface with the tailcone. Attached to this web are various brackets that hold the pitch servo for the autopilot. Another group of unsung heroes are those who are working the upper firewall assembly. These folks are learning all about hinge and nutplate installation. Again the attention to detail that you are showing is displayed in these parts. This job has its difficulty in that it relies upon being built on assembly, a major assembly that we don’t have ready yet. However with the amount of details and parts affixed to these various components there remains work that can be accomplished. Thanks for your patience and professionalism!