Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Problems with HS forward spar and support angles


The first in a series of recent challenges has been the proper fitting of the HS forward spar flange to the support angle brackets on the top and bottom of the spar. A long while ago I had to countersink 4 holes in the brackets, and dimple the spar flange. As you can see from the photo, there is a slight bulge in the spar flange where it is supposed to sit flush against the angle. At first glance it looks flush, but the dimple is too wide for the countersunk hole, so it bows out a bit.
So I had to drill out the countersunk hole a bit more to resolve the issue. We'll see what happens when I rivet everytrhing together, but I think it will be OK now. This is important because you lose strength in the overall assembly if parts do not properly mate together when they are riveted. If left unresolved, these are areas where fatigue can start, cracks can form, or worse. SO its worth it to fix it now instead of wishing I did later.

No comments:

Post a Comment