Got some stuff from Vans

Not too much to report this time. I received an order that I placed for some stuff from Vans, including the necessary LP-4-3 and 4-4 pop rivets that I plan to use for the majority of the Leading rivets that attach the rear flange of the LE ribs to the wing spar.  I also ordered several #6 ring terminals and several feet of #18 wire so that I could practice crimping with my crimping tool, which I have not done since I took the Sport Air electrical class a long long time ago.

I needed to do this because the capacitive fuel sender kit requires you to put ring terminals on several pieces of wire that will be inside the fuel tank and screwed to each metal plate, and then to a BNC connector at the wing root that will connect to the other wire and  connector coming from the fuel gauges and converter units in the fuselage. So I watched multiple videos from EAA and from SteinAir, and practiced crimping several terminals. I think they came out OK but I'm still not 100% satisfied with some of them.  Continuity and resistance checks are all good, but some of the crimps don't look the way I think they should. Some combo the amount of stripped insulation and where I am placing the sleeve in the crimper I think.

I also ordered a small amount of Proseal just so I could play with that a little before I am ready to do the big job on the actual fuel tanks. I also ordered some rubber grommets that turned out to fit my .75 inch holes that I drilled in each wing rib for the black conduit to run my wires through. The problem is that the grommets only have a 1/4 inch opening in the middle, and I may want a bit more than that. At any rate, it was nice to have some to see how they install. I'm sure I'll have places where they will come in handy.

Some of the other stuff I ordered was the metal reinforcement kit for the horizontal stabilizer center section of the front spar, which was found to be prone to cracking in certain areas. I'll be installing this after I finish the wings while I wait for the fuselage so I can get it done. I may even decide to replace one or both of my stab skins, since that was the beginning of several "first time" blunders when trying to rivet my very first large skin.

I also ordered electronic copies of my RV-8 plans and instructions-something that Vans had made available for a while now but I never acquired. It makes it so much easier to to review everything without carrying around the big notebook.

Other than that, I managed to get outside tonight and final sand and clean the scuffed an filed areas of the skins for the scarf joint. Hopefully in the next day or two I will prime those areas and dimple the holes that still need to be dimpled, and then finally I can move on to bigger things with the LE again.

KPR