Time to check in finally! Not a lot of progress to share. Been busy flying at work, Oshkosh 23' came and went and just not a lot of time to work on it. Then the laser cut parts issue reared its head....
As for the progress, still countersinking and installing nutplates on the right side spar. It's just about done. I need to C/S and install the smaller nutplates that hold the leading edges of the access panels. Once that's done, the right spar prep will be basically finished. Don't expect much progress in the next month as we have a family vacation, then a week at home of normal flying followed by a week long European trip. Did I mention I just got home from 6 days in South America! The pilot shortage is both good and bad!
As for the Vans laser cut parts saga..... I received an email from them the week before Oshkosh. The email said that certain parts contained in my wing kit are not airworthy and that others in the kit may also not be airworthy. Long story short, a sub-contractor they used to make parts did a really poor job with their laser cutting of the holes, so much so that some of the parts are completely scrap. Mostly the flap and aileron spars but also ribs in the wing kit. Vans is testing the affected parts to see exactly which ones are still usable and which ones are not. I have affected parts, that much I know for certain. How many will have to be replaced is TBD at this point. I'm awaiting (along with everyone else affected) Vans to tell me how to proceed.
What this ultimately means for me is that I will most likely end up having to wait on new parts from Vans. I'm lucky, I don't already have things like the flaps, ailerons, wings, empennage parts, etc. already constructed. There are some (rightfully so) really pissed off builders right now that are looking at having to rebuild large parts of their build. Glad I'm not in their boat so a delay waiting on new parts is nothing compared to what some people are facing.
So with that in mind, the building may have to slow way down (not like I'm flying as is) until the parts situation gets sorted out. For now I can finish the spar prep and get them mounted on their jigs. Fall is approaching and with it, the days of being able to work with ProSeal for the year are numbered. I'm considering just buying a finished set of fuel tanks if possible. That alone would save me probably 6 months worth of work. We'll see.
As for the pics below, just making consistent countersunk holes with the CS bit, measuring them with a caliper to make sure they are in spec (spec comes from a drawing out of the RV-14 plans). Nutplates installed with pneumatic squeezer which is easy to do. Once nutplates are installed then the actual #8 screw holes can be countersunk using the nutplate itself as a secondary pilot hole, works great!
So the pics are a bit out of order but the order is this, countersink the rivet attach holes to the proper depth, rivet the nutplates into place. Then countersink the screw holes using the nutplate as a guide. Spot prime those screw holes after you are finished. That's it, that's the process, not much to it. Rinse and repeat.
Next is to countersink the rivet attach holes and the screw holes for the #6 screws. Just need to find the right depth for the CS bit.