Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  9-11-2009
Number of Hours:  1.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Adding Upper/Lower Hinges To Cowlings - Part 1

Adding the hinges to the upper/lower cowling joint was pretty straight forward. The plans recommend shifting the hinge line slightly from front to back to add in inserting and removing the hinge pin. I can't quite visualize why this helps, but must have something to do with the weight of the lower cowling as the pin and moving. A word of caution here regarding the hinge shifting. If you shift the pin the recommend amount, the rivet holes will be VERY close to the edge of the hinge on each end. Make sure that you account for this before you start drilling, or you make be disappointed when you split the cowlings to view your handy work. I lucked out and just made the clearance requirements on top and bottom.

The inboard upper/lower cowling attachment is done with six screws and platenuts riveted directly to the fiberglass cowling. I had to do a bit of filing here to get the cowlings to fit right in this area. There was a ton of Featherfill (gray stuff) around this area added by the cowling manufacture. It was mostly not in the right place and I filed most of it away to get the correct fit.
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Lower Hinge Rivet Line Marked - Right Side

Lower Hinge Rivet Line Marked - Right Side

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Lower Hinge Cleco-Clamped In Place - Right Side

Lower Hinge Cleco-Clamped In Place - Right Side

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Lower Hinge Drilled - Right Side

Lower Hinge Drilled - Right Side

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